Victoria: Ethan! You struck me in front of a common housemaid!
Ethan: You are fortunate that is all I did, Victoria!
Victoria: I am your lawful fiancee! We are announcing our marriage at the country club tomorrow!
Ethan: There is no marriage, Victoria. The wedding is canceled forever.
Victoria: You cannot cancel our wedding! We have five hundred high-society guests arriving in Dallas!
Ethan: Tell every single one of them to stay home, because you are leaving this estate in handcuffs.
Maria knelt on the Persian rug, wrapping Leo in a thick dry wool throw while his small chest rattled with ragged sobs.
Maria: His lips are still dark blue, Mr. Vance! He can barely catch his breath!
Ethan: Give him to me, Maria. Hand my boy to me right now.
Ethan dropped to his knees, taking the shivering baby into his arms and pulling his charcoal suit coat around him.
Ethan: Leo, look at Daddy. Open your eyes for Daddy, buddy.
Victoria: Ethan, listen to reason! The pitcher slipped from my hands while I was arranging flowers on the credenza!
Ethan: You poured two quarts of ice water directly onto an infant's bare skin!
Victoria: It was a total accident! The glass condensation made the handle slick!
Maria: That is an evil lie, Mr. Vance! She leaned right over his face and shouted that he didn't belong in this family!
Victoria: Shut your mouth, servant! You speak when you are spoken to in this household!
Ethan: Do not raise your voice at Maria in my presence, Victoria!
Victoria: She pushed me to the marble floor, Ethan! She assaulted the future mistress of this estate!
Ethan: Maria saved my son's life while you tried to freeze his heart!
Victoria: He was crying so loud! He has been screaming all morning because of his colic!
Ethan: He is seven months old, Victoria! Babies cry when they are in distress!
Victoria: I have a severe migraine! The noise was splitting my head open!
Ethan: So your solution was to give my infant child hypothermia?
Victoria: I thought a cold splash would shock his system and calm him down!
Maria: Look at his legs, Mr. Vance. Unbutton his onesie and look at his ankles.
Ethan pulled back the damp cotton fabric, his breath hitching in his throat as raw fury tightened his chest.
Three dark purple bruises were dug deep into Leo's skin where adult fingernails had pinched him.
Ethan: Did you pinch my baby, Victoria?
Victoria: He was squirming while I tried to change his diaper! He bruised himself kicking the wooden frame!
Ethan: Babies do not leave adult fingernail gouges on their own ankles!
Victoria: You are blaming me for everything! What about the sacrifices I made moving into this drafty mansion?
Ethan: You moved into this mansion because you were drowning in ninety million dollars of personal debt.
Victoria's face froze, her ruby red dress rustling as she pushed herself up against the mahogany console.
Victoria: What did you just say?!
Ethan: You heard me clearly, Victoria. The forensic audit from your family's maritime firm arrived on my desk at dawn.
Victoria: That audit was supposed to remain private between our corporate tax attorneys!
Ethan: It stopped being private when federal marshals raided your father's downtown office thirty minutes ago.
Victoria gasped, her hand flying to her throat as all the color drained from her cheeks.
Victoria: Federal marshals...?! You are lying to humiliate me!
Ethan: Unlock your phone on the side table, Victoria. See how many calls you missed from your defense counsel.
Victoria scrambled forward on her knees, grabbing her gold smartphone with trembling fingers.
Her display lit up with forty-eight missed calls, urgent text alerts, and breaking news banners from the local papers.
Victoria: 'Vance Maritime raided by federal task force... Chairman Arthur Vance detained on wire fraud charges'...
Ethan: Your entire house of cards collapsed before lunch, Victoria.
Victoria: No... No! Everything my father built! My trust fund! My luxury condo in Miami!
Ethan: Every asset linked to your social security number was seized under federal forfeiture orders.
Victoria dropped the phone onto the floor, the screen cracking against the stone as sirens rose in the distance.