Ethan: Helena? Is that... is that really you?
Helena slowly lifted her head, her tear-stained face pale and hollow under the glaring chandelier lights.
Her breath hitched as her eyes met Ethan's, her chest heaving with deep, ragged sobs that she couldn't contain.
Helena: Ethan... oh God, Ethan, you came back...
Ethan: What is going on here? Why are you on the floor? Why are you wearing a maid's uniform?
Helena: They... they told me you were dead, Ethan. They said your plane went down over the mountains!
Ethan dropped to his knees right into the puddle of dirty water, completely uncaring about his expensive suit, and grabbed her trembling hands.
His palms were warm against her ice-cold fingers, making her cry even harder as reality crashed over her.
Ethan: I was in an emergency coma in a military hospital overseas for six months, sweetheart! My rescue team couldn't send messages out because of the storm!
Helena: They took my phone... they took my wedding ring, Ethan! They said I was nothing but a charity case!
Ethan: Who did this to you? Tell me right now!
Before Helena could speak, a sharp, condescending voice echoed down from the top of the grand curved staircase.
A tall woman in an elegant, deep red satin gown descended the marble steps, holding a crystal glass of red wine in her manicured hand.
Vivian: She was here all along, Ethan. Right where a penniless nobody belongs.
Ethan: Vivian? What the hell did you do to my wife?
Vivian: Your wife? Please, Ethan. Look at her! She's a disaster. A orphan girl you foolishly brought into the Vance family name.
Ethan: You put my wife in a maid's uniform and forced her to clean the floors of my own house?
Vivian: I simply put her to work to pay for her room and board! After your accident, someone had to manage the estate. She didn't have a single dollar to her name!
Helena: That's a lie! Ethan left me his power of attorney before he deployed! She forced me to sign documents while I was grieving!
Ethan: Is this true, Vivian? Did you forge papers while I was unconscious in a hospital bed?
Vivian: Don't be naive, brother! I saved this family's reputation! Imagine what the board of directors would say if they knew a girl from a foster home was running Vance Enterprises!
Ethan: You stole her freedom! You locked her in this mansion!
Vivian: I protected our family trust fund! She was planning to take your money and run away with some street thug!
Helena: I never! I spent every single night praying you would walk through that door, Ethan!
Ethan stood up slowly, his face twisting into an expression of pure, unbridled rage as he looked at his sister.
He pulled a sleek smartphone from his jacket pocket, his fingers moving rapidly across the screen before pressing the device to his ear.
Vivian: What do you think you're doing, Ethan? Put that phone down and let's discuss this like adults in the boardroom.
Ethan: Shut your mouth, Vivian.
Bank Director over phone: Mr. Vance! We just received word of your safe return. How can the primary bank assist you today?
Ethan: Freeze every account Vivian controls. Effective immediately.