Elena gripped the edge of the mahogany table until her knuckles turned chalk white.
Elena: Julian, look me in the eye and tell me you agree with this.
Julian: Come on, Elena, don't be unreasonable. It's just routine paperwork to satisfy the trust board.
Elena: Unreasonable? Your mother is demanding that I legally surrender custody of our child!
Julian: It’s only if we split up! We’re never going to split up, so why does the clause even bother you?
Elena: If it doesn't matter, then why does your mother need my signature before tomorrow morning?
Victoria leaned back in her high-backed chair, letting out a dry, condescending laugh.
Victoria: Because you come from a family that rents a two-bedroom tract house, Elena. You have no comprehension of dynasty.
Elena: My family raised me with honor and love. Things money clearly couldn't buy in this house.
Victoria: Honor does not manage a three-billion-dollar shipping portfolio or maintain five private estates.
Elena: A child needs a mother, Victoria. Not a portfolio manager.
Victoria: A Sterling heir requires an elite education, 24-hour private security, and proper breeding. You are a public school teacher.
Elena: And I am the mother of this baby. You cannot buy my motherhood.
Victoria: Everything has a price tag, Elena. Five million dollars is more cash than your entire bloodline will ever earn.
Elena turned her attention back to Julian, whose face was flushed with cowardice.
Elena: Did you ever love me, Julian? Or was I just an acceptable convenience for you?
Julian: Of course I love you! But my inheritance is tied up in the family foundation!
Elena: So your trust fund means more to you than your own child?
Julian: If I don't follow Mother's legal advice, Dad cuts me off without a single cent!
Elena: Then let him cut you off! We can live on what we earn!
Julian: Live on what? Your forty-thousand-dollar teacher salary? Are you completely insane?
Victoria picked up a gold fountain pen and placed it deliberately on top of the document.
Victoria: Stop this pathetic bickering. Julian knows his duty. Now take the pen and sign your name.
Elena: And if I refuse to sign away my rights?
Victoria: Then the guards escort you off the property right now, the press receives a cancellation notice, and you leave empty-handed.
Elena: You really think you hold all the cards here, don't you?
Victoria: I know I do. We also happen to know about your father’s failing auto repair garage and his crushing medical debt.
Elena’s breath hitched in her throat as she stared at the smiling matriarch.
Elena: What does my father have to do with this contract?
Victoria: Our holding company bought his bank note last week. If you walk out that door, we foreclose on his house by Monday morning.
Elena: You targeted my sick father just to force me into signing this?
Julian: Mother is just covering all the bases, Elena. Just sign the paper and everything goes back to normal!
Elena: Nothing about this family will ever be normal.
Elena slowly reached into her leather handbag, her trembling fingers brushing past her phone.
Elena: You spent weeks investigating my family, Victoria. But you never bothered to check what was inside your late husband’s safe.
Victoria’s smug expression suddenly vanished, her painted eyebrows pulling together in an instant.
Victoria: What did you just say about Arthur?
Elena: I think it's time you take a look at my paperwork for a change.