Victoria: *Scrambling to her feet* You can't do this to me! My father is a senior partner at the largest corporate law firm in Texas! He will destroy you in court!
Brandon: Your father's firm won't touch this case once the media gets hold of the video footage from the hallway security cameras.
Victoria froze mid-step, her eyes shooting up toward the corner of the ceiling near the framed American flag decor. A subtle black camera dome glowed with a steady red light.
Victoria: That... that camera has been broken for months!
Brandon: I had the security system upgraded last week when I noticed funds missing from the estate maintenance account. Every second of you pouring hot soup over Maya’s head and admitting to forging adoption papers was recorded directly to the cloud server.
Victoria: No... no, turn it off! Delete the cloud files right now, Brandon!
Brandon: The cloud server is managed by an independent security firm in Austin. Even I can't delete the footage without a court order.
Maya: *Gasping* Victoria... where is Lily? What family did you give my baby to?!
Victoria: I didn't give her to a family! She’s at the St. Vincent Private Foster Home in North Dallas! She’s been living there under a temporary ward guardianship because the adoption paperwork got delayed by the county court!
Brandon: You kept my daughter in a temporary foster home for two years just to keep her hidden from me?!
Victoria: I was waiting until you turned thirty next month! Once you reached thirty, the trust fund money would be fully transferred into your private bank account, and the inheritance clause would no longer apply!
Brandon: You kept a toddler in a foster care system just so you could secure fifty million dollars in cash?!
Victoria: It was for OUR future! Everything I did, I did to make sure we stayed wealthy! You would have been cut off without a penny if your father found out about the maid!
Maya: Brandon... my baby is in North Dallas... she’s close! We can go get her right now!
Brandon: We will, Maya. I promise you, we are going to bring our daughter home today.
Outside the mansion, the distant sound of police sirens began to echo down the long, tree-lined driveway of the Dallas estate, growing louder with every passing second.
Victoria: Brandon, please! Don't let them arrest me in my own home! Think about my reputation! Think about the Sterling name!
Brandon: You destroyed the Sterling name the moment you turned this house into a prison for an innocent woman.
Maya: You made me wipe your floors while my heart was breaking for my child, Victoria. Now you can wipe your own tears in a prison cell.
Victoria sank back onto the marble floor, her white suit stained with grey dust and droplets of yellow soup as the flashing red and blue police lights began reflecting through the glass front doors.