Victoria: My back... oh God, my back! Security! Arrest this insane woman immediately!
Samantha: Stay right there on the floor where you belong, Victoria[cite: 1].
Victoria: You lay your filthy hands on me in my own stepson's engagement gala? You're going to prison for the rest of your life!
Samantha: This isn't your stepson's gala anymore[cite: 1]. Look around this room[cite: 1]. Look at the board members sitting at table one[cite: 1].
Two tall, broad-shouldered security guards in dark suits stepped out from the shadows near the grand entrance, walking quickly toward the spotlight[cite: 1]. The crowd parted right down the center to let them through[cite: 1]. Victoria scrambled up onto her elbows, her yellow dress covered in dust and wood polish[cite: 1].
Victoria: Guards! Thank God! Grab her! She just assaulted the primary trustee of the Vance Corporation!
Guard 1: Stand down, ma'am.
Victoria: What did you say to me? I said arrest her! She's bleeding from her cheek because I had to defend myself!
Samantha: Tell her who hired you tonight, Marcus[cite: 1].
Guard 1: We take our orders directly from the majority shareholder of Vance Enterprises, Mrs. Victoria.
Victoria: I am the majority shareholder! My late husband left me fifty-one percent of the voting stock in his final will!
Samantha: Your late husband's will was audited three weeks ago by the federal district court[cite: 1]. Did your high-priced corporate defense lawyers forget to inform you?
Victoria: What audit? What are you talking about?
Samantha: The probate court discovered four forged signatures on the trust transfer deeds dated five years ago[cite: 1]. The exact week my father mysteriously died in his office[cite: 1].
Victoria: Your father was sick! He had a failing heart! Everyone in this room knows he was sick!
Samantha: My father didn't have a heart attack, Victoria. He was given massive doses of liquid digitalis in his morning coffee for six months straight.
A collective gasp echoed across the surrounding tables[cite: 1]. Guests began whispering behind their crystal champagne glasses, pulling out their phones to record the scene[cite: 1].
Victoria: That's a slanderous lie! You're making up crazy stories because my husband fired you after his death!
Samantha: He didn't fire me. You framed me for embezzling two million dollars from the family foundation so you could force me out of the estate[cite: 1]. You had me blacklisted from every law firm in the state!
Victoria: Because you were a thief! You stole from your own stepmother!
Samantha: I was never your stepdaughter, Victoria. I was the secret sole heir listed in my father's original 2018 living trust.
Victoria: That living trust was destroyed in the office fire!
Samantha: You thought it was destroyed. But my father kept an encrypted duplicate stored inside the bank safety deposit vault in downtown Chicago.
Victoria's eyes widened[cite: 1]. Her face drained of all color, her bright red lipstick standing out against her pale, horrified skin[cite: 1]. She tried to push herself up to her feet, but her knees buckled beneath her yellow dress[cite: 1].
Victoria: No... no, that's impossible. The vault key was in my jewelry box!
Samantha: The vault key wasn't in your jewelry box, Victoria. It was in my pocket the entire time[cite: 1].
Victoria: Julian! Julian, where are you? Get down here right now!
From the top of the grand staircase, a tall man in a dark grey suit slowly walked down the steps, holding a thick leather briefcase under his arm[cite: 1]. He didn't look at Victoria[cite: 1]. His eyes were fixed entirely on Samantha standing under the bright spotlight[cite: 1].
Julian: It's over, Victoria[cite: 1]. Stop screaming[cite: 1].
Victoria: Julian! Tell these guards to throw this crazy girl out! You're the lead legal counsel for the estate!
Julian: As of eight o'clock this morning, I no longer represent you, Victoria[cite: 1]. I represent the real owner of Vance Enterprises[cite: 1].