Victoria: You hit me, Gabriel! You assaulted your wife in front of the police!
Gabriel: You are not my wife, Victoria. You never were.
Victoria: We signed our marriage certificate at City Hall four months ago!
Gabriel: A marriage license built on forged identification and stolen trust records.
Victoria: That maid doctored that video on her phone, Gabriel! She wants to ruin me!
Elena: You cannot doctor a live cloud feed from the ceiling dome, Victoria!
Victoria: Shut your mouth, servant! Gabriel, tell this officer to take his hands off me!
Officer Davis stepped forward, his boots crunching over spilled bath salts on the wet floor.
Officer Davis: Stay on the floor, ma’am. Do not attempt to stand up.
Victoria: I am the lady of this estate! My father is Arthur Vance, senior chairman of Vance Maritime!
Gabriel: Your father was arrested at Dallas Executive Airport forty minutes ago, Victoria.
Victoria froze on the cold tiles, her royal blue dress soaking in pool of warm bath water.
Victoria: Arrested...?! That’s impossible! He’s flying to Chicago for a port expansion meeting!
Gabriel: He was boarding a private jet to Zurich with twenty million dollars in bearer bonds.
Victoria: You’re lying! You’re making up stories because you want an excuse to divorce me!
Gabriel: Federal marshals surrounded his hangar before the engines even started.
Elena: Sir, Oliver's lips are turning blue. He needs oxygen right now.
Gabriel pressed his hand over Oliver’s damp chest, feeling the ragged, shallow gasps.
Gabriel: Officer Davis, where is the pediatric ambulance team?
Officer Davis: Paramedics just cleared the security gate, Mr. Vance. They’re running upstairs.
Victoria: He doesn't need paramedics! He swallowed a few drops of tap water, that’s all!
Gabriel: You held his head under the water with both hands, Victoria!
Victoria: I was washing his hair! He threw a tantrum and squirmed out of my grip!
Elena: The water level was eight inches high, Mr. Vance! The drain plug was jammed shut with a cloth!
Gabriel: Did you jam the drain plug, Victoria?
Victoria: The washcloth fell into the drain by accident! Why are you interrogating me like a criminal?!
Gabriel: Because you are a criminal. And you tried to murder an infant for an inheritance.
Victoria: What inheritance?! Everything you own belongs to our marital property!
Gabriel: This house does not belong to me, Victoria. It belongs to Clara’s family trust.
Victoria: Clara died six months ago! Dead people cannot own real estate!
Gabriel: But their trusts can. And Oliver is the sole surviving beneficiary.
Victoria pushed herself up against the base of the marble sink, her blue dress dripping wet.
Victoria: If Oliver died, the entire trust was set to pass to your legal spouse!
Gabriel’s eyes turned cold as ice, stepping toward her with his child held safe in his arms.
Gabriel: How did you know about that clause, Victoria?
Victoria: I... I read the public summary filed with the probate clerk!
Gabriel: That clause was sealed under a protective court order, Victoria.
Victoria: Someone must have mentioned it at the funeral reception!
Gabriel: Nobody mentioned it. Because only three people on this earth ever saw the unredacted will.
Two paramedics rushed into the bathroom carrying an oxygen tank and a portable warming pad.
Paramedic Lisa: Hand the baby to me, sir. Let's get his airways suctioned immediately.
Gabriel transferred Oliver into the medic's arms, his knuckles white as he turned back to Victoria.
Gabriel: Officer Davis, cuff her right now. Before I lose my temper again.
Officer Davis unclipped his heavy steel cuffs, forcing Victoria’s arms behind her back.
The metal ratchets clicked shut with a sharp, heavy snap that echoed across the stone.
Victoria: You’ll regret this, Gabriel! My father’s attorneys will have me out before midnight!
Gabriel: Your father’s attorneys are currently being questioned by the FBI downtown.
Victoria gasped, her head jerking back as Gabriel pulled a cream-colored envelope from his jacket.