Eleanor: Stay away from my granddaughter[cite: 2]!
Patrick: Mother, calm down! You don't understand the situation[cite: 2]!
Eleanor: I see a terrified six-year-old drowning in a display tank inside my own home[cite: 2]!
Eleanor stepped across the flooded floor, her hand whipping through the air with a thunderous crack across Victoria's face[cite: 2, 3].
Victoria: Ah[cite: 3]!
The impact sent Victoria stumbling backward into the marble wall, clutching her bleeding lip in raw disbelief[cite: 2, 3].
Eleanor: Officer, arrest them both right now[cite: 2]!
Patrick: Wait, mother, let me explain[cite: 2]!
Officer Davis: Hands behind your back, sir! Do not reach for your pockets[cite: 2, 3]!
Patrick: Officer, this is my private residence! You cannot arrest me in my own foyer[cite: 2]!
Officer Davis: Mr. Vance, we are witnessing felony child endangerment with our own eyes[cite: 2].
Victoria: This is outrageous! I am Victoria Sterling! My father is on the state supreme court committee[cite: 2]!
Officer Miller: Turn around, ma'am. Hands behind your back right now[cite: 2, 3].
The steel handcuffs clicked shut around Victoria’s wrists with a sharp, heavy snap[cite: 2, 3].
Victoria: You're ruining an eighty-thousand-dollar sequined gown, you common brute[cite: 2]!
Eleanor: That dress will look wonderful in a county jail cell, Victoria[cite: 2].
Lily: Grandma... My feet are so cold... I can't feel my toes[cite: 2].
Eleanor: I’ve got you, my precious angel. Nana has you wrapped in warm wool[cite: 2].
Eleanor stripped off her beige suit coat, wrapping the dry, warm fabric around Lily’s soaked shoulders[cite: 2].
Patrick: Mother, it was sensory water therapy! A pediatric counselor in Austin recommended cold water exposure for behavioral discipline[cite: 2]!
Eleanor: Sensory therapy?! Behind a deadbolted glass hatch under six feet of water[cite: 2]?!
Patrick: The water level was never going past her shoulders! We had the drain valve set on a timer[cite: 2]!
Lily: She said I was going to sleep with the fishes, Grandma[cite: 2]!
Victoria: She's a hysterical little liar! Children say whatever gets them attention[cite: 2]!
Eleanor: Do not speak to my grandchild, you poisonous snake[cite: 2]!
Patrick: Mother, listen to me! Victoria and I are announcing our corporate merger tonight! The investors are arriving at six[cite: 2]!
Eleanor: There is no merger, Patrick. And there is no investment[cite: 2].
Patrick: What are you talking about? Vance Maritime is acquiring Sterling Logistics for ninety million dollars[cite: 2]!
Eleanor: Vance Maritime belongs to me, Patrick. Every single voting share[cite: 2].
Patrick: Father left forty percent of the voting trust to me in his will[cite: 2]!
Eleanor: Your father left you a conditional beneficiary clause, you foolish boy[cite: 2].
Patrick froze as Officer Davis pushed him down onto his knees on the wet marble floor[cite: 2].
Patrick: What conditional clause? Richard and I reviewed the probate draft three years ago[cite: 2]!
Eleanor: Your father knew what kind of man you were becoming under Victoria's thumb[cite: 2].
Eleanor reached into the interior leather pocket of her briefcase, pulling out a sealed blue folder[cite: 2].
Eleanor: Officer Miller, please radio dispatch for emergency paramedics to evaluate Lily's hypothermia[cite: 2].
Officer Miller: Paramedic unit is already two minutes out, Mrs. Vance[cite: 2].
Patrick: Mother, don't do this to our family name! Think about the stock price tomorrow morning[cite: 2]!
Eleanor: You stopped being my family the moment you turned on your own flesh and blood for greed[cite: 2].
Eleanor held the blue folder high under the massive American flag, letting the wax seal catch the daylight[cite: 2].
Victoria stared at the emblem, her arrogant smirk vanishing into a cold, paralyzing knot of dread[cite: 2].