Victoria pushed open the double doors of the private holding suite and closed them shut behind them. The loud noise of the party died down instantly into heavy silence. She guided Lily over to a long cream leather sofa near the window.
Victoria: Sit down, Lily. Please, sit on the couch.
Lily: Tori, your dress... I'm so sorry I ruined it.
Victoria: Forget about the damn dress! I don't care about the dress! Look at your face... I hit you...
Lily: It's okay, really. It doesn't hurt anymore.
Victoria: It's not okay! I acted like a cruel, spoiled brat! I was so consumed by my status and my stupid party that I didn't even look at you.
Victoria walked quickly to the wet bar in the corner of the room. She picked up a silver ice bucket and wrapped several cold ice cubes into a clean white cloth. Walking back to the couch, she sat beside Lily and gently pressed the cold cloth against her sister's bruised cheek. Tears continued to roll down Victoria's cheeks as she stared at Lily's exhausted face.
Victoria: How did you survive after the fire? What happened to you?
Lily: Uncle Harrison took me out of the hospital before you woke up. He told the state authorities that I was unfit for adoption and placed me in a foster home three hours away.
Victoria: Uncle Harrison... he was the executor of our parents' will!
Lily: He knew that if both of us reached thirty years old, the entire trust fund would be divided equally between us. But if only one of us was alive, he could manage the funds as Victoria's sole legal guardian until she married.
Victoria: So he separated us on purpose to keep controlling the money!
Lily: Yes. He told me you died in the flames. I believed him for ten whole years until I found our mother's journal in an old box.
Victoria: I lived in that mansion believing I was completely alone in the world. I thought everyone I loved was dead.
Lily: I tried writing to you when I turned eighteen, but Uncle Harrison intercepted the letters. Then when he passed away, Richard took over managing the family trust.
Victoria leaned back against the couch, feeling sick to her stomach. She realized that every man in her life had manipulated her wealth for their own personal greed. Her uncle had lied to her as a child, and her husband had continued the same lie as an adult.
Victoria: Richard knew that if you appeared, he would lose half his power over the real estate firm.
Lily: When I went to his office three years ago, he showed me pictures of your happy life. He told me that showing up would ruin your mental health and break your marriage. He paid me five thousand dollars to cover my rent and warned me to stay far away.
Victoria: He made you feel like trash while he lived off my family's fortune.
Lily: I took the catering job tonight just to see you from far away, Tori. I didn't mean to drop the tray. I just lost my balance when that man hit me.
Victoria reached out and pulled Lily into her arms once again, holding her with all the strength she had left.
Victoria: You will never have to work a catering job again. I'm going to fix everything that was broken.