The distant wail of police sirens echoed down the long estate driveway, growing louder and sharper by the second. Flashing red and blue lights painted the high ballroom windows, casting crimson streaks across the white crown molding and the American flag.
Victoria scrambled to her feet, clutching the torn shoulder of her pink gown as she tried to bolt toward the side terrace exit.
Victoria: Get out of my way! I have diplomatic immunity through my father's corporate foundation!
Miller: Nobody moves! Stand down, Mrs. Vance!
Chief Miller and two guards blocked the terrace doors, their hands resting firmly on their stun weapons.
The front ballroom doors pushed open once more, and Detective Vance of the Dallas Major Crimes Division marched inside, flanked by four state troopers.
Detective Vance: Ethan Sterling? We received the automated cloud dispatch from your security grid.
Ethan: Thank you for coming so fast, Detective. The suspect is right there in the pink ballgown.
Victoria: Vance, wait! You know my family! My father played golf with the district attorney last Sunday!
Detective Vance: Your father was arrested at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport twenty minutes ago, Victoria. He was trying to board a private jet to the Bahamas with four million dollars in bearer bonds.
Victoria gasped, her body swaying as if all the bones in her legs had turned to dust.
Victoria: My... my father was arrested?!
Detective Vance: The federal task force executed a search warrant on your family's penthouse this morning. We found Sarah Sterling's missing medical files hidden inside your father's floor safe.
Ethan took a shuddering breath, his hands shaking as he reached down to gently touch Toby's cheek.
Ethan: What was inside those medical files, Detective?
Detective Vance: Proof of premeditated first-degree murder. Victoria purchased concentrated liquid digitalis from a dark-web distributor in Europe six months before Sarah's death.
Clara: She put three drops into Sarah's morning tea every day, Mr. Sterling. My mother documented every single symptom before Sarah passed away.
Victoria: Your mother was a common hospital nurse! Her notes are completely inadmissible in court!
Detective Vance: Her notes were verified by the state medical examiner two hours ago, Victoria. Sarah's body was exhumed yesterday afternoon under a secret court order. The toxicology reports came back completely positive for digitalis poisoning.
Victoria dropped to her knees on the marble floor, her face pale as a ghost, tears of pure horror ruining her expensive makeup.
Victoria: No... no! Sarah was supposed to die quietly! She wasn't supposed to leave notes!
Ethan: You murdered the mother of my child, and then you tried to throw my son onto stone tiles so you could steal her money!
Victoria: Ethan, please! I did it because I loved you! I wanted us to have an empire together without that woman's shadow hanging over our heads!
Ethan: You don't love anyone, Victoria. You are an evil parasite who used diamonds and silk to hide a rotten soul.
Detective Vance pulled a pair of heavy steel handcuffs from his belt, stepping forward with his officers.
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.
Victoria: Get your filthy hands off me! Ethan! Tell them to stop! Call your legal team!
Ethan: My legal team is currently drafting your civil forfeiture lawsuit, Victoria. Every single cent your family stole will be returned to my son's trust.
The state troopers grabbed Victoria by her sequined sleeves, forcing her arms behind her back. The sharp, metallic click of the handcuffs echoed through the high-ceilinged room like thunder.
Victoria: Ah! You're hurting my wrists! Ethan, please have mercy!
Ethan: You had zero mercy for a three-month-old infant, Victoria. You will get none from me.