Julian: Nora... you're alive? They told me you died in a car crash in Phoenix[cite: 1]!
Nora: Look at your daughter, Julian! Look where your precious fiancee put her[cite: 1]!
Julian stopped in his tracks, his eyes darting from Nora’s tear-stained face down to the open green bin sitting by the driveway curb[cite: 1].
A small pink sneaker and a crushed juice carton were lying right at the bottom among discarded yard leaves[cite: 1].
Julian: What was Lily doing inside a trash container, Chloe[cite: 1]?
Chloe: Julian, she was playing hide-and-seek! Children climb into things all the time[cite: 1]!
Lily: Daddy, no! She picked me up by my dress and dropped me in! She said I was trash, just like my real mommy[cite: 1]!
Julian took two swift, thunderous steps toward Chloe, his tall frame towering over her as his fists balled at his sides[cite: 1].
Julian: Did you put my three-year-old child in a garbage can, Chloe[cite: 1]?
Chloe: Julian, listen to me! She was throwing a massive tantrum because I wouldn't let her wear dirty overalls to the family lunch[cite: 1]!
Julian: Did you put her in the bin[cite: 1]?!
Chloe: I only set her in there for thirty seconds to teach her some discipline! She wouldn't listen to me[cite: 1]!
Julian: You put my daughter in a recycling bin by the street curb to teach her discipline[cite: 1]?!
Nora: She told her, 'Stop crying, I am your mommy now, or I'll leave you here until collection day'[cite: 1]!
Julian’s jaw locked so hard the muscle twitched under his skin, his eyes turning cold and dangerous[cite: 1].
Julian: You told me Nora signed a full surrender of custody before she passed away in Arizona, Chloe[cite: 1].
Chloe: That's what the legal documents said! My father’s office handled the paperwork[cite: 1]!
Nora: Your father forged my signature while I was locked in an unmonitored room with no phone access, Chloe[cite: 1]!
Julian: Nora... how did you escape? How did you get back to Texas[cite: 1]?
Nora: A night nurse realized I wasn't an unregistered Jane Doe. She helped me contact the United States Marshals Service three days ago[cite: 1].
Chloe began to back away toward the stone porch, her high heels clicking frantically on the pavement[cite: 1].
Chloe: Julian, don't believe this homeless woman! Look at her clothes! She's trying to extort our fifty-million-dollar trust fund[cite: 1]!
Julian: Nora was my wife for four years before she disappeared, Chloe. She never asked for a single cent from my family[cite: 1].
Chloe: But you gave me the engagement ring! We sent out five hundred invitations to the Dallas elite[cite: 1]!
Julian: Take that ring off your finger right now[cite: 1].
Chloe: What?! Julian, you can't cancel our wedding over a misunderstanding with a toddler[cite: 1]!
Julian: I said, take it off before I have my head of security strip it from your hand[cite: 1].
Chloe pulled her hand against her chest, her diamond ring catching the midday sunlight[cite: 1].
Chloe: This ring is legally a gift! It belongs to me under Texas state property codes[cite: 1]!
Nora: Nothing on this estate belongs to you, Chloe. Including that dress[cite: 1].
Chloe: Shut up, Nora! You're a nobody who worked at a diner before Julian felt pity for you[cite: 1]!
Julian: Nora is the mother of my child, and the only woman who ever loved me for who I was, not for my corporate title[cite: 1].
Chloe: If you break this engagement, my father will call in the thirty-million-dollar bridge loan his bank issued to Sterling Maritime[cite: 1]!
Julian stepped into her space, his voice dropping into a lethal, quiet whisper[cite: 1].
Julian: Your father’s bank was placed into federal receivership forty-five minutes ago, Chloe[cite: 1].
Chloe’s eyes bulged with pure horror as she stared at the man she thought she was about to marry[cite: 1].
Chloe: Federal receivership...? That's impossible! My father is a senior board director[cite: 1]!
Julian: Your father was arrested at his country club ten minutes after the marshals raided that clinic[cite: 1].
The distant wail of sirens began to rise over the sound of the wind, echoing through the tree line outside the estate gates[cite: 1].