The officers pushed Victoria across the lawn, her royal-blue sequined gown dragging through the wet grass and dirt.
At the driveway gate, four local news vans had already gathered, camera lights illuminating the high stone entrance.
Reporter A: Miss Vance! Did you push Ethan Sterling's infant son into a swimming pool?!
Reporter B: Are you being charged with the murder of Sarah Sterling?!
Victoria: Turn those blinding lights off! Ethan, call my private defense lawyers in Manhattan!
Ethan: Your defense lawyers resigned twenty minutes ago, Victoria. I bought out their senior partner's firm at noon.
Victoria's knees gave out completely as Officer Harris shoved her down into the back seat of the police cruiser.
The heavy steel door slammed shut with a sharp, resounding thud, cutting off her shrill screams once and for all.
Ethan stood beside the pool deck, watching the red and blue flashing lights fade down the long tree-lined driveway.
He turned back to Clara, who was shivering violently in her soaked white uniform, a warm wool blanket draped over her shoulders by a paramedic.
Ethan: Clara... please sit down on this chaise lounge. Let the medic check your breathing.
Clara: I am fine, Mr. Sterling. I just need to know if Toby is safe.
Medic Stevens: The hospital called from the ambulance radio, ma'am. Toby's lungs are completely clear. He is resting peacefully in the pediatric wing.
Clara closed her eyes, tears of pure relief spilling down her bruised cheeks as she let out a long, shuddering breath.
Clara: Thank God... thank God he is alive.
Ethan dropped to his knees on the concrete right in front of her, taking her trembling, cold hands into his own.
Ethan: Clara, look at me. Please.
Clara opened her eyes, looking down at the powerful billionaire kneeling on the wet floor before her.
Ethan: There are no words in the English language that can undo the slap I gave you tonight.
Clara: You thought I was hurting your child, Mr. Sterling. Any father would have lost his mind in that second.
Ethan: That is no excuse. I should have trusted the woman who has cared for Toby like a real mother since the day he was born.
Ethan reached inside his suit coat, pulling out a silver pen and a small black leather notebook.
Ethan: Starting tonight, Clara, you will never wear a servant's uniform again.
Clara: Mr. Sterling, I don't understand. Are you firing me?
Ethan: Firing you? I am appointing you as the Chief Executive Trustee of the Sarah Sterling Memorial Foundation.
Clara gasped, pulling back slightly as she looked into his dead-serious eyes.
Clara: Mr. Sterling, that foundation controls sixty million dollars! I am just a waitress from Ohio!
Ethan: You are the woman who dove into dark water without a second thought to pull my son from the bottom of a pool.
Clara: I only did what any decent person would do.
Ethan: Nobody else in this house moved an inch, Clara. Victoria watched him sink, and you jumped.
Detective Miller walked back over from the driveway, holding a thick clipboard with several red-stamped forms.
Detective Miller: Mr. Sterling, the county magistrate just signed the emergency freeze order on all of Victoria's accounts.
Ethan: What about the prenuptial agreement we were supposed to sign tomorrow?
Detective Miller: Voided under the state's Slayer Statute. She forfeits every claim to your estate, your properties, and your family trust.
Ethan took the pen, signing his name across the bottom of the state protective order with a bold, steady stroke.
Ethan: Take everything she touched and burn it. This house is going to be clean for my son.