Victoria: Frozen?! You can't freeze our accounts! We have bills to pay! I have a charity gala hosting deposit due tonight!
Clara: Then I suggest you find a way to pay for it yourself, Victoria. Perhaps you can sell one of those silk cushions you were so worried about.
Richard: This is extortion! I will call our legal team! I will sue you for breach of corporate fiduciary duty!
Clara: Go right ahead, Richard. My legal team consists of twelve senior partners from Miller & Vance. They will be delighted to meet your lawyer in court tomorrow morning.
Clara turned her back on the chaos, walking toward the grand archway of the dining room with Maya safely cradled in her arm. Behind her, the dining room erupted into total panic.
Victoria: Mother, do something! Call Julian! Tell him to fix this!
Catherine: Julian can't fix this! Julian's salary comes from the very corporate account she just froze!
Victoria: What are we going to do?! The estate mortgage payment is due in three days!
Catherine: What are WE going to do?! There is no WE, Victoria! You are packing your bags and getting out of my house tonight!
Victoria: You're kicking me out?! I am your daughter-in-law!
Catherine: You are a parasite who just destroyed a hundred-million-dollar legacy because you couldn't control your disgusting ego!
As Clara reached the front foyer, the heavy oak doors opened, and Julian Sterling—Victoria's husband—walked in carrying a leather briefcase. He looked surprised to see Clara walking out with blood on her face and a crying child.
Julian: Excuse me? What happened here? Who are you?
Clara: Ask your wife, Mr. Sterling. She just cost your family everything you own.
Julian frowned, rushing past Clara into the dining room, where he was met with the sight of his mother sobbing hysterically, his father staring blankly at the shattered wine glass, and his wife screaming in terror[cite: 1].
Julian: What is going on in here?! Who was that woman?!
Catherine: That woman was Clara Vance, Julian! The majority owner of Sterling Global!
Julian: The majority owner...? Why was she here?!
Catherine: She came to deliver the final buyout papers! And your brilliant wife shoved her five-year-old daughter into a table and cut her face!
Julian turned toward Victoria, his face twisting into pure rage as the reality of the situation hit him like a physical blow.
Julian: Victoria... tell me my mother is lying. Tell me you didn't touch Arthur Vance's daughter!
Victoria: Julian, I didn't know! She looked like a poor person! She didn't say who she was!
Julian: You idiot! You absolute idiot!