Evelyn: "Julian, no! He's lying! The boy is confused!"
Julian: "He's seven years old, Evelyn! He doesn't lie about being locked in a burning room!"
Maya: "She knew the fire was going to happen, Mr. Sterling."
Evelyn: "Shut up! Shut your mouth, you filthy maid!"[cite: 1]
Julian: "Maya, what do you mean she knew?!"
Maya: "An hour before the fire started, I was cleaning the study. I overheard Mrs. Sterling talking to a man on her phone near the terrace."[cite: 1]
Evelyn: "She's making up stories! She wants to ruin our family!"
Maya: "She told the man that the insurance payout on the mansion estate would settle her gambling debts in Vegas, and that nobody would suspect anything if the old electrical wiring caught fire."
Julian took a step back, his jaw clenching as he stared at his wife in utter disbelief.
Julian: "Insurance payout? Evelyn... you put a thirty-million-dollar policy on the estate last month!"
Evelyn: "I did that to protect our family's wealth, Julian!"
Julian: "You arsoned our home?! With our child inside?!"
Evelyn: "He is NOT your child!"
The entire lawn went dead silent, save for the crackling of the dying flames and the low thrum of the fire engine pumps[cite: 1]. Julian stood frozen, his breath catching in his chest.
Julian: "What... what did you just say?"
Evelyn: "You heard me! Leo isn't your biological son! He never was!"
Julian: "Evelyn, what kind of sick joke is this?!"
Evelyn: "It's no joke, Julian! Eight years ago, when your father threatened to cut you out of the Sterling inheritance if you didn't produce an heir, I made sure you had one!"
Maya: "That's why you didn't care if he survived the fire..."
Evelyn: "He was just a tool to keep the family trust fund! The insurance money was meant to let me leave you forever!"
Detective Vance: "I think you've said quite enough, Mrs. Sterling."
A tall man in a dark trench coat stepped out from behind the police cruiser, holding a digital recorder in his hand[cite: 1].
Evelyn: "Who are you?!"
Detective Vance: "Detective Vance, Dallas Arson Bureau. We've been monitoring your phone calls for two weeks, Mrs. Sterling."
Evelyn: "Monitoring my calls?! That's illegal!"
Detective Vance: "Not with a federal warrant issued for suspected insurance fraud and conspiracy. Officers, take her into custody."
Two police officers moved in swiftly, pulling Evelyn's arms behind her back as she shrieked and struggled in her green silk dress.
Evelyn: "Julian! Tell them to let me go! You need me! You can't run the company without my father's board seats!"
Julian: "Get her out of my sight."
As the police led Evelyn away to a squad car, Julian fell to his knees on the wet grass beside Leo's stretcher, burying his face in his hands as he broke down in tears.
Julian: "Eight years... my whole marriage was a scam..."
Maya: "Mr. Sterling... please don't cry in front of Leo."
Julian: "If Leo isn't my son... whose child is he?! Where did she get him?!"
Maya looked down at the boy in the cream suit, her soot-stained hand gently caressing his small cheek as tears welled up in her eyes once more.
Maya: "She got him from St. Jude's Adoption Center in Houston, seven years ago."
Julian raised his head, staring at the maid in sudden confusion.
Julian: "How... how do you know that, Maya?"
Maya: "I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU."
Maya: "Because seven years ago... Evelyn Sterling paid the agency to take my newborn baby away from me while I was unconscious in the hospital."