Victoria: It was an accident! I lost my grip because Hannah lunged at me like a wild animal!
Ethan: You pushed Hannah backward with your left arm while your right hand shoved Maya over the edge!
Victoria: She was screaming in my ear! The baby was crying so loud I couldn't think!
Hannah: Maya wasn't crying until you grabbed her throat blanket, Mrs. Vance!
Victoria: Shut up! Ethan, please, you have to understand the pressure I’ve been under!
Victoria fell to her knees on the marble floor, crawling toward Ethan's polished dress shoes with outstretched hands.
Victoria: I gave up my career in interior design for you! I moved into this mausoleum surrounded by Claire's portraits, Claire's jewelry, Claire's furniture!
Ethan: Don't speak Claire's name. You aren't worthy of wiping the dust off her picture frames.
Victoria: I wanted us to have our own family! I wanted us to have a baby that was ours!
Ethan: You told me six months ago that you refused to get pregnant because you didn't want to ruin your waistline!
Victoria's hands froze on the cold marble, her eyes darting away in shame.
Victoria: I was scared! I was terrified that you would never love my baby the way you love her!
Ethan: No, Victoria. That wasn't it at all. Let's talk about the letter your divorce lawyer mailed to my corporate office yesterday morning.
Victoria flinched as if struck by lightning, her breath catching in her throat.
Victoria: What... what letter?
Ethan: The formal inquiry regarding the Claire Vance Irrevocable Trust.
Hannah stood quietly by the banister, listening as the corporate layers of the mansion began to unravel.
Ethan: You had your attorney examine my late wife's will, didn't you?
Victoria remained on her knees, refusing to answer as she stared at the floor.
Ethan: Answer me, Victoria!
Victoria: It is standard estate planning! As your wife, I have a right to know the financial structure of our assets!
Ethan: Claire didn't leave her assets to me, Victoria. She left eighty-five million dollars in liquid shares and real estate directly to Maya.
Victoria: Which you control as her guardian!
Ethan: Exactly. And clause seventeen of that trust states that if Maya passes away before reaching the age of twenty-one without siblings, the entire corpus transfers to the surviving spouse of the primary guardian.
Hannah let out a horrified gasp, clutching her own mouth as tears spilled over her fingers.
Hannah: Oh God... she wanted the baby dead for eighty-five million dollars.
Victoria: That’s a disgusting lie! I didn't even know about clause seventeen!
Ethan: Your attorney highlighted that exact clause with yellow ink on page forty-two of the inquiry copy he returned to my legal department, Victoria.
Victoria’s face lost every shred of color, turning a sickening, pasty white.
Ethan: You thought if Maya suffered a fatal fall down these stairs, everyone would blame the inexperienced young nanny.
Victoria: No... no, Ethan, that’s insane! I would never do something so monstrous!
Ethan: You would do anything to clear your gambling debts in Macau, wouldn't you?
Victoria's head snapped up, pure terror flashing in her wide blue eyes.
Victoria: How do you know about Macau?
Ethan: Did you really think you could wire four million dollars from our joint household checking account to an offshore casino broker without my forensic accountants noticing?
Victoria: It was an investment! A private gaming equity investment!
Ethan: It was baccarat, Victoria. You lost four million dollars in forty-eight hours last month while telling me you were visiting your sister in Chicago.
Hannah looked at the trembling woman on the floor with utter disbelief.
Hannah: You gambled away millions, and you tried to murder a baby to pay it back?
Victoria: Shut up, you worthless peasant! You don't know anything about high-stakes finance!
Ethan: She knows more about decency and human life than you will ever comprehend in your entire miserable existence.
Distant sirens began to wail in the quiet residential hills, echoing through the canyon and growing louder with every passing second.
Victoria scrambled to her feet, stumbling against the edge of the mahogany hall table as panic overtook her.
Victoria: Ethan, cancel the dispatch! Tell them it was a false alarm! We can fix this! We can sign a postnuptial agreement!
Ethan: The only agreement you will be signing is a plea deal, Victoria.
Victoria: I will give up everything! I will waive my spousal support! I will sign away any claim to this mansion!
Ethan: You don't have a claim to this mansion to begin with. The deed is held under Maya's trust.
The flashing red and blue lights of three patrol cruisers reflected against the frosted glass of the double front doors.
Heavy tires crunched across the gravel driveway as car doors slammed shut in rapid succession outside.