Eleanor: That cannot be true... Your father left the estate to me! I am his widow!
Liam: Father knew what you were, Eleanor. He knew what you did to my older brother fifteen years ago.
Eleanor: Don't you dare bring Thomas into this! Thomas was weak!
Liam: Thomas was sick! And you cut off his medical trust because you didn't want the society pages to know he had leukemia!
Clara: She doesn't care about children, Liam. She only cares about the name on the company letterhead.
Eleanor: Shut your mouth, Clara! You came from a rundown trailer park in Ohio! You targeted my son for his inheritance!
Clara: I met Liam at a public hospital while volunteering in the pediatric wing! I didn't even know his last name for six months!
Liam: Clara never asked for a dime, Mother. But you spent the last two weeks trying to forge an adoption disclaimer.
Eleanor: I was protecting our family legacy! If that girl is your daughter, why didn't you register her birth at St. Jude's Private Clinic?
Liam: Because St. Jude's is owned by your brother! You wanted control of her birth certificate!
The sound of heavy tactical boots began to echo up from the marble entrance foyer below[cite: 1].
Detective Vance of the Chicago Police Department walked up the curved marble steps, his gold badge gleaming on his leather belt.
Detective Vance: Liam Bennett? We received your emergency dispatch call regarding an attempted homicide of a minor.
Liam: Over here, Detective. On the second-floor balcony.
Eleanor: Detective Vance! What an absurd joke! I am Eleanor Bennett! This is a private domestic misunderstanding!
Detective Vance: Dropping a two-week-old newborn off a second-story balcony is not a misunderstanding, Mrs. Bennett[cite: 1]. It is attempted first-degree murder.
Eleanor: I tripped! My heel caught on the edge of the oriental runner!
Clara: You didn't trip, Eleanor! You looked right into my eyes and said, 'She is not a Bennett,' before you pushed her through the bars[cite: 1]!
Detective Vance: We pulled the high-definition security footage from the foyer ceiling dome ten minutes ago, ma'am.
Eleanor's head snapped upward toward the ceiling, where two small black dome cameras were mounted beneath the chandelier.
Eleanor: Those cameras are supposed to be offline for annual maintenance!
Liam: I reconnected the cloud backup system last night from my phone, Mother. I knew you were planning something when you fired the night nurse.
Eleanor: The nurse was incompetent! She left baby bottles on the antique mahogany credenza!
Clara: The nurse refused to slip sleeping sedatives into my baby's formula, Eleanor! That's why you fired her!
Liam stepped between Eleanor and Detective Vance, his hands shaking with cold, controlled rage.
Liam: You tried to drug my daughter so she wouldn't cry during the probate hearing yesterday?
Eleanor: She needed to be quiet! The board of directors was reviewing the sixty-million-dollar estate distribution!
Detective Vance: Mrs. Bennett, step away from the railing and place your hands behind your back.
Eleanor: You cannot arrest me in my own foyer! I will call the Mayor right now!
Detective Vance: The Mayor signed the special task force warrant himself twenty minutes ago, ma'am.
Detective Vance pulled a pair of heavy steel handcuffs from his belt, stepping around Liam to reach Eleanor's wrists.
Eleanor: Liam! Tell this officer to step down! I carried you for nine months!
Liam: You may have carried me, Eleanor. But today, you proved you have no soul.
The steel cuffs snapped shut around Eleanor's manicured wrists with a sharp, heavy click that resonated off the stone walls.
She let out a dry, choked sob, her navy blazer rumpling as Detective Vance guided her toward the top of the stairs.
Eleanor: Clara, you miserable little peasant! You ruined my family! You will pay for this!
Clara: You ruined yourself the second you let go of that baby's dress, Eleanor[cite: 1].
Liam gently wrapped his arm around Clara's shoulders, shielding both her and their newborn child as Eleanor was led down the spiral staircase in chains[cite: 1].