Victoria: Ethan, please... listen to me for one second! Let's talk about this privately in your office[cite: 1]!
Ethan: There is nothing left to discuss between us, Victoria[cite: 1].
Victoria: I was overwhelmed! Taking on a newborn baby after Clara died was too much pressure[cite: 1]!
Maria: You never changed a single diaper, Miss Vance! You spent every day shopping in Manhattan[cite: 1]!
Victoria: Be quiet, you miserable servant[cite: 1]!
Ethan: Don't you dare raise your voice to Maria again[cite: 1]!
Ethan stood up, holding Toby securely in his left arm while pulling his cell phone from his pocket with his right[cite: 1].
He dialed the head of the estate security detail, his voice icy and completely devoid of emotion[cite: 1].
Ethan: Marcus, bring two guards to the main living room immediately. Lock the front estate gates[cite: 1].
Marcus: Right away, Mr. Sterling. Is the child secure[cite: 1]?
Ethan: Toby is with me. No one leaves this property until the police arrive[cite: 1].
Victoria scrambled to her feet, clutching her torn gold gown around her waist as panic set in[cite: 1].
Victoria: You called the police?! On the daughter of Senator Vance[cite: 1]?!
Ethan: I don't care if your father is the President of the United States. You committed attempted aggravated child abuse[cite: 1].
Victoria: You will ruin your own reputation, Ethan! The media will have a field day with this scandal[cite: 1]!
Ethan: My reputation means nothing compared to my son's safety[cite: 1].
Maria: Mr. Sterling, there is something else you need to know about Miss Vance[cite: 1].
Ethan turned his gaze toward Maria, noticing the tight manila folder clutched under her arm[cite: 1].
Ethan: What is that folder, Maria[cite: 1]?
Maria: While she was upstairs getting dressed this morning, she left her private briefcase open in the library[cite: 1].
Victoria: You snooped through my personal belongings?! That is illegal search and seizure[cite: 1]!
Maria: I was dusting the desk, Miss Vance. The papers were lying right beside your open jewelry box[cite: 1].
Ethan: What did you find, Maria[cite: 1]?
Maria: It is a modified life insurance policy on baby Toby, sir. Taken out three weeks ago[cite: 1].
Ethan felt the blood freeze in his veins as he stared at the papers Maria handed him[cite: 1].
His thumb flipped open the first page, scanning the official corporate seal of Vance Underwriting[cite: 1].
Ethan: A twenty-five-million-dollar accidental death policy... naming Victoria Vance as the primary beneficiary[cite: 1]?
Victoria: That was a standard estate planning measure recommended by my family's financial planners[cite: 1]!
Ethan: You took out a life insurance policy on a three-month-old child without my knowledge or consent[cite: 1]?!
Maria: Look at the signature on the authorization line, Mr. Sterling[cite: 1].
Ethan looked at the bottom of page four, his knuckles turning dead white as he saw his own signature[cite: 1].
Except the slant of the letters was slightly off, and the ink was stamped from a digital signature plate[cite: 1].
Ethan: You forged my corporate signature stamp[cite: 1]!
Victoria: You told me I had power of attorney for domestic management[cite: 1]!
Ethan: Power of attorney to pay the landscapers, not to put a twenty-five-million-dollar bounty on my son's head[cite: 1]!
Victoria: It wasn't a bounty! It was an investment hedge for our future children[cite: 1]!
Ethan: You were planning to kill him, weren't you[cite: 1]?
The words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating as the true horror of Victoria's scheme settled into the room[cite: 1].
Victoria: That is an insane accusation! I would never murder a child[cite: 1]!
Ethan: Then why did you have a hot iron hovering an inch from his heart while the staff was dismissed[cite: 1]?!
Victoria backed away toward the grand double doors, but the heavy oak panels suddenly swung open[cite: 1].
Two burly security guards in dark suits stepped inside, blocking the threshold completely[cite: 1].
Marcus: No one leaves, Mr. Sterling. The county sheriff's department just pulled through the security checkpoint[cite: 1].
Victoria gasped, spinning around in her ruined gold gown as the wail of police sirens echoed up the driveway[cite: 1].