Victoria: Hang up that phone, David! If you call the cops, your company stock will plummet by morning!
David: Chief Miller? This is David Vance. I need three patrol units at my estate immediately.
Victoria: David! Think about the scandal! Think about your billionaire reputation!
David: Yes, Chief. An attempted homicide on my infant son. I have complete high-definition video evidence saved to the cloud.
David ended the call without taking his eyes off his second wife.
Victoria: You’re bluffing. You wouldn't subject our family to this kind of public humiliation.
David: You are not my family. You never were.
Victoria: I signed that marriage certificate! I have rights to this estate!
David: Did you forget who wrote our prenuptial agreement, Victoria? Richard Sterling, the sharpest estate attorney in Manhattan.
Victoria's sneer faltered slightly, a ripple of anxiety crossing her sharp features.
Victoria: That prenup guarantees me twenty million dollars after six months of marriage!
David: Clause fourteen, paragraph B. Any criminal act or intentional physical harm committed against any member of the Vance lineage results in immediate nullification of all financial claims.
Victoria took a sharp breath, her face draining of color.
Victoria: You can't prove intent! A defense lawyer will argue I had postpartum psychosis!
David: You didn't give birth to him, Victoria! How could you claim postpartum depression for a surrogate baby you never carried?!
Victoria: Mental distress! Grief over Sarah’s memory hanging over my head like a guillotine!
David: Save your rehearsed sob story for the jury. Because you are leaving this mansion in handcuffs today.
Victoria backed up toward the front entrance, her gaze darting toward the heavy mahogany doors.
Victoria: If you let me leave right now, I will sign an uncontested divorce. You keep the full custody of both kids, and I disappear forever.
David: You think this is a business negotiation?
Victoria: I am offering you an out, David! No trial, no headlines, no paparazzi outside your children’s school!
David: You tried to break my infant son’s spine on my floorboards, and you blamed a woman who worked her fingers to the bone supporting her own sick mother!
From the kitchen doorway, Elena stepped out quietly, having settled the baby into his bassinet with Chloe watching over him.
Elena: You told me this morning that I was nothing more than hired help that could be replaced tomorrow.
Victoria glared at Elena with raw venom.
Victoria: You are hired help! You live off David’s scraps!
Elena: I work with honor, Mrs. Vance. I scrub floors so my daughter can attend college. But you... you live in a palace and you have a sewer for a soul.
Victoria: How dare you speak to me like that!
Victoria lunged forward with her hand raised, aiming a vicious slap straight at Elena’s face.
Before the blow could land, David stepped into the path, grabbing Victoria’s wrist in mid-air with an iron grip.
David: Don't touch her.
David twisted her arm down firmly, holding her in place as the distinct wail of police sirens grew loud in the long driveway.
Victoria: Let go of me! David, you're hurting my wrist!
David: You’re lucky it’s the police arriving at my gate, and not my late wife’s brothers.
The gravel outside crunched under the heavy tires of three patrol cruisers, their red and blue lights flashing violently across the foyer windows.
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