Beatrice: Julian, do something! Call our private bankers in Houston!
Julian: There is nobody left to call, Mother! Don't you understand what Arthur just said?!
Beatrice: We have our savings! We have the offshore trust account in Zurich!
Arthur: The Zurich account was frozen forty minutes ago under an emergency international Mareva injunction, Mrs. Vance.
Beatrice: An injunction?! On what possible legal authority?!
Arthur: On grounds of grand corporate embezzlement and tax evasion spanning six fiscal years.
Beatrice’s hands flew to her mouth, her knees giving out as she collapsed onto the hallway bench.
Beatrice: Embezzlement... Arthur Vance handled those tax returns before he died!
Arthur: And you signed every single fraudulent audit report alongside him, ma'am.
Julian: Arthur, please... Let me see Eleanor for five minutes. Just five minutes at her hotel!
Arthur: Miss Scalon is not at a hotel, Julian. She is at the Scalon private terminal boarding her father’s jet.
Julian: She’s leaving the country?!
Arthur: She is returning to Geneva to take her rightful seat as Chief Operating Officer of Scalon Global.
Julian: I’ll fly to Geneva! I’ll get on the commercial morning flight to Switzerland!
Arthur: You won't be boarding any flights, Julian. Your passport has been flagged for federal surrender.
Julian’s breath hitched in his throat, a cold sweat breaking out across his forehead.
Julian: Flagged... Why would my passport be flagged?!
Arthur: When a corporate executive defaults on an eighty-five million dollar loan, the district attorney restricts foreign travel.
Beatrice: You planned this! That little viper came into my home to destroy our bloodline!
Arthur: Miss Scalon loved your son, Mrs. Vance. She cooked his meals, ironed his shirts, and defended him to her father for two years.
Julian: She... defended me to Alexander Scalon?
Arthur: Her father begged her not to marry into a bankrupt, arrogant family of social climbers.
Julian: She told him she loved me...
Arthur: She told him you had a good heart. She told him you were honorable, hardworking, and kind.
Julian’s chest tightened with unbearable agony, tears finally spilling over his cheeks.
Julian: God in heaven... What have I done?
Arthur: You proved her father right with a single swing of your hand, Julian.
Beatrice: Don't listen to him, Julian! He’s trying to break your spirit so we surrender the penthouse without a fight!
Julian: Shut up, Mother! Just shut your mouth for once in your life!
Beatrice gasped, staring at her son in pure, stunned shock as he yelled at her for the first time.
Beatrice: Julian! How dare you speak to your mother like that!
Julian: You told me she was trash! You told me she was an orphan looking for a meal ticket!
Beatrice: She acted like one! She wore sixty-dollar shoes from the suburban mall!
Julian: She was the daughter of the richest man in Europe, and you treated her like a stray dog!
Arthur: The clock is ticking, Mr. Vance. It is eleven-forty-five PM. You have fifteen minutes to vacate the premises.
Two Dallas police officers walked through the open front doors, their gold badges gleaming under the foyer lights.
Officer Davis: Mr. Julian Vance? Mrs. Beatrice Vance? We are here to enforce the emergency writ of eviction.
Julian: Officer Davis... Please, we have lived here for ten years.
Officer Davis: The property belongs to Scalon Holdings, sir. Please gather your personal luggage and step into the elevator.
Beatrice began to weep hysterically, her expensive emerald dress dragging through the spilled wine near the table.
Beatrice: Where are we supposed to sleep tonight?! Every hotel in downtown Dallas requires a credit card deposit!
Arthur: Miss Scalon was generous enough to book two rooms for you, Mrs. Vance.
Beatrice: At the Ritz-Carlton?!
Arthur: At the municipal shelter on Commerce Street. Your check-in time is midnight.