Arthur: You thought you could outsmart me, didn't you? You thought I was just an oblivious CEO working late in my study.
Elena: Stop talking to me like that! You're acting like a savage!
Arthur: A savage is someone who slips poison into a drink while a little girl watches in terror from the floor!
Elena: I hate this house! I hate your daughter! I wanted out of this miserable marriage!
Arthur: Then you should have asked for a divorce instead of attempting premeditated murder!
Elena: Divorce means walking away empty-handed! I deserved half of your multi-million dollar estate!
Arthur: You deserve a prison cell and a criminal record that follows you for the rest of your natural life.
Arthur's right hand snapped forward with blinding speed, delivering a powerful, ringing slap right across Elena's left cheek. A loud slap impact echoed sharply through the grand living room, followed instantly by Elena's frantic, piercing scream of shock. Before she could recover her balance, Arthur's hand swung back and struck her a second time across the right cheek with equal force. Elena staggered sideways, her white blouse tearing slightly as she collided hard with the side console table, sending a vase of white flowers crashing to the marble floor. Frantic screaming poured from her lips as she clutched her burning, red-stained face, tears of humiliation mixing with genuine terror. The brutal physical retaliation shocked even Arthur for a split second, but the righteous fury of a betrayed father and husband drowned out any lingering hesitation. He stood over her trembling form, pointing an accusing finger straight at her face while his chest heaved with exhaustion.
Elena: You hit me... You actually struck me in my own home! I will make sure you rot in prison for domestic abuse!
Arthur: Domestic abuse implies a domestic partnership exists. As of right now, you are nothing more than a criminal trespasser in my house.
Elena: You can't throw me out without my legal settlement papers!
Arthur: Your legal paperwork is currently being drafted by my criminal prosecutors, and it includes charges of attempted murder and child endangerment.
Elena: Please, Arthur... have mercy... think of all the good years we shared together...
Arthur: The only good year in this marriage was the one before I met you. Get out of my sight.
Elena scrambled backward on the marble floor, her expensive designer shoes kicking frantically against the scattered flower petals as she fled toward the front doors. She threw one last venomous, hateful glare toward Arthur before throwing the heavy wooden doors open and running out into the estate driveway. The loud slamming of the front door echoed through the grand living room, finally restoring a tense, profound silence to the sunlit space. Arthur exhaled a long, shaky breath, letting his shoulders drop as the adrenaline slowly began to fade from his bloodstream.