Victoria: "Frank! You pushed me into a bathtub! Are you insane?!"
Frank: "Shut your mouth before I make sure you never speak again!"
Victoria: "I am your wife! You can't treat me like this!"
Frank: "You are a monster who just held a flame to a two-year-old child!"[cite: 1]
Frank lifted Lily gently into his arms, standing up from the marble floor while holding her securely against his chest[cite: 1]. The little girl buried her face in the shoulder of his black suit, her small body still shaking from the terror.
Lily: "Daddy... the fire was so hot..."
Frank: "I know, sweetheart. I know. Daddy's right here. Nobody will ever hurt you again."
Victoria hauled herself out of the gold-accented bathtub, soapy water dripping from her metallic robe onto the expensive Persian rug[cite: 1]. Her styled hair was ruined, sticking to her face in wet clumps as she glared at her husband.
Victoria: "She is lying! Children make things up all the time!"
Frank: "She didn't make up the red burn mark on her arm, Victoria!"[cite: 1]
Victoria: "She fell in the garden earlier! She scratched herself on a rose bush!"
Frank: "A rose bush doesn't leave scorched skin around a scratch!"
Frank stepped forward, his polished shoes clicking sharply on the wet marble[cite: 1]. Victoria flinched, stepping backward against the vanity table.
Frank: "Reach into your right robe pocket."
Victoria: "What? Why?"
Frank: "Reach into your pocket and pull out what's inside. Do it now!"
Victoria: "I don't have anything in my pocket!"
Without waiting, Frank reached out with one swift motion and shoved his hand directly into the wet pocket of her gold metallic robe[cite: 1]. His fingers wrapped around the cold metal casing of the brass cigarette lighter[cite: 1]. He pulled it out and held it directly in front of her face[cite: 1].
Frank: "Neither of us smoke, Victoria. Why do you have a metal lighter in your robe pocket?"[cite: 1]
Victoria: "I... I found it on the patio! I was going to throw it away!"
Frank: "You are a pathologically evil liar."
Victoria: "Frank, please! You're letting your temper ruin our family! I love Lily like my own daughter!"
Frank: "If you loved her, you wouldn't be trying to torture her while I'm at work!"[cite: 1]
Victoria: "I was just trying to discipline her! She needs to learn respect!"
Frank: "She's two years old! She doesn't need to be disciplined with a lighter!"[cite: 1]
From the doorway of the estate kitchen, the head nanny, Martha, ran out with a white cloth and a bowl of cold ice water.
Martha: "Mr. Vance! I heard screaming! Oh dear God, what happened to little Lily?!"
Frank: "Martha, take Lily upstairs to the nursery right now. Clean her arm and put a cold compress on that wound."
Martha: "Right away, sir. Come here, my sweet girl."
Lily reached out for Martha, letting the elderly nanny take her into her arms[cite: 1]. Frank watched them walk up the grand curved staircase before turning his dark, deadly gaze back to Victoria[cite: 1].
Frank: "Your reign in this house is officially over."
Victoria: "You can't throw me out! We are legally married! Half of this mansion belongs to me!"[cite: 1]
Frank: "Nothing in this house belongs to you. And in about ten minutes, your freedom won't belong to you either."
Frank pulled his smartphone from his inner jacket pocket, tapping the screen to dial his corporate security chief.
Frank: "Marcus? Bring the security team to the foyer immediately. And call the Dallas Police Department. Tell them we have a child abuser in custody."[cite: 1]
Victoria: "No! Frank, don't call the police! Think about my reputation in Dallas! Think about our status!"[cite: 1]
Frank: "Your status is about to be a state inmate."