Victoria: You put a hidden camera in my kitchen?!
Julian: This isn't your kitchen, Victoria. This house belongs to Emma's trust fund.
Victoria: You had no legal right to record me without my consent!
Julian: In the state of Texas, only one party needs to consent to an audio and video recording.
Victoria: You set me up! You pretended to leave for the airport just to catch me!
Julian: I came back because Maria, our head housekeeper, called my cell phone in tears.
Victoria: That old maid is fired! I will have her deported by midnight!
Julian: Maria is an American citizen, Victoria, and she just signed a sworn witness deposition.
Emma: Daddy, can we go to my bedroom? The kitchen smells like bleach.
Julian gently lifted Emma into his arms, wrapping his dry suit coat around her shivering body.
Julian: We're going upstairs right now, sweetie. Mrs. Gable is waiting in the nursery with dry clothes.
Mrs. Gable stepped through the kitchen side door, her eyes red from crying as she took Emma into her arms.
Mrs. Gable: Come here, precious angel. Nana has warm cocoa and your favorite fuzzy slippers upstairs.
Emma: Don't let the mean lady come upstairs, Daddy!
Julian: Nobody will ever hurt you again, Emma. Daddy promises on his life.
Julian watched Mrs. Gable carry his daughter up the back stairs before turning his attention back to Victoria.
He reached into his leather briefcase on the counter, pulling out a thick blue folder with official court seals.
Julian: Do you recognize these papers, Victoria?
Victoria: What is that? More fake legal threats to scare me?
Julian: These are the financial audit reports from Vance Maritime Holdings.
Victoria took a step back, her high heels clicking loudly against the polished marble floor.
Victoria: How did you get access to my father's private corporate accounts?
Julian: Your father tried to use Sterling Logistics cargo lines to move unregistered foreign containers last week.
Victoria: That was a routine shipping partnership! Our families have traded together for twenty years!
Julian: Those containers didn't carry industrial parts, Victoria. They carried laundered currency from offshore shell firms.
Victoria: That's a lie! My father is a respected philanthropist and former state senator!
Julian: Your father is currently sitting in a federal holding cell in downtown Dallas.
Victoria's jaw dropped open, her hands shaking violently as she gripped the marble counter.
Victoria: My father... arrested? You're bluffing! You couldn't take down Marcus Vance!
Julian: Federal marshals raided his penthouse at eight o'clock this morning.
Victoria: No... No! That's impossible! He had dinner with the attorney general yesterday!
Julian: The attorney general signed the search warrant forty-eight hours ago, Victoria.
Victoria: What does this have to do with me? I don't run the shipping lines!
Julian: Your signature is on thirty-two fraudulent transfer authorizations, Victoria.
Victoria: I was only signing documents my father told me to sign as an officer of the board!
Julian: You transferred twelve million dollars out of Emma's maternal trust fund into an account in the Cayman Islands!
Victoria's breath caught in her throat, her eyes widening in pure, unmasked panic.
Victoria: That trust fund was supposed to be community property after our wedding!
Julian: That money was Clara's life insurance and intellectual property royalties! It was never yours!
The distant sound of wailing police sirens began to echo down the long oak-lined driveway outside the mansion.
Red and blue flashing lights danced across the white kitchen cabinets, reflecting off the running water in the sink.