Guest D: Hey! You can't lock us in here! I have a flight to catch!
Arthur: Nobody leaves until my stolen property is recovered! I own twenty percent of this hotel group!
Nora: You don't own the law, Arthur!
Arthur: In this town, I am the law! Guard, grab that woman and tie her hands until the precinct commander arrives!
Guard One: Sir, we cannot physically detain a guest without evidence—
Arthur: I gave you an order! Do you want to be fired before midnight?
Nora: Touch me and you’ll be picking your teeth off this marble floor next to your boss.
The guard took a step back, looking at Nora’s calm, terrifying stance. He remembered the thunderous roundhouse kick that had just leveled a six-foot-two billionaire in a single second.
Guard Two: Mr. Montgomery, let’s check the security cameras first. The whole room is under high-definition surveillance.
Arthur: No! The camera system in the west hall is under maintenance tonight!
Nora: Maintenance? How convenient for you.
Arthur: I don't need cameras! I know what I felt! She bumped into my right side and reached into my pocket!
Lily: Mommy, I bumped the table because the big man pushed past me...
Nora: Hear that, Arthur? She bumped the dessert table because you shoved past a child without looking!
Arthur: She’s lying to protect her mother!
Nora: My daughter has never lied a day in her life! Unlike you, who’s currently under federal investigation for tax fraud on your Virginia estate!
The crowd gasped louder. Arthur’s face turned from red to a dangerous shade of purple.
Arthur: How do you know about that investigation? Who the hell are you?
Nora: I’m the woman who’s going to take everything you own before this week is over.
Arthur: You’re a nobody! A low-class nobody in a borrowed dress!
Nora: Is that why you’re sweating, Arthur? Because a 'nobody' just put you on your knees in front of your financial backers?
Arthur: Where is my wife? Victoria! Get over here right now!
A tall woman in a sharp silver sequin gown walked through the crowd, holding a small velvet jewelry box in her hands. She looked nervous, her eyes darting between her husband and the bleeding child on the floor.
Victoria: Arthur... what is going on? Why are the doors locked?
Arthur: This brat stole your mother’s diamond broach!
Victoria: My mother’s broach? Arthur... what are you talking about?
Arthur: The three-million-dollar pin! The one I put in my coat pocket before we left the estate!
Victoria: Arthur... you didn't put it in your coat pocket.
Arthur: What?
Victoria: You gave it to the jeweler in Georgetown this morning for cleaning and resetting! Here’s the receipt!
Victoria opened the velvet box, pulling out a stamped paper receipt from Washington’s most exclusive jewelry shop.
The entire ballroom fell into a dead, suffocating silence. Every single eye turned to look at Arthur, who stood frozen near the dessert display with his mouth half-open.
Nora: The broach was at the jeweler’s?
Victoria: Yes! He dropped it off at ten o'clock this morning!
Nora: So you struck a six-year-old child across the head with an iron stand over a diamond that was sitting in a safe three miles away?
Arthur swallowed hard, his face turning pale as the realization of what he had done washed over him in front of three hundred witnesses.