Victoria: You hit me! A billionaire laid his hands on a Vance family heiress[cite: 1]!
Julian: I should have thrown you out the front gates six months ago[cite: 1]!
Victoria: I am your legal wife under Texas law, Julian! You can't touch me[cite: 1]!
Julian: You are an animal who nearly murdered a six-year-old girl[cite: 1]!
Victoria pushed herself up onto her elbows, her emerald green dress twisting across the marble floor[cite: 1].
Victoria: She was climbing on the outer banister looking for birds! I tried to catch her collar[cite: 1]!
Lily: That's a lie, Daddy! She told me I was a stray and shoved both hands into my back[cite: 1]!
Victoria: Shut your mouth, Lily! Julian, she's hysterical! She doesn't know what she's saying[cite: 1]!
Julian knelt beside his daughter, gently running his hand over her pale forehead[cite: 1].
Julian: Are you hurt anywhere else, Lily? Tell Daddy[cite: 1].
Lily: My chest hurts where she pushed me... She pinched my arms this morning, too[cite: 1]!
Julian rolled up Lily's cotton sleeves, exposing four dark purple finger bruises dug deep into her skin[cite: 1].
Julian: Look at this, Victoria. Look at your fingernail marks on my daughter's arms[cite: 1]!
Victoria: She bruises easily! She probably fell on the playground at school[cite: 1]!
Julian: Lily hasn't been to school all week because you told me she had the flu[cite: 1]!
Victoria: She was sick! I kept her home to rest[cite: 1]!
Lily: I wasn't sick, Daddy! She locked me in the storage closet so I couldn't see you before work[cite: 1]!
Julian stood up slowly, the blood draining from his face as cold fury took over[cite: 1].
Julian: You kept my child locked in a dark room while I was eating breakfast[cite: 1]?
Victoria: She was throwing tantrums, Julian! A mother has to set boundaries[cite: 1]!
Julian: You are not her mother! You will never be her mother[cite: 1]!
Victoria: Her real mother is dead and buried, Julian! Accept reality[cite: 1]!
Julian: Clara had more honor and love in her little finger than your entire bloodline[cite: 1]!
Victoria: Clara died broke! Her family had nothing until you married her[cite: 1]!
Julian: Clara built the core maritime tracking code that made Sterling Logistics worth billions[cite: 1]!
Victoria: Well, she left that empire behind, and now it belongs to us[cite: 1]!
Julian: It will never belong to you, Victoria. Not a single cent[cite: 1].
Victoria sneered, pushing herself to her feet and leaning against the brass balustrade[cite: 1].
Victoria: You signed our prenuptial agreement, Julian! If you divorce me, I get forty percent of the estate[cite: 1]!
Julian: Did you actually read clause fourteen of that agreement, Victoria[cite: 1]?
Victoria: My father's corporate attorneys drafted it! I know every word by heart[cite: 1]!
Julian: Then you know what happens in cases of criminal felony abuse against an heir[cite: 1].
Victoria's sneer began to crack, her eyes darting toward the open double doors below[cite: 1].
Victoria: You can't prove abuse! It's your word and an imaginative child's word against mine[cite: 1]!
Julian: Look up at the brass ceiling dome right above your head, Victoria[cite: 1].
Victoria froze, slowly tilting her head back to look at the ornate crown molding[cite: 1].
A tiny green light pulsed steadily from behind the carved plaster, recording every sound[cite: 1].
Julian: That camera has been live-streaming directly to the Dallas County Sheriff's office for the last ten minutes[cite: 1].
Victoria's hands dropped to her sides, the color draining from her face as the gallery fell deathly quiet[cite: 1].