Marcus: "Claire, what did you just say?"
Claire: "Papa, please... don't touch him!"
Grant: "You see, General? Your daughter is hysterical. She isn't thinking clearly."
Marcus: "Shut your mouth, Grant, before I shut it for you!"
Evelyn: "Marcus, please! We are family here. There is no need for this kind of aggression."
Marcus: "Family? My daughter is six months pregnant and covered in bruises!"
Marcus walked back to the edge of the bed, gently taking Claire’s cold, shaking hand in his own broad palm.
Marcus: "Claire, tell me everything. Right now. You are safe with me."
Claire: "He... he locked me in the room last night, Papa. He took my phone."
Grant: "I took your phone because you were threatening to ruin my family’s reputation!"
Marcus: "Ruin your reputation? What is he talking about, Claire?"
Claire: "The business accounts, Papa... I found the offshore bank transfers."
Grant’s smug smirk vanished instantly, his face turning pale under the bedroom lights.
Grant: "Claire, keep your mouth shut!"
Marcus: "If you yell at my daughter one more time under my watch, you won't walk out of this room."
Evelyn: "General Vance, this is a private family matter involving our estate!"
Marcus: "My daughter's life is not a private family matter, Evelyn."
Claire swallowed hard, wiping a tear from her swollen eye as she looked at her father.
Claire: "Grant didn't just hurt me today, Papa. He's been doing it for months."
Marcus: "Months? Why didn't you call me?"
Claire: "He threatened you! He said his father's legal firm would destroy your military pension and bring false charges against your unit!"
Grant: "It's not a threat if it's true! My family controls half the judicial circuit in this state!"
Marcus: "You think a handful of corrupt judges scares a man who served thirty years in combat zones?"
Grant: "I don't care about your military medals! You are in my home, on my private property!"
Marcus: "This home was bought with Claire's trust fund inheritance from her late mother!"
Grant: "Her trust fund is managed by my investment firm now! The prenup she signed gave me full control!"
Claire shook her head frantically, holding her belly as another wave of pain hit her.
Claire: "I never signed a prenup, Papa! He forged my signature on the trust fund documents!"
Marcus: "He forged your name?"
Claire: "Yes! I found the papers in his study yesterday morning. Millions of dollars... stolen from my mother's estate!"
Grant stepped back toward the doorway, his eyes darting toward the hallway exit.
Grant: "She's lying! She's out of her mind on pain medication!"
Evelyn: "Yes, exactly! Claire has been very confused lately, Marcus. You know how stressful pregnancy can be!"
Marcus: "Do not insult my intelligence, Evelyn."
Marcus stood up to his full six-foot-two height, stepping directly between Grant and the bedroom door.
Marcus: "Nobody leaves this room until I get the full truth."
Grant: "You can't hold us hostage in our own house!"
Marcus: "I'm not holding you hostage. I'm securing a crime scene."
Claire pulled herself up against the headboard, her body trembling with fear and physical pain.
Claire: "Papa, when I told him I was calling the federal prosecutors... he grabbed me by my hair."
Marcus clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white against his green uniform sleeves.
Claire: "He pushed me against the marble vanity in the bathroom... and when I fell, he kicked me."
Marcus: "He kicked a pregnant woman?"
Claire: "He said if the baby survived, he'd make sure I never got custody."
A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the bedroom as Marcus turned his head slowly to glare at Grant.
Marcus: "You touched my grandchild?"
Grant: "She's exaggerating! I barely pushed her!"
Marcus: "You just admitted you pushed her."
Grant realized his mistake immediately, biting his lower lip as his mother gasped in frustration.
Evelyn: "Grant, stop talking!"
Marcus: "No, let him talk. Let the court hear every word."