Victoria froze in her tracks, her dark eyes slowly looking up toward the high ceiling near the front double doors. Mounted inside the decorative molding was a small, high-definition security camera, its red light blinking silently.
Victoria: The foyer camera... you had it turned on?
Julian: I have full remote access on my phone, Victoria. The system records continuous audio and video directly to a secure cloud server.
Victoria: You... you watched me?
Julian: I watched you drag my crying son across the marble floor by an iron chain while I was sitting in my car at the front gate. Why do you think I rushed through those doors so fast?
Victoria: Julian... please... I was just stressed! The charity committee has been pressing me all week, and the boy was making so much noise...
Julian: Don't make excuses for child abuse, Victoria. It makes you look even more pathetic.
Victoria: It wasn't abuse! I didn't hurt him physically! I was just holding the chain!
Julian: He has red bruises on his neck from where you pulled him, Victoria. I saw them when I unfastened the latch.
Victoria took a quick step back, her confidence completely shattering as she realized the legal trap she had walked straight into.
Victoria: You wouldn't give that video to the police... it would ruin our family name!
Julian: I care about my son's safety, not a fake family name built on your vanity.
Victoria: What about Richard? What about your other son? If I go to prison, his life will be ruined too!
Julian: Richard will stay here with me and Leo. I will hire a team of child psychologists to make sure he grows up knowing that his mother's actions were wrong, but that he is loved.
Victoria: You're taking both of my children away from me?!
Julian: You proved today that you are unfit to be around any child, Victoria. No judge in Dallas County is going to give custody to a woman who chains kids to stone floors.
Julian pulled his smartphone from his inner suit jacket pocket and tapped the screen to open his emergency contacts list.
Victoria: Who are you calling? Julian, put the phone down!
Julian: I'm calling my divorce attorney, Arthur Vance. And right after that, I'm calling Detective Miller at the precinct.
Victoria: Please, Julian! I'm begging you! We can work this out privately! I'll leave for a month! I'll go stay at our beach house in Miami!
Julian: You aren't going to Miami, Victoria. You're going upstairs, packing one suitcase of your personal clothes, and leaving my property before the police cruiser arrives.