Victoria: Marcus, please! Think about what the press will write tomorrow morning!
Marcus: The press will write that a gold digger tried to kill my son and went to prison for it.
Victoria: I gave you two years of my life!
Marcus: You spent two years stealing from my company while pretending to love my family.
Detective Vance: Move toward the squad car, ma'am.
Victoria: Get off me, officer! I can walk on my own!
Victoria's sequined dress sparkled under the morning daylight as she was escorted down the marble steps[cite: 1].
Outside the iron security gates, news vans and photographers had already gathered, camera flashes exploding in the sunlight.
Reporter: Miss Vance! Did you throw Marcus Sterling's infant son onto a marble floor?![cite: 1]
Victoria: Turn off those cameras! Stop filming me right now!
Reporter: Are the allegations of trust fund embezzlement true?!
Victoria: I am the victim here! Marcus attacked me in his foyer![cite: 1]
Detective Vance held up the digital tablet toward the reporters through the open gate.
Detective Vance: The security footage of the aggravated child abuse has been officially submitted into evidence[cite: 1]. No further comments.
Victoria thrashed against the squad car door as an officer pushed her head down into the backseat.
The heavy car door slammed shut with a metallic thump, cutting off her shrill screams.
Marcus stood at the top of the mansion steps, his fists clenched tight as the police cruiser sped away.
Jackson walked up beside him, holding a thick stack of printed papers.
Jackson: Mr. Sterling, the forensic audit of Victoria's private laptop is complete.
Marcus: What did you find on her hard drives?
Jackson: She had been searching for offshore bank accounts in Switzerland that don't extradite to the United States.
Marcus: She was planning to flee the country after our wedding.
Jackson: Worse than that, sir. She searched for clinical infant sedatives three days ago.
Marcus felt a chill run down his spine as he stared at the papers.
Marcus: She wasn't just trying to hurt him today. She was planning to poison him slowly.
Jackson: Yes, sir. She wanted full control of the sixty-million-dollar Sarah Sterling Trust Fund.
Marcus: Have our legal team hand every single file to the district attorney.
Jackson: Right away, Mr. Sterling.
Marcus turned back inside the foyer, looking down at the dark drop of blood still staining the white marble floor[cite: 1].
He took out his smartphone and dialed his private pilot.
Pilot: Yes, Mr. Sterling?
Marcus: Prep the private helicopter. I need to be at Children's Mercy Hospital in ten minutes.
Pilot: The helipad is ready, sir. Engines are spinning up.
Marcus pulled his coat tight, running across the foyer toward the rear terrace.
He had an empire worth billions, but right now, none of it mattered compared to the heartbeat of his son.