Officer Miller: Keep your hands behind your back, ma'am[cite: 1]!
Alyssa: Get your filthy hands off my robe! Do you have any idea who my father is[cite: 1]?!
Officer Miller: I don't care if your father is the governor, lady. You're going to jail for attempted murder[cite: 1].
The cold steel handcuffs clicked shut around Alyssa's wrists with a harsh, metallic snap[cite: 1].
Water pooled around her knees on the marble floor, her emerald silk robe soaked and clinging to her skin[cite: 1].
Julian: Breathe, Toby. Daddy has you, buddy. Come on, take a deep breath[cite: 1].
The infant coughed again, water spraying from his pale lips onto Julian's tuxedo lapel[cite: 1].
A second paramedic rushed into the room carrying a pediatric suction kit and a portable oxygen tank[cite: 1].
Paramedic Davis: Let me take him, Mr. Sterling. We need to clear his lungs immediately[cite: 1].
Julian: Be gentle with him, please. She held him down for over twenty seconds[cite: 1].
Paramedic Davis: Pulse is rapid, but his airway is clearing. He's a tough little fighter, sir[cite: 1].
Julian stood up, running a shaking hand through his wet hair as his eyes locked onto Alyssa on the floor[cite: 1].
Alyssa: Look at you, Julian. The big powerful CEO shaking like a leaf over a waitress's bastard[cite: 1].
Julian: Clara was my lawful wife, and Toby is the sole heir to this estate[cite: 1].
Alyssa: Clara was a penniless orphan who died giving birth to that mistake[cite: 1]!
Julian: You told me you wanted to help me raise him! You swore an oath before our families[cite: 1]!
Alyssa: I swore an oath to your forty-million-dollar maritime trust fund, darling[cite: 1].
Officer Miller: Stand up, Mrs. Sterling. We're walking down to the cruiser[cite: 1].
Alyssa: Don't call me Mrs. Sterling! I'd rather be dead than share a name with this weak fool[cite: 1]!
Julian: Why tonight, Alyssa? Why did you wait until the charity gala[cite: 1]?
Alyssa: Because you were supposed to be on stage accepting the corporate humanitarian award, Julian[cite: 1].
Julian: You told the event coordinators my flight from Chicago was delayed by two hours[cite: 1].
Alyssa: I wanted forty minutes alone in this wing before the catering staff returned[cite: 1].
Julian: And you thought drowning an infant in a bathtub would look like an accident[cite: 1]?!
Alyssa: Housekeepers leave toddlers near water every single day in this country[cite: 1].
Officer Miller: That is quite enough confession for one evening, ma'am[cite: 1].
Julian: Wait, Officer Miller. Look at her left sleeve[cite: 1].
Julian pointed at a dark red smudge staining the green silk near Alyssa's wrist[cite: 1].
Julian: That isn't bath water. Where did that blood come from[cite: 1]?
Alyssa: I cut my finger on the bathroom vanity, you paranoid lunatic[cite: 1]!
Julian: Mrs. Gable! Mrs. Gable, where are you[cite: 1]?!
The grand hallway outside went dead silent, the only sound being the soft hiss of the paramedic's oxygen mask[cite: 1].
Julian: Mrs. Gable was supposed to be watching Toby in the nursery tonight[cite: 1].
Alyssa: Maybe the old woman took a nap in the pantry[cite: 1].
Julian: Officer Miller, search the east wing right now! Search every closet[cite: 1]!
Julian lunged toward the bedroom doors, his heart hammering against his ribs as a new wave of terror washed over him[cite: 1].