Vivian: You can't remove me from the board! I hold thirty percent of the preferred stock options!
Julian: Stock options that were contingent on my father's secondary will! A will that you hid in your private safe until my legal team subpoenaed your lawyer yesterday morning!
Vivian: What lawyer?! Who told you about Mr. Sterling?!
Julian: Mr. Sterling called me personally three days ago in London, Vivian. He realized you had given him a forged death certificate for Elena!
Vivian's mouth opened in a silent gasp of terror. She stumbled down two steps, her hand clutching the brass banister for support.
Vivian: Sterling... Sterling promised me confidentiality!
Julian: Sterling is a senior legal partner who isn't going to lose his license and go to federal prison for your sick little land grab!
Elena: Julian... the papers... she made me sign papers yesterday in the study...
Julian: What papers, Elena?
Elena: A transfer agreement... She said if I signed over my father's commercial real estate holdings, she would let me visit your grave...
A tear slipped down Julian's cheek as he looked down at his wife's pale, hollow face. The sheer cruelty of what his stepmother had inflicted on her made his blood run ice-cold.
Julian: You told her she could visit my grave... You sick, twisted monster!
Vivian: She signed them voluntarily! I have it on notary seal!
Julian: A notary seal obtained under physical duress, false imprisonment, and psychological torture is completely void under federal law!
Vivian: You can't prove any of this! It's her word against mine! The staff will testify that she was treated like family!
Julian: What staff, Vivian?! The driver you paid off in cash? Or the security team I just fired ten minutes ago at the front gates?
Heavy footsteps thundered against the stone steps outside the grand double doors. The brass handles turned, and four uniformed police officers strode into the grand hall, led by a tall detective in a dark trench coat.
Detective Miller: Julian Vance?
Julian: Right here, Detective. My wife needs immediate medical attention, but the suspect is standing on the landing.
Vivian: Police?! What is the meaning of this?! I called for security to remove an intruder!
Detective Miller: Ma'am, stay right where you are. Don't take another step down those stairs.
Vivian: Do you know who I am?! I am Vivian Vance! My late husband built the city hall building you work in!
Detective Miller: We have a federal warrant for your arrest, Mrs. Vance. Charges include felony false imprisonment, grand forgery, extortion, and criminal physical abuse.
Vivian: Arrest?! This is a domestic dispute! This is a family argument over corporate shares!
Detective Miller: Keeping a woman locked in a basement for six weeks while feeding her bread and water isn't a domestic dispute, ma'am. That's human trafficking and kidnapping.