Arthur: Victoria! Call my defense team! Call Vance and Associates right now!
Victoria: I’m calling my divorce lawyer, Arthur. You’re insane.
Arthur: Victoria! Don't you dare walk away from me!
Victoria: You almost killed a child tonight because you were drunk and ruined! I’m taking my mother’s estate and leaving you!
Victoria turned on her high heels and walked out of the ballroom, leaving her husband standing in handcuffs surrounded by police officers.
Arthur: You... you set me up! You witch!
Arthur glared at Nora with pure hatred as the officers held him by his arms.
Arthur: Who are you? Tell me who you really are!
Nora: My name is Nora Vance Sterling. I’m the majority shareholder of Bellevue Hotel Group and the Chief Executive Officer of Vance Global Security.
The entire room gasped once more. Guests exchanged shocked looks as the truth washed over the room like a tidal wave.
Guest A: Nora Vance Sterling? The late Arthur Sterling’s daughter?
Guest B: She owns fifty-one percent of this entire hotel chain!
Guest C: And her security firm handles cybersecurity for the Department of Justice!
Arthur: You... you’re Arthur Sterling’s heir?
Nora: That’s right, Arthur. This gala was hosted on my family’s property. You were invited here as a courtesy because your father was my dad’s old business partner.
Arthur: Nora... please. I didn't know it was your daughter! If I had known she was a Sterling—
Nora: If she was a poor girl from the street, would that have made it okay to hit her with an iron bar?
Arthur swallowed hard, unable to offer a single word of defense.
Nora: You showed the world who you really are tonight, Arthur. A bully who attacks the weak when he’s losing his money.
Detective Vance: Let's go, Montgomery. You have a long night ahead of you in county lockup.
Arthur: Nora! Please! We can make a financial settlement! I’ll pay ten million dollars to your daughter’s trust fund!
Nora: My daughter doesn't need your dirty money, Arthur. But you’re going to need every penny you have left to pay for your legal defense.
The officers dragged Arthur out through the grand entrance, his screams for mercy echoing through the lobby until the heavy glass doors closed behind him.
Nora walked over to the paramedic's gurney where Lily was wrapped in a warm blanket, her small hand reaching out for her mother.
Nora: Ready to go to the hospital, baby?
Lily: Will you hold my hand in the ambulance, Mommy?
Nora: I will hold your hand every single step of the way, my sweet girl.
Nora climbed into the back of the ambulance beside her daughter, pulling the doors closed as the emergency lights flashed against the hotel's white marble pillars.