Victoria: You set a trap for me! You wired your own ballroom to spy on me!
Ethan: I wired this room because Clara warned me yesterday that you were asking about Toby's nursery window locks.
Victoria: Clara is a traitor! She should be scrubbing toilets, not whispering in your ear!
Clara: I found the bottle of liquid digitalis in your private vanity safe this morning, Victoria.
Victoria's jaw dropped open, her eyes darting frantically toward the large windows overlooking the driveway[cite: 1].
Victoria: You broke into my private safe?! That safe has a six-digit biometric code!
Clara: You wrote the code on the back of your gold compact mirror, Victoria. You aren't as clever as you think you are.
Ethan tapped the tablet screen again, bringing up the crystal-clear 4K security footage from five minutes ago[cite: 1].
The audio blasted through the ballroom speakers with terrifying sharpness[cite: 1].
On the screen, Victoria stood beneath the American flag, her face twisted in rage as she screamed, "GET RID OF IT RIGHT NOW!"[cite: 1]
Then came the sickening overhand throw, the baby flying through the air, and Clara's desperate slide across the marble tiles to catch him[cite: 1].
Victoria: Turn it off! Turn that off right now!
Ethan: Every board member of Sterling Global received this video on their phones three minutes ago, Victoria.
Victoria: No... no! The corporate board?!
Ethan: The board voted unanimously by emergency text proxy to revoke your family's corporate partnership and ban you from every Sterling property in North America.
Victoria thrashed her arms wildly, backing against the grand piano until the keys let out a harsh, discordant clash[cite: 1].
Victoria: Ethan, please! Have mercy on me! We were happy together! We traveled to Paris, we went to the charity galas!
Ethan: You used me to get to my wife's money, Victoria. You never loved me, and you certainly never loved my son.
Victoria: I can change! We can send Toby to an elite boarding school in Switzerland! We can have our own children!
Clara: You threw a three-month-old infant onto stone tiles, Victoria![cite: 1] You will never hold another child as long as you live!
Distant sirens began to echo down the long estate driveway outside, their shrill wails cutting through the high glass windows[cite: 1]. Red and blue lights flashed across the white walls, painting the American flag in brilliant emergency colors[cite: 1].
Victoria's hands clawed at the polished wood of the piano as sheer terror set in[cite: 1].
Victoria: Police?! You called the police to our home?!
Ethan: The automated dispatch triggered the second the camera registered Toby's fall, Victoria[cite: 1]. Detective Vance has been listening to this entire room.
The heavy front doors of the mansion chimed downstairs, followed by rapid tactical boots thundering across the foyer[cite: 1].
The ballroom double doors swung open wide once more, and Detective Vance marched into the room, flanked by four state troopers in full uniform[cite: 1].
Detective Vance: State Police! Nobody move! Ethan, is the infant secure?
Ethan: Toby is completely unharmed thanks to Clara, Detective[cite: 1]. The suspect is right there by the piano.
Detective Vance drew a thick leather folder from his trench coat, stepping forward across the light marble floor[cite: 1].
Detective Vance: Victoria Vance, you are under arrest for the first-degree murder of Sarah Sterling, felony attempted murder of an infant, aggravated child abuse, and grand corporate wire fraud[cite: 1].
Victoria: Vance, wait! You know my uncle! He sits on the state supreme court appeals board!
Detective Vance: Your uncle recused himself thirty minutes ago, Victoria, right after reviewing your offshore banking transactions.
Victoria gasped, her knees giving out completely as she slid down the side of the grand piano, her pink diamond gown pooling around her on the floor[cite: 1].