Eleanor: My papers... get your hands away from those documents right now!
Eleanor scrambled frantically across the wooden floor, her designer suit jacket twisting awkwardly as she lunged to snatch the papers before Chloe could glance down[cite: 1, 2]. But Chloe was already kneeling amidst the scattered pages, her fingers brushing against the heavy embossed cover of the folder that had burst open during the fall[cite: 1, 2].
Chloe: What is this? Why are my name and my mother's medical history all over these files, Eleanor[cite: 1, 2]?
Eleanor: It's none of your business! You are a gold-digging interloper trying to trap my son into a fraudulent marriage[cite: 1, 2]!
Chloe: Fraudulent? These are trust fund allocation papers from Anthony Enterprises dated twenty-five years ago[cite: 1, 2]!
Eleanor snatched a handful of pages back, her knuckles turning bone-white as she clutched them against her chest like a shield[cite: 1, 2].
Eleanor: You know nothing about how this family operates, girl. My family built this entire corporate empire from the ground up through smart business acquisitions and ironclad prenuptial agreements[cite: 1, 2].
Chloe: And what does that have to do with my baby being born in secret inside your guest suite[cite: 1, 2]?
Eleanor: Everything! Because according to the Anthony family charter, any direct heir born outside of an approved corporate union forfeits all rights to the billion-dollar estate trust fund[cite: 1, 2]!
Chloe: So you knew? You knew about the pregnancy all along and that's why you locked me in the East Wing[cite: 1, 2]?
Eleanor: I protected our assets. Anthony wealth doesn't get squandered on nobodies from working-class suburbs[cite: 1, 2].
Chloe: I am married to your son legally! We had a real wedding in downtown Manhattan[cite: 1, 2]!
Eleanor: A secret little ceremony behind my back does not constitute an approved corporate union under the primary shareholder bylaws[cite: 1, 2]!
Eleanor forced herself up onto her knees, smoothing down her beige skirt while trying to regain her usual icy composure[cite: 1, 2].
Eleanor: Julian is destined to marry Victoria Vance next month. Her family controls half the commercial real estate downtown[cite: 1, 2].
Chloe: Julian loves me, not Victoria! He chose me over your stupid boardroom mergers[cite: 1, 2]!
Eleanor: Julian does what his inheritance dictates, and right now, his signature on the corporate restructuring papers is the only thing keeping this mansion out of foreclosure[cite: 1, 2].
Chloe: You're lying. Julian told me the family business was thriving[cite: 1, 2]!
Eleanor: Julian is a naive boy playing at being a husband while our corporate debt piles higher every single day[cite: 1, 2].
Eleanor sneered, pointing a manicured nail directly at the newborn baby resting against Chloe's shivering shoulder[cite: 1, 2].
Eleanor: And that little accident you just pulled out of the toilet bowl? That's just a legal nuisance that needs to disappear before the shareholders meeting on Monday[cite: 1, 2].