Evelyn: Julian! Tell them to stop! Call our corporate defense attorneys!
Julian: Our corporate legal team works for Clara now, Evelyn. And she is pressing full federal charges against you.
Evelyn: Clara! My sweet girl! You can't let them take your mother to a holding cell!
Clara: You tore my dress off in front of two hundred people, Evelyn. You can wear a state jumpsuit for the next twenty years.
The officers turned Evelyn around, guiding her across the light marble floor toward the open double doors. High-society reporters who had been invited to cover the gala swarmed the driveway, camera flashes exploding continuously through the glass doors.
Reporter A: Mrs. Sterling! Is it true you abandoned your primary heir twenty-two years ago?
Reporter B: Did you tear your own daughter's dress off to hide the green jade locket?
Evelyn: Get those cameras out of my face! Turn them off right now!
Evelyn pulled her handcuffed hands up, trying desperately to cover her tear-stained face, but the photographers captured every second of her ruined makeup, rumpled emerald gown, and complete humiliation.
Officer Davis pushed her head down gently, guiding her into the back seat of the lead police cruiser. The heavy metal door slammed shut with a sharp thud, cutting off her shrill shouting instantly.
Inside the ballroom, Julian turned to Clara, gently adjusting his tuxedo jacket over her shoulders to keep her warm.
Julian: Clara... I am so sorry. I am so sorry you had to go through this to get your name back.
Clara: You stood by me, Julian. You covered me when everyone else was staring.
Julian: You are my sister. I will always cover you.
Lawyer Vance walked up, holding out a sleek silver pen and a leather folder containing the master estate transfer papers.
Lawyer Vance: CEO Sterling, we need your signature on the master trust registration to officially close the estate audit.
Clara took the silver pen, setting the paper on the marble railing under the American flag. She signed her name in clear, confident cursive: Clara Vance Sterling.
Lawyer Vance: The Sterling empire is officially yours, ma'am.