Elena turned her back on the dining table and began walking toward the heavy double oak doors[span_181](start_span)[span_181](end_span).
Julian: Elena, wait! You can't just destroy my life and walk out into the night[span_182](start_span)[span_182](end_span)!
Julian sprinted after her, grabbing her wrist tightly in the center of the marble foyer[span_183](start_span)[span_183](end_span).
Elena: Take your hand off me, Julian, or this ends very violently for you[span_184](start_span)[span_184](end_span).
Julian: Please, just listen to me! I will disown my mother tonight! We can get married at city hall with no prenup, no family, nothing[span_185](start_span)[span_185](end_span)[span_186](start_span)[span_186](end_span)!
Elena: You would disown your own mother just to save your trust fund? That makes you even more pathetic than she is[span_187](start_span)[span_187](end_span)[span_188](start_span)[span_188](end_span).
Victoria marched into the foyer, clutching her mobile phone to her ear with white knuckles[span_189](start_span)[span_189](end_span).
Victoria: Marcus? Marcus Vance, answer me! Why did my corporate credit cards get declined ten minutes ago?[span_190](start_span)[span_190](end_span)
The sharp, amplified voice of the family's senior estate attorney echoed through the phone speaker[span_191](start_span)[span_191](end_span)[span_192](start_span)[span_192](end_span).
Attorney Vance: Victoria, you were advised not to alter the premarital conditions without my presence[span_193](start_span)[span_193](end_span)[span_194](start_span)[span_194](end_span).
Victoria: Did Elena file Arthur’s secret codicil?[span_195](start_span)[span_195](end_span)
Attorney Vance: She didn't file it, Victoria. Arthur filed it three years ago, before he even met Elena[span_196](start_span)[span_196](end_span).
Julian stared at the phone as if it had struck him across the face[span_197](start_span)[span_197](end_span).
Julian: Three years ago? Dad planned this before I even met her?[span_198](start_span)[span_198](end_span)
Attorney Vance: Your father knew your mother’s habits, Julian. He knew she would try to use family trusts to control any future grandchildren[span_199](start_span)[span_199](end_span)[span_200](start_span)[span_200](end_span).
Victoria: Marcus, this is outrageous! I pay your firm an annual retainer of four hundred thousand dollars[span_201](start_span)[span_201](end_span)[span_202](start_span)[span_202](end_span)!
Attorney Vance: Not anymore, Victoria. As executor of Arthur’s estate, my duty is strictly to the trust terms[span_203](start_span)[span_203](end_span)[span_204](start_span)[span_204](end_span).
The call went dead with a dull electronic beep[span_205](start_span)[span_205](end_span).
Elena: Your husband knew you better than you thought, Victoria[span_206](start_span)[span_206](end_span).
Victoria: You orchestrated this whole setup from the beginning, didn't you?[span_207](start_span)[span_207](end_span)
Elena: I came here tonight ready to be your daughter-in-law. I wore the dress you picked out. I invited my mother and father to celebrate[span_208](start_span)[span_208](end_span).
A lone tear slipped down Elena’s cheek, but her voice never wavered[span_209](start_span)[span_209](end_span).
Elena: You were the ones who decided that power mattered more than family[span_210](start_span)[span_210](end_span).
Julian: Elena, please... I’ll give up the trust fund. I’ll walk away from my mother’s money right now[span_211](start_span)[span_211](end_span)[span_212](start_span)[span_212](end_span).
Elena: No, you won't, Julian. You don't know who you are without your father's surname[span_213](start_span)[span_213](end_span).
Victoria: Marcus is bluffing! We will contest the codicil in probate court on Monday[span_214](start_span)[span_214](end_span)[span_215](start_span)[span_215](end_span)!
Elena: Contest it all you want. The state attorney general's office was served with the offshore fraud files twenty minutes ago[span_216](start_span)[span_216](end_span).
Victoria: You gave the Cayman accounts to the state attorney general?[span_217](start_span)[span_217](end_span)
Elena: Arthur told me to deliver them if you ever tried to treat another human being like property[span_218](start_span)[span_218](end_span).
Julian sank against the wall, burying his face in his hands as reality crashed down upon him[span_219](start_span)[span_219](end_span).
Julian: We’re going to jail... we’re actually going to lose everything[span_220](start_span)[span_220](end_span).
Elena: You lost everything the second you let your mother hand me that pen, Julian[span_221](start_span)[span_221](end_span).