Victoria: You planned this... you set a trap for me!
Brandon: I didn't set a trap, Victoria. I trusted you enough to bring my grieving daughter into my home, and you showed me what kind of monster you truly are.
Victoria: I was protecting our fortune! If Lily opens that vault with her key, she gets sixty percent of the Sterling real estate holdings!
Brandon: That fortune was built by my father and my grandfather! It was meant to be passed down to my biological children, not to a greedy socialite who forged bank statements!
Victoria: What bank statements? I never forged anything!
Brandon: Arthur Vance conducted a forensic audit of our personal accounts yesterday morning, Victoria. He found the three million dollars you transferred to a private shell company in the Cayman Islands last month.
Victoria took two sharp steps backward, her back pressing hard against the polished marble wall near the gold-accented shower[cite: 1]. Her face turned pale, all her former arrogance completely vanishing[cite: 1, 5].
Victoria: That... that was an investment fund for the estate!
Brandon: It was a personal account set up under your maiden name. You were planning to drain my father's trust fund and leave the country the second the probate court finalized the will!
Victoria: You can't prove that!
Brandon: The bank logs have your digital signature and IP address recorded on every single transaction, Victoria. The District Attorney already has the audit files.
Downstairs, the loud sound of sirens echoed down the long gated driveway of the mansion, their high-pitched wails growing louder as two Dallas police cruisers pulled up to the front steps.
Victoria: Brandon, please! Don't let them take me out of here in front of the servants! Think of my dignity!
Brandon: You lost your dignity the moment you held fire against an eight-year-old child's skin.
Heavy boots marched rapidly up the grand staircase outside, their footsteps echoing off the high ceilings of the mansion[cite: 4]. Two uniformed police officers stepped through the open double doors of the bathroom, led by Detective Vance[cite: 4].
Detective Vance: Mr. Sterling? We received an emergency dispatch regarding an assault on a minor.
Brandon: Over here, Detective. My wife, Victoria Sterling, deliberately burned my eight-year-old daughter with a lighter in this room[cite: 1].
Detective Vance: Mrs. Sterling, step away from the wall and place your hands behind your back.