David: Mark, bring up the central security app on my tablet right now.
Mark: Accessing the master corridor feed from five o'clock today, sir.
Victoria: David, please don't do this! Have some mercy on me!
David: Mercy? You pretended to carry my child to trick me into marriage!
Mark handed the glowing black tablet to David. On the screen, crystal-clear high-definition video began playing from the camera concealed behind Sarah's portrait.
Tablet (Vanessa's Voice):"Make sure the straps are tight, Victoria. If David touches your stomach during the toast, he can't feel any soft spots."
Tablet (Victoria's Voice):"Are you sure the family lawyer added the pregnancy clause to the prenuptial agreement?"
Tablet (Vanessa's Voice):"Yes! The moment you marry David while pregnant with an heir, forty percent of the Sterling estate trust fund transfers directly to your name. Once the money hits your account, you transfer my twenty percent cut."
Tablet (Victoria's Voice):"What if he asks for a doctor's confirmation after the wedding?"
Tablet (Vanessa's Voice):"I paid off Dr. Evans at the city clinic. He already forged the ultrasound records. By the time David figures out there is no baby, you'll be fifty million dollars richer and living in Europe."
The audio played loudly through the quiet hallway, every word sounding like a sharp blade cutting through the air.
David: Forty percent of my daughter's inheritance... You planned to steal forty percent of my late wife's trust fund!
Vanessa: David, I was in debt! The casino took my house in Vegas! I had nowhere else to turn!
David: So you conspired with a gold-digger to rob your own brother and your seven-year-old niece?!
Vanessa: You have hundreds of millions, David! You wouldn't even have missed forty million!
David: You are a disgusting monster, Vanessa!
Victoria: David, darling, it was all Vanessa's idea! She recruited me! She told me you were lonely and needed a family!
Vanessa: You lying snake! You were looking for a billionaire sponsor before you even met my brother!
Victoria: You promised me twenty million dollars! You forced me to wear this silicone nightmare for four months!
David: Stop talking! Both of you, shut your mouth!
David grabbed the fake silicone stomach off the cupboard shelf, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the foam material.
David: Mark, call the police chief directly. Tell him I have full video and audio evidence of corporate conspiracy, grand larceny, and fraud.
Mark: Calling Chief Miller now, Mr. Sterling.
Victoria: No! Don't call the police! My family will be ruined!
David: Your family should have taught you not to steal from little girls.
Vanessa: David, I'm your sister! You can't put your own blood in prison!
David: My blood is standing right here holding my hand. You are nothing to me anymore.
David turned his back on them, taking Lily into his arms as he walked back toward the staircase, leaving the two women crying and screaming in the hallway.