Standing beneath the massive framed painting near the entrance, Victoria realized that lying was no longer going to save her. Her husband had unraveled every scheme she spent months building. Her eyes narrowed as she dropped the fake tears and sweet demeanor entirely.
Victoria: Fine! You want the truth?! You want to hear why I came here today?!
Marcus: Go on. Tell me. Let's see if it matches the police report I'm about to file.
Victoria: My father is facing five years in federal prison if that money isn't cleared by five o'clock today!
Marcus: That is his problem, Victoria. He committed bank fraud, not me.
Victoria: If he goes down, he takes me with him! I signed three of those loan applications as a co-signer before we got married!
Marcus: Then you should have thought about the consequences before putting your signature on illegal loan documents.
Victoria: I did it to save our family estate! We had no choice! The market crashed, the bank was threatening foreclosure on our primary residence!
Marcus: And so your solution was to marry into my family, fake a loving marriage, and drain my son's trust fund to pay off your father's debts?!
Victoria: He's just a baby! He doesn't need millions of dollars right now! My father needs it today!
Marcus: That money belongs to my son's future! Not a single cent will ever touch your father's hands!
Victoria glared at him, all pretense of sadness instantly vanishing from her eyes. Her tone turned bitter, sharp, and cruel as she decided to attack him where it hurt most.
Victoria: That child isn't even yours, Marcus. Did you ever think about that?
The hallway fell completely silent. The only sound was the soft tick of the grandfather clock near the main entrance. Marcus did not flinch, nor did his expression change.
Marcus: What did you just say?
Victoria: You heard me. You were away in London for two weeks back in October. Do the math, Marcus.
Marcus: You think that's a surprise to me? You think that's a card you can play to hurt me?
Victoria: It's the truth! A DNA test will prove you aren't his biological father! You have no legal right to keep him from me!
Marcus: I ran the DNA test three weeks ago, Victoria.
Victoria stopped mid-breath. Her eyes widened in genuine panic as Marcus pulled a folded white paper from his dark green jacket pocket and unfolded it slowly.
Marcus: I have the official lab results right here in my hand.