Mindy: What are you guards standing there for?! Grab her!
Victoria: They take orders from me, Mindy. Not from you, and certainly not from your father.
Mindy: That's impossible! My father rented this entire ballroom! Sterling Enterprises owns this building!
Victoria: Check the land deed again. Your father defaulted on the mortgage payment at midnight.
Mindy struggled to stand up, her expensive yellow designer gown covered in dust from the floor. Her bright red hair was messy, and her face flushed with humiliation as surrounding guests pulled out their phones to record the scene.
Mindy: You're lying! My father is worth three billion dollars! He's the main sponsor of this charity gala!
Victoria: Was the main sponsor. Until two hours ago when the board of directors held an emergency vote.
Mindy: What board of directors?! Who do you think you are talking to me like that?!
Victoria took a slow step forward, her black leather boots clicking against the marble floor. The crowd of Dallas elite pushed back, making space for her as she approached the furious heiress.
Victoria: My name is Victoria Vance. I am the chief inspector for the federal audit committee and the new majority shareholder of Vance-Sterling Global.
A collective gasp went through the ballroom. Guests began whispering to each other, pointing at the white tuxedo that Victoria wore so comfortably.
Guest 1: Did she say Victoria Vance? The daughter of late General Vance?
Guest 2: She bought out the bank loans this morning! She owns the whole company now!
Mindy: No... no, that's not true! My dad told me Victoria Vance was dead!
Victoria: Your father wished I was dead so he could steal my family trust fund without a fight.
Mindy: You're an imposter! Security, pull her off the stage!
The head security guard, Marcus, stepped forward and folded his arms across his suit jacket, ignoring Mindy completely.
Marcus: Commander Vance gave us explicit orders to secure the venue, Miss Sterling. You are currently trespassing on private corporate property.
Mindy: Marcus, I gave you a ten thousand dollar tip last week! You work for my family!
Marcus: My loyalty is to the contract, Miss Sterling. And your father's credit cards were declined twenty minutes ago.
Mindy's mouth dropped open. She looked around the bright, sunlit room, searching for a friendly face among the crowd of billionaires, politicians, and socialites she had bragged to only moments earlier. Every single one of them had stepped away, avoiding her eyes.
Mindy: Where is my father?! Someone call Richard Sterling right now!
Victoria: Your father is currently in the holding room downstairs, talking to three federal agents about his tax accounts.
Mindy: You set him up! You planned this whole thing!
Victoria: Your father set himself up the moment he started stealing pension funds from his workers to buy you yellow diamond necklaces.
Mindy: I'll ruin you for this! I'll file a lawsuit so big your grandbabies will be paying it off!
Victoria: You can try. But first, you have to answer for striking a federal officer in front of two hundred witnesses and fifty high-definition cameras.
Victoria pointed toward the ceiling, where high-resolution security cameras glowed red, capturing every angle of the high-key room under the full natural daylight. Mindy looked up at the lenses, her heart sinking as she realized her physical attack was fully documented on tape.
Mindy: It... it was self-defense! She bumped into me!
Victoria: The video shows you walking twenty feet across the red carpet specifically to slap me across the face because I refused to hold the elevator for your entourage.
Mindy: You disrespected me!
Victoria: Respect is earned, Mindy. And today, you're going to earn a hard lesson in humility.
Victoria raised her hand, giving a quiet signal to Marcus. Two uniformed officers stepped out from behind the grand white pillars, carrying a pair of steel handcuffs.
Mindy: Wait! No! You can't put handcuffs on me! I'm Mindy Sterling!
Victoria: Not anymore. Today, you're just a suspect in custody.
The officers moved in fast, grabbing Mindy's arms as she screamed and kicked, her yellow dress tearing along the side seam as she fought against them in front of the entire Dallas high society.