By seven o'clock the next morning, news of the scandal had broken across every business station in the country.
Clara sat at her large mahogany dining table, wearing a crisp white suit that completely covered her bruised shoulder.
A neat white bandage was taped over the cut on her cheek, but her eyes were sharp and focused.
Mr. Harrison, her father’s estate lawyer, walked into the dining room carrying a thick stack of legal documents.
Lawyer: Good morning, Clara. The judge signed every single emergency order we requested last night.
Clara: Have Ethan’s personal bank accounts been officially frozen?
Lawyer: Frozen solid. He couldn't even buy a cup of coffee this morning if he tried.
Clara: What about his mother’s luxury real estate portfolio?
Lawyer: We placed a legal lien on every single property registered under Victoria Vance's name.
Clara: Excellent. Did the police review the penthouse security footage from last night?
Lawyer: Yes. Luckily, the hallway camera caught Ethan shoving you out of the office door and grabbing your dress.
Clara: So the assault charges are locked in?
Lawyer: Absolutely. The district attorney is personally handling the felony domestic assault warrant as we speak.
Suddenly, the heavy iron intercom speaker on the wall buzzed loudly.
Security Guard: Miss Clara, we have Ethan Vance and his mother standing at the main iron security gate.
Clara: Are they alone, Thomas?
Security Guard: Yes, ma'am. They don't have their driver or security guards with them. They came in a yellow taxicab.
Clara: A taxicab? I guess their luxury cars were seized by the bank overnight.
Lawyer: Do you want me to have the security team send them away, Clara?
Clara: No. Let them in through the side pedestrian door. I want to see them face to face.
Lawyer: Be careful, Clara. Ethan was violent with you last night.
Clara: He was brave inside his own penthouse when he thought he had all the power, Harrison. He’s nothing now.
Five minutes later, the front double doors of Clara’s mansion opened.
Ethan and Victoria stepped into the foyer, looking completely disheveled and exhausted.
Ethan’s expensive black suit was wrinkled, and Victoria wasn't wearing any of her signature diamond jewelry.
Ethan: Clara! Please, you need to talk to the bank officers right now!
Victoria: Clara, honey, this whole thing has gone way too far! We are family!
Clara: Family? You helped your son throw me against a desk and tear my dress last night, Victoria!
Victoria: That was just a silly family argument! Ethan was stressed about the business management!
Ethan: Clara, they locked me out of my own company building! The security guards wouldn't even let me take my computer!
Clara: That company building belonged to my father, Ethan. You were just an appointed executive officer.
Ethan: I worked there for three years! You can't just strip my salary and freeze my life savings!
Clara: Your life savings were built using stolen trust fund money from my father's estate!
Victoria: Clara, please! I don't even have enough cash in my wallet to pay the taxicab driver standing outside!
Clara: Then I suggest you hand him that expensive designer purse you’re holding, Victoria.