Victoria: You're choosing that filthy orphan over me?
Julian: He is not an orphan, and he is not filthy! His mother died of cancer six months ago, and he has been through enough trauma without you tormenting him!
Victoria: She was a common waitress! She tricked you into a paternity test so she could extort money from our trust fund!
Julian: Elena never asked me for a single penny, Victoria! She raised Leo by herself while working two jobs, and she only contacted me when the doctors told her she had weeks left to live!
Victoria: That's her story! She was a gold-digger, just like every other woman who looks at your bank account!
Julian: Elena kept Leo's existence a secret for seven years because she knew you would try to harm him! And god help me, she was right!
Julian reached down and picked up the heavy iron chain from the floor. He held it up in front of Victoria's face, the metal links clanking loudly against each other in the quiet foyer.
Julian: Where did you even get this, Victoria? Where did you find a restraint like this in my house?
Victoria: It... it was in the old utility room downstairs...
Julian: You went down to the basement, brought up an antique dog chain, and locked it around a seven-year-old child's neck?
Victoria: I wanted him to understand his place! He was running around the living room, touching the antique vases, acting like he owned the place!
Julian: He DOES own the place! My father's will explicitly states that the primary beneficiary of the Sterling fortune is my eldest biological child!
Victoria gasped, her wide eyes darting toward the grand staircase where Maria had taken the boy moments earlier.
Victoria: Your eldest child? But... but our son, Richard, is only six!
Julian: Exactly. Leo is seven. He is older than Richard by fourteen months.
Victoria: No... no, that's impossible! Richard was supposed to inherit the company! Richard was supposed to be the CEO!
Julian: The probate judge reviewed the certified birth certificates last week, Victoria. Leo is the primary heir to sixty percent of the Sterling estate.
Victoria: That will was written twenty years ago! You can contest it in court!
Julian: Why would I contest my own father's will? Leo is my son, and he deserves his rightful inheritance.
Victoria: Because it destroys our family's future! You are handing a multi-million-dollar empire to a boy who grew up in a trailer park!
Julian: He grew up in a home full of love and honesty, Victoria. That makes him far more qualified to lead this family than you will ever be.
Victoria's chest heaved with rage as she took a step toward Julian, her manicured nails digging into the palms of her hands.
Victoria: I will hire the best lawyer in Texas! I will drag your name through every tabloid in the country! I will tell the entire world that Julian Sterling had an illegitimate child with a waitress!
Julian: Go ahead and call the newspapers, Victoria. Because while you're talking to them, I'll be showing the police the security footage from the hallway camera.