Richard: Get away from my child right now, Victoria.
Victoria: Don't you take that tone with me in my own house! I am the mistress of this estate!
Richard: Your house? This house belongs to my late wife’s trust fund, and you know it!
Victoria: I am your wife now, Richard! That means everything you own is mine, including the right to discipline these ungrateful brats!
Richard rushed past her and immediately dropped to his knees on the hard floor, gathering little Toby into his arms. The toddler buried his tear-stained face into his father's suit jacket, trembling uncontrollably.
Richard: Shh, I've got you, sweetheart. Daddy's here. You're safe.
Toby: Bread on floor... Mommy mean...
Richard: You don't ever eat off the floor, buddy. Never.
Leo scrambled out of his chair and ran to his father's side, wrapping his small arms around Richard's neck. Tears streaked down the eight-year-old boy's face as he looked at Victoria with pure fear.
Leo: Dad, she does this every time you go on business trips! She makes us eat leftovers from the trash and locks us in the playroom!
Richard: What?! Leo, why didn't you tell me this on the phone?
Leo: She said if I told you, she would sell Mom's old piano and send Toby to an orphanage!
Victoria: He's lying, Richard! The boy is a compulsive liar, just like his aunt! You can't trust a word that comes out of his mouth!
Richard: Shut up, Victoria! Just shut your mouth!
Victoria gasped, taking a step back as Richard stood up, holding Toby tightly in one arm while keeping Leo behind him. His eyes burned with a dark, dangerous rage that Victoria had never seen in the two years they had been married.
Victoria: You're choosing them over me? After everything I've given up to live in this family?
Richard: Given up? You came into this house with a mountain of credit card debt and a fake law degree!
Victoria: That is slander! I am a respectable woman, and I demand respect in this dining room!
Richard: Respect is earned, Victoria. Cruelty to a baby is unforgivable. I gave you a home, I gave you my trust, and you treated my flesh and blood like animals.
Victoria: They are spoiled! You give them whatever they want because of your guilt over Sarah's death! Someone needed to break them!
Richard: Break them? They are children! Toby is two years old!
Victoria: Well, maybe if you spent more time being a husband instead of mourning a ghost, I wouldn't have to be the bad guy!
Richard: You aren't the bad guy, Victoria. You are a monster.
Victoria: Call me whatever you want, but you can't touch me. We don't have a prenuptial agreement, Richard. If you try to divorce me, I will take half of this estate, half of your company, and I will fight for full custody of Toby just to spite you!
Victoria sneered, folding her arms across her chest with smug satisfaction. She believed she had locked Richard into a corner. She knew how rich the family trust was, and she had spent months positioning herself to control the family business. But a sharp voice spoke up from the hallway behind Richard, freezing Victoria in her tracks.
Arthur: Actually, Mrs. Vance, you won't be taking a single cent.
Victoria’s face drained of color as a tall man in a dark grey suit stepped into the bright light of the dining room, carrying a thick black briefcase.
Victoria: Who... who are you? How did you get into my home?!
Arthur: My name is Arthur Pendelton, head executor of the late Sarah Vance's family trust estate. And as for your marriage... it was never legally binding in the state of Texas.
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