Evelyn: You struck your own biological mother! For a penniless maid!
Austin: Claire is my wife, and she is carrying my child!
Evelyn: I built this real estate empire from the ground up, Austin!
Austin: My father built this company! You spent thirty years spending his dividends!
Claire let out a ragged sob from the floor, clutching her lower abdomen with pale hands.
Claire: Austin... The pain is sharp on my right side... It won't stop...
Austin dropped back to his knees, gently lifting her off the damp rug and onto the soft sofa.
Austin: I'm right here, sweetheart. Take slow breaths. Daddy is holding you.
Evelyn: Look at her putting on a performance! She was fine two minutes ago!
Austin: Shut your mouth, Evelyn! Just shut your mouth!
Evelyn: Do not use that disrespectful tone under my roof!
Austin: This is not your roof. It never was.
Evelyn adjusted her gold pajama jacket, wiping a drop of blood from her upper lip.
Evelyn: The deed to this mansion is registered to the Vance Family Living Trust!
Austin: A trust that named my father as the sole grantor!
Evelyn: And I am his surviving widow! I control the voting stock!
Austin: Did you forget that I visited the probate archives in Fort Worth this morning?
Evelyn froze, her manicured hand pausing midway to her hair.
Evelyn: Why would you go to Fort Worth without telling our corporate attorney?
Austin: Because our corporate attorney, Richard, is currently sitting in a holding cell.
The grandfather clock in the corner ticked loudly against the tense, suffocating quiet.
Evelyn: Holding cell...? Richard is a respected senior partner!
Austin: Richard was arrested for grand embezzlement and falsifying probate seals two hours ago.
Claire: Austin... Call the doctor, please... It feels like pressure...
Austin pulled his phone from his pocket, dialing with trembling fingers on speakerphone.
Austin: Dr. Harrison, this is Austin. My wife is having severe contractions at the mansion.
Dr. Harrison: Austin, I am three minutes away. Keep her lying flat and elevate her feet.
Austin: Hurry, Doctor. Please.
Austin hung up, his gaze snapping back onto his mother like an iron vice.
Austin: You made an eight-months pregnant woman scrub your feet on cold stone!
Evelyn: She needed to learn humility! She grew up in a foster home!
Austin: Claire has more dignity in her little finger than you have in your entire body.
Evelyn: Dignity doesn't pay the property taxes on a fifteen-million-dollar estate!
Austin: You haven't paid property taxes on this mansion in three years, Evelyn.
Evelyn took a step back, her gold satin pants rustling against the edge of the copper basin.
Evelyn: The accounting office handles the escrow distributions automatically!
Austin: The accounting office discovered a four-million-dollar deficit in our operating reserves yesterday.
Evelyn: That was an overseas investment in commercial retail spaces in London!
Austin: That money was wired directly to your personal gambling account in Monte Carlo.
Evelyn's breath hitched, her eyes darting toward the heavy mahogany desk across the room.
Evelyn: Who gave you authority to audit my private ledgers?!
Austin: The Texas state fraud division gave me authority when they issued the subpoena.
Claire: Austin... Hold my hand... Don't let go...
Austin: I'm right here, baby. You are safe now. Neither of you will ever be hurt again.
Austin kissed Claire's forehead, feeling the burning heat radiating from her skin.
He turned his furious gaze back onto Evelyn, pulling a sealed document from his jacket.
Austin: Ten minutes, Evelyn. The clock is already ticking.