Victoria: Julian, please! Think about the family reputation! We can work this out privately inside the house!
Julian: You didn't care about my family's reputation when you let your mother kick my son's plate across the yard, Victoria.
Victoria: I didn't mean it! I was just stressed about the wedding arrangements!
Julian: Stressed? You were smiling when my boy was crying on the floor!
Julian handed the black leather folder directly to his family lawyer, Mr. Harrison, who was standing quietly near the garden entrance.
Julian: Mr. Harrison, read Clause Four aloud so every guest here knows exactly who owns this land.
Mr. Harrison: Of course, Julian.
Mr. Harrison adjusted his reading glasses, opening the crisp white pages inside the folder as the crowd fell into a dead silence.
Mr. Harrison: "Under Clause Four of the amended Sterling Family Trust, all real estate, including the Dallas estate, the penthouse properties, and the primary land holdings, are transferred instantly to Julian Sterling upon his thirty-fifth birthday."
Evelyn: No! That's a forgery! I never signed off on that amendment!
Mr. Harrison: Your signature was not required, Mrs. Sterling. The assets were earned solely by the late Arthur Sterling prior to your marriage. Furthermore, Clause Five addresses the guardianship of minor heirs.
Victoria: What about Marcus? Marcus is my fiancé! He is Arthur's eldest son!
Mr. Harrison: Marcus Sterling was officially removed as a beneficiary six months ago after an audit revealed he transferred two million dollars from the family trust to an offshore account in the Cayman Islands.
Victoria: What?! Two million dollars?!
Victoria turned around in shock, staring at her fiancé, Marcus, who was standing frozen near the bar table, his glass trembling in his hand.
Victoria: Marcus! Is this true?! You told me you were the sole heir to the construction firm!
Marcus: Victoria... listen to me, it's complicated...
Victoria: You broke! You tricked me into getting engaged to a penniless fraud!
Julian: You two deserve each other. Greedy, heartless parasites who prey on old men and pick on helpless children.
Evelyn: Julian, you can't throw us out! Where are we supposed to live?!
Julian: That is not my concern, Evelyn. You have thirty minutes to clear your personal belongings out of the master suite.
Evelyn: Thirty minutes?! This mansion has twenty rooms!
Julian: Then I suggest you start packing right now, or my security guards will throw your designer clothes onto the driveway for the garbage truck to collect.
Leo looked up from his father's arms, his small hand pointing toward the ruined cake on the ground.
Leo: Daddy, can I have real cake now?
Julian: You can have the biggest cake in Texas, little man. Come on, let's go inside.
Julian lifted Leo into his arms, carrying him past the stunned crowd of guests while Evelyn screamed in rage behind them.