Three days later, the stark visitor room at the Dallas County Jail was cold and sterile[cite: 1]. A thick panel of bulletproof glass separated the booths, with dirty plastic telephone handsets hanging on metal cords[cite: 1]. Victoria was led into the room by two female corrections officers, her wrists handcuffed to a leather belly chain[cite: 1]. Her silver gown had been replaced by a coarse orange jail jumpsuit, her hair unwashed, her face pale and devoid of makeup[cite: 1].
She sat down heavily on the metal stool and picked up the telephone, staring through the glass at Brandon, who sat on the other side wearing a sharp navy suit[cite: 1].
Victoria: *Voice raspy through the speaker* You have to get me out of here, Brandon. This place is disgusting. The guards are cruel, and the women in my block are insane.
Brandon: You look like you belong here, Victoria.
Victoria: Brandon, please! I'm your sister! We grew up in the same house! Dad would be turning in his grave if he saw you treating me like this!
Brandon: Don't you dare bring Dad into this! Dad trusted you, and you hired a criminal CFO to forge his will and steal his life's work!
Victoria: It was Julian's idea! He convinced me that you were going to cut me out of the family money! He said Chloe was manipulating you!
Brandon: You pushed a pregnant woman down a marble flight of stairs, Victoria! You tried to kill my wife and my unborn son! Was that Julian's idea too?!
Victoria's hands trembled against the glass panel, her voice cracking with desperate fake tears[cite: 1].
Victoria: I lost my mind, okay?! I was angry! I felt like everyone was replacing me! Chloe came into this family and suddenly you didn't care about me anymore!
Brandon: Chloe tried to love you, Victoria! She invited you to every family event, she bought you gifts, she tried to be your friend! But you couldn't stand seeing anyone else happy because your heart is black and empty!
Victoria: Tell the DA you won't testify, Brandon! If you don't testify, they can't convict me of the assault! I'll sign over all my company shares to you! I'll leave Texas forever!
Brandon: I don't need you to sign over your shares, Victoria. The board of directors voted unanimously yesterday to strip you of all corporate equity under the company's felony morality clause.
Victoria gasped, her face draining of what little color it had left[cite: 1].
Victoria: You... you stripped my equity? That's sixty million dollars!
Brandon: That money has been placed into a irrevocable medical trust fund under my son's name[cite: 1]. Every cent you tried to steal will go toward funding pediatric surgical care for low-income families across Texas.
Victoria: You can't do that! That's my inheritance!
Brandon: You inherited your freedom, Victoria, and you threw it away for greed. The grand jury indicted you on four felony counts this morning. You're going to trial, and I will be sitting in the front row of the courtroom watching the jury read the guilty verdict.
Victoria: Brandon! No! Please don't abandon me! I'm your blood!
Brandon stood up from the stool, setting the telephone receiver back onto its metal hook[cite: 1]. He looked down at Victoria through the glass with total indifference, refusing to hear her muffled screaming as the corrections officers forced her off her stool and dragged her back toward the cell block doors[cite: 1].