Victoria: William! You hit me! You struck your fiancee in front of domestic staff!
William: You dropped my six-month-old child onto solid marble, Victoria!
Victoria: I didn't drop him! I told you, Sarah tripped on the edge of the hallway rug!
Sarah: That is a disgusting lie, Mr. Sterling! I was standing in the doorway when she opened her hands!
Victoria: Shut your mouth, servant! William, are you going to believe an orphan nanny over me?!
William dropped to both knees beside Sarah, his hands shaking violently as he took Toby into his arms.
William: Toby... Toby, look at Daddy. Breathe for Daddy, buddy.
Sarah: Check the back of his head, sir. He hit the stone with a terrible thud.
William ran his trembling fingers over the infant's scalp, feeling a swelling knot just above the neck.
William: His pulse is racing, Sarah. Call Dr. Reynolds on the emergency line right now.
Sarah: I have the phone dialing in my pocket, Mr. Sterling. The pediatric team is already rolling.
Victoria: A pediatric team for a bruised bump?! You are turning a simple mishap into a circus!
William stood up slowly, his towering frame casting a shadow over the woman on the floor.
William: An infant falling four feet onto unpadded stone is not a simple mishap, Victoria.
Victoria: Accidental drops happen in every home, William! Mothers drop babies all the time!
William: You are not his mother, and you never will be.
Victoria pushed herself up onto her elbows, her red velvet gown catching on the marble baseboard.
Victoria: We signed our marriage license at the clerk's office on Friday afternoon!
William: A marriage license that was never filed with the county records division.
Victoria's jaw dropped open, her eyes darting between William and the crying child.
Victoria: What do you mean it wasn't filed?! Richard took it to the courthouse himself!
William: Richard was arrested in the courthouse lobby thirty minutes ago, Victoria.
The grand foyer fell into a dead silence, broken only by the boy's ragged sobs.
Victoria: Arrested...? Richard is our corporate family attorney! Why would he be arrested?!
William: Because he was attempting to file a forged testamentary trust in Toby's name.
Victoria's hands began to shake against the floor, her manicured nails scraping the stone.
Victoria: That trust document was drafted by my father's legal team in Houston!
William: Your father's legal team doesn't exist, Victoria. Vance Maritime went bankrupt four months ago.
Victoria: That is an absolute lie! My father is a senior director on the Gulf Coast port commission!
William: Your father was detained at his private airfield forty-five minutes ago by federal marshals.
Victoria pulled herself up to her knees, her face draining of color until she looked like chalk.
Victoria: Federal marshals?! For what possible crime?!
William: Wire fraud, grand corporate larceny, and falsifying sixty million dollars in shipping bonds.
Victoria: Those bonds were guaranteed by our family holding company!
William: Your family holding company is an empty shell operating out of an offshore postbox.
Sarah: Mr. Sterling, Dr. Reynolds just cleared the security gate. He is coming up the drive.
William: Bring him straight into the drawing room, Sarah. Do not let this woman near my son.
Sarah took the weeping baby, wrapping him securely in a dry wool throw as she moved down the hall.
William reached into his dark overcoat, pulling out a thick cream-colored folder stamped with red judicial ink.
William: Now, Victoria... Let us discuss why you dropped my son on the floor today.