Gwendolyn backed up against the heavy wooden double doors, her hands trembling as she held them up in front of her chest.
Gwendolyn: "Richard, please! Don't let them take me away! We can settle this privately between us!"
Richard: "Privately?! You tried to toss my daughter over a railing for cash!"
Gwendolyn: "It wasn't just about cash! I was tired of being second best in this house!"
Richard: "What are you talking about?!"
Gwendolyn: "Ever since we got married, you've treated me like a ghost! Everything in this estate belongs to Maya! The trust fund, the family business, the real estate portfolio!"
Richard: "Because she is my biological daughter! My late wife and I built this company for her future!"
Gwendolyn: "And what about my future?! Your pre-nuptial agreement leaves me with a pathetic tiny allowance if we divorce!"
Clara: "Mr. Vance, two weeks ago I found a file on her desk in the study. She was reviewing the estate inheritance clauses."
Richard turned his head toward Clara, his brow furrowing deep with concern.
Richard: "What did the file say, Clara?"
Clara: "It had highlighted sections regarding sole heir mortality. She was checking to see if the entire trust fund would transfer to the surviving spouse if Maya passed away."
Richard let out a sharp, bitter laugh, shaking his head in absolute disgust.
Richard: "You actually studied my legal documents to figure out how much you'd inherit if my daughter died?!"
Gwendolyn: "I deserved a share of this wealth! I spent two years playing the sweet stepmother while you spent all your time at corporate boardrooms!"
Richard: "You didn't deserve a single cent! You're nothing but a parasite!"
Gwendolyn: "I sacrificed my life for you! I sat through your boring charity galas, I pretended to care about your friends, and for what?! A pre-nup that locks me out of the mansion!"
Richard: "You signed that pre-nup willingly before our wedding!"
Gwendolyn: "Because you promised me we would update it after two years! But you kept postponing it!"
Richard: "Because I started noticing who you really were! You didn't care about me or Maya, you only cared about the Vance name on your credit cards!"
Gwendolyn's face twisted into an ugly, bitter snarl as her desperate apology melted away completely into pure, unadulterated greed.
Gwendolyn: "I gave you two years of my youth, Richard! I'm not leaving this family empty-handed!"
Richard: "You'll be lucky if you leave prison before you're sixty years old!"
Gwendolyn: "If you turn that video over to the district attorney, I will ruin you! I will go to every tabloid in New York and claim you physically abused me daily!"
Richard: "Do you think I care about rumors when I have video evidence of you attempting murder?!"
Gwendolyn: "The press loves a scandal, Richard! Your company stock will crash by forty percent overnight!"
Richard: "My daughter is alive because Clara saved her. That is the only thing in this entire universe that matters to me!"
Gwendolyn: "Give me five million dollars! Wire five million dollars to my offshore account, and I will sign a non-disclosure agreement and disappear forever!"
Richard: "You won't get five dollars from me."
Outside the front doors, the loud wail of police sirens began echoing down the long, gated driveway of the estate. The bright red and blue lights flashed through the tall windows, reflecting off the American flag hanging in the foyer.
Gwendolyn: "No... no! They're already here?!"
Richard: "I pressed the panic button on my smartwatch the moment I walked through those doors."
Gwendolyn panicked and turned to run toward the back hallway leading to the kitchen, but Richard stepped forward with lightning speed, blocking her path completely.
Richard: "You're not running away from this, Gwendolyn."