Clara: Mr. Vance, tripling my salary isn't necessary. I was just doing my job.
Ethan: You did what a real mother would do. That goes far beyond any job description.
Clara: Leo is a special boy. He deserves to feel safe in his own home.
Ethan: Victoria wanted to send him away to a boarding school in Europe after the wedding.
Clara gasped, covering her mouth in shock as she looked at Ethan.
Clara: A boarding school?! He's only six years old!
Ethan: She presented it to me last week as a way to make him more disciplined. I refused, but I didn't realize how much she truly hated him.
Clara: She saw him as an obstacle to your fortune, Mr. Vance.
Ethan: My fortune belongs to him. Everything I build, every company I buy, is for Leo's future.
Clara: He misses his mother very much. That song he was playing on the piano... his mother used to play it for him every night.
Ethan's eyes softened, a faint smile appearing on his usually stern face.
Ethan: I know that song. My late wife, Sarah, composed it the day Leo was born.
Clara: He told me he plays it when he feels lonely so he can remember her voice.
Ethan: And Victoria called it an awful noise...
Clara: She didn't understand what it meant. She only saw a child getting in her way.
Ethan: I made a terrible mistake agreeing to marry her in the first place. I thought giving Leo a high-society mother figure was the right thing to do.
Clara: High society doesn't make a good mother, sir. Love does.
Ethan stared at Clara, feeling a warmth in his chest that he hadn't experienced in years since his wife's passing.
Ethan: You're right, Clara. Love is the only thing that matters.
Downstairs, the security gates opened as police cars pulled up to the main entrance of the Vance estate.
Victoria Sterling was standing beside her father's luxury car on the outer driveway, shouting at the security officers who refused to let her back inside.
Victoria: This is ridiculous! I left my diamond engagement ring inside the ballroom!
Head of Security: Mr. Vance has already secured the ring in his personal vault, Miss Sterling.
Victoria: That ring is worth two million dollars! It belongs to me!
Officer Miller: Victoria Sterling? I am Officer Miller with the city police department.
Victoria spun around, her eyes widening as two uniformed officers stepped out of the patrol car.
Victoria: What is the meaning of this?! Why are the police here?!
Officer Miller: We have a warrant for your arrest for child endangerment and third-degree battery.
Victoria: Battery?! Are you insane?! I am Richard Sterling's daughter!
Officer Miller: Hands behind your back, ma'am. We have reviewable video evidence provided by Mr. Vance's legal team.
Victoria: Father! Do something! Call the mayor right now!
Richard Sterling stepped out of his car, looking completely defeated as he pulled out his phone with trembling hands.
Richard: Victoria... stop yelling. The video feed was sent directly to the police chief. There is nothing I can do.
Victoria: You're just going to let them arrest me?!
Officer Miller: You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
The steel handcuffs clicked tightly around Victoria's wrists, pinning her arms behind her torn white gown.
She was pushed into the back seat of the police cruiser, screaming Ethan's name into the dark glass as the car drove away from the gates.