Distant police sirens began to echo through the long estate driveway outside, their red and blue lights flashing through the tall glass windows of the grand ballroom.
Evelyn: Police?! Who called the police to my wedding?!
Marcus: I pressed the emergency panic signal on my wristwatch the second you struck Clara on the head, Evelyn.
Arthur: Marcus, please! Think about our business partnership! We can settle this privately in my office!
Marcus: We are done settling things privately, Arthur. You are going to prison.
The heavy oak double doors of the ballroom pushed open with a sharp clatter. Four uniformed police officers marched onto the light marble floor, led by Detective Vance in a dark grey trench coat.
Detective Vance: Police! Nobody move!
Arthur: Detective Vance! This is a private family misunderstanding regarding a catering employee!
Detective Vance: We didn't receive a dispatch for a catering misunderstanding, Mr. Vance. We received a live stream emergency feed from the ballroom security cameras showing a violent assault with a weapon.
Detective Vance held up a digital patrol tablet, displaying crystal-clear four-K video of Evelyn swinging the heavy wooden stick and striking Clara directly on the head while the young waitress was holding the child.
Detective Vance: Evelyn Vance, you are under arrest for attempted murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and felony child endangerment.
Evelyn: Get your hands off me! Do you know how much this lace dress costs?!
Detective Vance: Handcuff her, officers.
The two uniformed officers stepped forward, pulling Evelyn’s hands behind her white silk back. The cold, sharp click of steel handcuffs echoed clearly through the silent ballroom.
Evelyn: Marcus! Tell them to stop! Tell them we can work this out!
Marcus: You spent four years keeping my daughter away from her mother, Evelyn. You can spend the next twenty years behind iron bars thinking about what you stole.
Arthur: Detective! I am a senior board member of the city commercial alliance! You can't touch me!
Detective Vance: Arthur Vance, you are also under arrest for grand child trafficking, document forgery, and corporate wire fraud.
A third officer stepped behind Arthur, snapping a pair of steel handcuffs tightly around his wrists over his dark suit jacket.
Arthur: You ungrateful fool, Sterling! My firm built your real estate empire!
Marcus: Your firm built a house of lies, Arthur. And today it completely collapsed.
The officers turned Evelyn and Arthur around, guiding them down the center aisle of the ballroom past two hundred high-society guests who pulled out their smartphones, capturing every second of their downfall on video.
Guest A: Look at the bride in handcuffs!
Guest B: She tried to kill the mother of his child for a trust fund!
Evelyn thrashed against the officers' grip, her lace veil falling off her head and trampling under their boots as she was dragged out through the front doors into the bright daylight.
The heavy glass doors slammed shut with a sharp thud, cutting off her hysterical screaming once and for all.