Victoria: You put a covert camera inside my private hallway?!
Julian: This isn't your hallway, Victoria. This estate belongs entirely to Toby's trust fund.
Victoria: You had no legal right to record me without my written consent!
Julian: In the state of Texas, only one party needs to consent to an audio and video recording.
Victoria: You set me up! You pretended to leave for the downtown offices just to catch me!
Julian: I came back because Mrs. Gable, our head housekeeper, called my cell phone in tears.
Victoria: That old maid is fired! I will have her deported by midnight!
Julian: Mrs. Gable is an American citizen, Victoria, and she just signed a sworn witness deposition.
Toby: Daddy, my elbow hurts where I hit the floor... Can we go to my bedroom?
Julian gently lifted Toby into his arms, wrapping his dry suit coat around the shivering child.
Julian: We're going downstairs right now, sweetie. Mrs. Gable is waiting in the kitchen with warm cocoa.
Mrs. Gable stepped through the lower foyer entrance, her apron stained with tears as she took Toby into her arms.
Mrs. Gable: Come to Nana, my precious baby boy. Oh, thank God Almighty your father caught you!
Toby: Don't let the mean lady come downstairs, Daddy!
Julian: Nobody will ever hurt you again, Toby. Daddy promises on his life.
Julian watched Mrs. Gable carry his son toward the back sitting room before turning back to Victoria.
He reached into his leather briefcase on the console table, pulling out a thick blue folder with official court seals.
Julian: Do you recognize these papers, Victoria?
Victoria: What is that? More fake legal threats to scare me into leaving?
Julian: These are the forensic audit reports from Vance Maritime Holdings.
Victoria took a fast step back, her blue satin blouse rustling against the wainscoting.
Victoria: How did you get access to my father's private corporate accounts?
Julian: Your father tried to use Sterling Logistics cargo lines to move unregistered foreign containers last week.
Victoria: That was a routine shipping partnership! Our families have traded together for twenty years!
Julian: Those containers didn't carry industrial equipment, Victoria. They carried laundered currency from offshore shell firms.
Victoria: That's a lie! My father is a respected philanthropist and former state commerce commissioner!
Julian: Your father is currently sitting in a federal holding cell in downtown Dallas.
Victoria's jaw dropped open, her hands shaking violently as she gripped the wooden railing.
Victoria: My father... arrested? You're bluffing! You couldn't take down Arthur Vance!
Julian: Federal marshals raided his penthouse at eight o'clock this morning.
Victoria: No... No! That's impossible! He had breakfast with the attorney general yesterday!
Julian: The attorney general signed the search warrant forty-eight hours ago, Victoria.
Victoria: What does this have to do with me? I don't run the shipping lines!
Julian: Your signature is on thirty-two fraudulent transfer authorizations, Victoria.
Victoria: I was only signing documents my father told me to sign as an officer of the board!
Julian: You transferred twelve million dollars out of Toby's maternal trust fund into an account in the Cayman Islands!
Victoria's breath caught in her throat, her eyes widening in pure, unmasked panic.
Victoria: That trust fund was supposed to be community property after our wedding!
Julian: That money was Clara's life insurance and software royalties! It was never yours!
The distant sound of wailing police sirens began to echo down the long oak-lined driveway outside the mansion.
Red and blue flashing lights danced across the high white walls, reflecting off the crystal chandelier.
Victoria clutched her throat, stepping toward the balcony stairs in desperate terror.