Victoria: That is impossible! My father is having breakfast with the state banking commissioner in Houston[cite: 1]!
Julian: The banking commissioner signed his federal arrest warrant at seven o'clock this morning, Victoria[cite: 1].
Victoria: You're lying! You're making up ridiculous stories to cover for your violent assault on your wife[cite: 1]!
Julian: You are not my wife, Victoria. You never were[cite: 1].
Julian reached into the inside pocket of his light grey suit coat, pulling out a thick manila folder stamped with the gold seal of the Texas Probate Court[cite: 1].
He threw the heavy document down onto the marble floor right in front of her trembling knees[cite: 1].
Julian: Open it. Read page four aloud so Maria can hear what kind of snake she's been serving[cite: 1].
Victoria's manicured hands shook violently as she pulled the thick parchment sheets from the envelope[cite: 1].
Her bruised cheek was pulsing bright crimson, but all the color had drained completely from her lips[cite: 1].
Victoria: 'State of Texas, County of Dallas... In the matter of the Marriage License of Julian Sterling and Victoria Vance'[cite: 1]...
Julian: Keep reading, Victoria. Read the bold red stamp across the middle of the certificate[cite: 1].
Victoria: 'Void ab initio... Due to active bigamy and fraudulent concealment of prior legal spouse'[cite: 1]...
Maria gasped softly from the floor, clutching little Toby closer to her chest as her eyes widened in shock[cite: 1].
Maria: Bigamy?! Mr. Sterling, was she already married[cite: 1]?
Julian: Victoria married her corporate accountant, Mark Lawson, six years ago in the Cayman Islands to hide twelve million dollars from her father's creditors[cite: 1].
Victoria: That marriage was dissolved! Mark signed an annulment agreement before I met you in New York[cite: 1]!
Julian: That annulment was never filed with the foreign registry, Victoria! You forged the judge's signature using your uncle's legal firm[cite: 1]!
Victoria: Mark swore on his life that the record was sealed! He promised me it would never surface[cite: 1]!
Julian: Mark surrendered the original unsealed marriage license to federal investigators two days ago in exchange for immunity[cite: 1].
Maria: God have mercy... She married you under a false name just to get her hands on the Sterling trust fund[cite: 1]!
Julian: Exactly, Maria. She wanted sixty million dollars from my late mother's estate trust to cover her father's fraudulent offshore debts[cite: 1].
Victoria scrambled backward on the marble tiles, her back hitting the white baseboard beneath the giant American flag[cite: 1].
Victoria: Julian, please! Think about our reputation in high society! Think about what the corporate board will say[cite: 1]!
Julian: The corporate board convened an emergency assembly at nine AM while I was on my private jet home[cite: 1].
Victoria: An emergency assembly without notifying my family's proxy[cite: 1]?!
Julian: Your father's proxy was stripped the second the FBI breached Vance Logistics' corporate headquarters[cite: 1].
Victoria: You orchestrated this... You planned this whole trap to discard me[cite: 1]!
Julian: I didn't plan for you to beat my five-month-old infant until his ribs were purple, Victoria[cite: 1]!
Toby: Ba... Ba... Waaah[cite: 1]!
The baby let out another sharp, pained cry as Maria gently rocked him against her apron, her tears dripping onto his white cloth[cite: 1].
Maria: He can't breathe comfortably on his left side, Mr. Sterling. The bruising is swelling rapidly[cite: 1].
Julian: Dr. Harrison is waiting at the private security gate right now, Maria. The medical detail is coming inside[cite: 1].
Victoria's eyes flared with pure, venomous desperation as she glared at the crying infant on the white cloth[cite: 1].
Victoria: That child isn't even yours, Julian! His mother was a nobody who trapped you while you were drunk at a charity gala[cite: 1]!
Julian: Clara was my lawful high school sweetheart, Victoria. And that child carries every single drop of my DNA[cite: 1].
Victoria: Then why did my private investigator find a medical report in your study safe showing zero biological match[cite: 1]?!
Julian stopped in his tracks, staring down at the disheveled woman with a look of freezing, absolute contempt[cite: 1].
Julian: You broke into the biometric floor safe in my private study[cite: 1]?
Victoria: I am the mistress of this estate! I had every legal right to inspect the family lineage records[cite: 1]!
Julian: You didn't find a medical report about Toby in that safe, Victoria. You found the forensic file on your own father's secret illegitimate son[cite: 1].