Julian pulled his cell phone from his inner jacket pocket, his thumb quickly typing the emergency number for the local Dallas police department. Victoria saw what he was doing and panicked, lunging forward across the table to grab the phone out of his hand before he could connect the call. Julian blocked her arm with a strong sweep of his forearm, shoving her back so hard that she stumbled against the dark wooden chairs behind her. Victoria gasped as her hip slammed into the heavy chair, her neat white suit getting wrinkled as she struggled to keep her balance on the rug. Her mask of class and authority was completely gone, replaced by wild fear and desperate rage.
Victoria: If you call the police, it will destroy the company stock! Think about the estate, Julian!
Julian: I do not give a damn about the stock or this house! You belong in a prison cell!
Victoria: You cannot prove anything! It will be your word against mine in a real court of law!
Elena: I have the papers you forced me to sign, Victoria. I hid them under the mattress downstairs.
Victoria's eyes went wide as Elena spoke up, realizing that her victim had been smarter than she had ever given her credit for over the months. Elena had saved every written threat, every fake agreement, and every forced contract that Victoria had thrust in her face during her hidden lockup. She had tucked the folded documents deep inside the old cloth mattress in her small basement room, waiting for the day someone would finally help her. Julian looked down at Elena with a proud expression, his grip on her hand tightening as he waited for the police dispatcher to answer his call on the speakerphone.
The loud voice of the police operator filled the grand dining room, asking for the exact location and nature of the emergency at the address. Julian gave the officer his name and reported an illegal kidnapping, physical abuse, and grand fraud occurring inside the Vance estate right now. Victoria let out a loud scream of frustration, throwing a crystal glass off the side table, sending sharp glass shards flying across the floor. She turned and ran out of the dining room, her high heels clicking loudly against the marble floor as she sprinted toward the grand staircase to get her passport. Julian did not bother running after her, knowing the heavy security gates outside the front property were completely locked from his phone control.
Julian: Let her run. The gates are locked and the guards outside answer only to my personal codes.
Elena: I was so scared you would never come back in time to save us, Julian.
Julian: I am so sorry I ever believed her lies for even a single day, my love.
Elena: She made me clean the floors every day just to humiliate me and break my spirit.
Julian pulled Elena into a gentle embrace, being careful not to press too hard against her swollen belly as she wept tears of relief. He kissed her forehead over and over, feeling a deep wave of guilt for having trusted his manipulative sister-in-law for so long. He looked around the cold, massive dining room and realized how toxic his family life had become under Victoria's quiet influence over the past few years. He vowed to strip Victoria of every penny, every title, and every bit of authority she held within the family corporation. The sound of distant police sirens began to echo from the long driveway outside the mansion gates.