Victoria: That camera was disconnected! The contractor told me the foyer lines were dead for painting!
William: The commercial lines were shut off, Victoria. The private executive satellite feeds record constantly.
Victoria: You... You put a hidden surveillance camera inside our private entrance hall?!
William: I put a guard to protect my motherless son from a viper who wanted his fortune.
Victoria: That recording violates my right to privacy! You cannot present that in a Texas courtroom!
William: Under Texas Penal Code Section 16.02, a property owner has every legal right to record to protect human life.
Victoria: I am a legal resident of this mansion! I have legal expectations of privacy!
William: You have zero expectations of privacy when committing felony injury to an infant child.
William pulled his smartphone from his pocket, tapping the glass and turning the display toward her.
The high-definition footage played immediately, the crystal-clear audio echoing off the stone walls.
On the screen, Victoria held Toby over the marble, her face cold and smiling as she let go of the swaddling cloth.
The sickening thud of the infant hitting the stone floor rang out through the phone's speakers.
Then came Victoria's cruel, remorseless voice: "Who do you think he'll believe? His future wife or a cheap nanny?"
Victoria clapped both hands over her mouth, her eyes bulging in pure, paralyzing dread.
Victoria: Turn that off! Delete that file right now, William!
William: The Dallas County District Attorney reviewed this live feed twenty minutes ago, Victoria.
Victoria: William, please! Think of our social circle! Think of what our friends at the country club will say!
William: Our friends at the country club will be reading your federal mugshot on the front page tomorrow morning.
Victoria: I will sign a complete legal waiver! I will give up all claims to the shipping merger and leave Texas tonight!
William: You won't take a single step past those front gates, Victoria.
Victoria: My father's defense attorneys will have this warrant thrown out before dinner!
William: Your father's attorneys were disqualified by the federal magistrate two hours ago, Victoria.
Victoria: Disqualified?! On what possible legal grounds?!
William: On grounds of facilitating twelve million dollars in fraudulent offshore transfers through Panama.
Victoria backed away toward the front doors, her expensive red velvet gown dragging through dust on the threshold.
Victoria: That twelve million was an authorized bridge loan for our maritime fuel reserves!
William: That money was transferred to an account in the Cayman Islands registered under your maiden name.
Victoria: My father told me to open that account! He said it was an emergency family trust fund!
William: Your father gave federal prosecutors every single email between you two this morning.
Victoria gasped, her hands shaking so violently that she nearly collapsed onto the marble step.
Victoria: My father... gave them my personal emails?!
William: He made a plea deal at ten o'clock this morning, Victoria. He traded you to save himself from life imprisonment.
Victoria: That coward! That selfish, disgusting old coward! He promised me he would protect me no matter what!
Sarah: There is no honor among thieves, Victoria. You should have learned that a long time ago.
Sarah walked out of the drawing room holding little Toby wrapped in a fresh blanket, a soft cold compress on his head.
Victoria: You filthy nanny! You set me up with your cameras and your lies!
Sarah: I didn't open your hands over that stone floor, Victoria. You did that all on your own.
The heavy iron gates at the end of the long driveway groaned as they swung open.
The high-pitched wail of police sirens began to echo up the tree-lined avenue, growing louder by the second.
Flashing red and blue emergency lights swept across the white columns of the mansion, painting the walls in crimson strokes.
Victoria turned toward the front entrance in pure, naked terror, but heavy tactical boots were already pounding across the porch.
Four uniformed police officers and two armed federal marshals marched into the grand hall.
Leading the squad was Detective Marcus Miller from the Dallas Police Major Crimes Division, his gold shield gleaming.
Detective Miller: William Sterling? We received your emergency priority dispatch from corporate security.
William: Over here, Detective Miller. The suspect is standing right by the staircase.
Victoria: Marcus Miller! Thank goodness it's you! Tell these patrolmen to stand down! This is a domestic dispute!
Detective Miller stopped three feet from Victoria, looking down at her disheveled red dress with cold disgust.
Detective Miller: Keep your hands visible, Mrs. Vance. Do not attempt to move.
Victoria: Do not call me a suspect! William assaulted me! He struck me across the face in front of his nanny!
Detective Miller: Under Texas Penal Code Section 9.32, reasonable physical force is fully justified to defend an infant from violent felony assault.
Victoria: Nobody was assaulted! The baby slipped from my hands by accident!
Detective Miller: We have the 4K security footage from your ceiling dome, Victoria. We watched you drop that child.
Victoria's jaw fell slack, her eyes darting between the armed officers as terror locked her throat.
Detective Miller: Victoria Vance, you are under arrest for attempted capital murder of a minor, aggravated child injury, and corporate wire fraud.
Victoria shrieked, stumbling backward toward the library doors as the officers moved in.