Richard: Lily? Why are you on your knees? Why are you dressed like that?
Lily: Papa... you're really home. I thought you weren't coming back until next week!
Richard: Answer me, Lily! Why are you scrubbing the floor in a maid's uniform?
Evelyn: Richard, darling, please let me explain! It’s not what it looks like at all!
Richard: Shut up, Evelyn! I’m talking to my daughter!
Richard rushed forward, ignoring his stepwife entirely as he dropped down onto his knees beside Lily on the cold marble floor. He grabbed her trembling hands, his face twisting with horror as he saw her red, blistered knuckles and raw skin.
Richard: Look at your hands... Lily, what happened to you while I was away?
Lily: She took my phone, Dad. The day after your flight took off for New York, she locked me out of my room and put me in the basement quarters.
Richard: She did WHAT?
Lily: She said I was a spoiled leech living off your money. She said if I didn't clean the mansion top to bottom every single day, she’d have me thrown out on the street.
Evelyn: She’s lying, Richard! The girl is completely delusional! She volunteered to help the cleaning crew!
Richard: Volunteered? Look at her! She’s trembling and covered in soap scum!
Evelyn: I was just teaching her some basic life discipline! You spoil her rotten with trust funds and luxury cars while she sits around doing nothing!
Richard: She is eighteen years old and studying for her college entrance exams! She is my daughter, not your indentured servant!
Richard stood up, his jaw clenched tightly as his chest heaved with violent anger. The veins on his forehead bulged as he glared down at Evelyn, who took an instinctual step backward toward the living area.
Evelyn: Richard, calm down. Think about your heart condition. We can talk about this in the study like civilized adults.
Richard: WHY ARE YOU MAKING MY DAUGHTER DO THIS WORK?! CALL 911 NOW!
Evelyn: Call 911? Are you out of your mind? Over a misunderstanding about household chores?
Richard: This isn't a misunderstanding! This is abuse and false imprisonment in my own house!
Evelyn: I am your wife! You can't talk to me like this in front of the help!
Richard: Get out of my face!
Driven by pure fury, Richard lunged forward, shoving Evelyn away from him. Caught off guard, her high heels lost traction on the slick, wet marble floor, and she crashed down hard onto her hip, gasping for air as her expensive green dress bunched up around her.
Evelyn: You put your hands on me! You actually put your hands on me!
Richard: You are lucky I don't drag you out to the driveway by your hair right now!
Lily: Dad, please! Don't get yourself into trouble!
Richard: Stand up, Lily. Get up off that floor right now. You will never kneel in this house again.
Lily pulled herself up, her legs shaking so violently she had to lean against the grand mahogany staircase for support. Richard took off his suit jacket and wrapped it tenderly around her thin, shivering shoulders.
Richard: Where is your phone, sweetheart?
Lily: Locked in her safe... in the master bedroom.
Richard: And your car keys? Your ID?
Lily: She took those too. She said I was grounded until I learned respect.
Richard turned back to Evelyn, who was slowly pushing herself up off the floor, holding her bruised hip with a snarl on her face.
Richard: Hand over the keys and the phone, Evelyn. Right now.
Evelyn: Or what, Richard? You’ll hit me again? I’ll call the police on you for domestic assault!
Richard: Go ahead. Call them. Let’s have the Dallas police department come right in here and see what you’ve been doing to an eighteen-year-old girl.
Evelyn’s face went pale. The arrogant smirk she usually wore began to crack under the intense weight of Richard's authority. She knew that behind Richard’s wealth was a network of top-tier legal representation and political connections that could ruin her life in an instant.
Evelyn: You're choosing her over your own wife?
Richard: She was my daughter long before you entered my life. And after today, you won't be my wife for much longer.