Victoria paddled wildly toward the stone steps, her wet sequin gown dragging her down like lead weights.
Victoria: Marcus! You pushed me! You tried to drown your lawful fiancee!
Marcus: You threw a four-month-old infant into eight feet of water, Victoria!
Victoria: I tripped on the wet limestone! My high heel caught on the pool vacuum hose!
Elena: That is a disgusting lie, Mr. Sterling! She looked right at him, shouted, and let him drop!
Victoria: Shut your mouth, maid! You pushed past me and bumped my arms!
Marcus: Elena was thirty feet away by the outdoor kitchen, Victoria!
Marcus peeled off his dry black suit jacket, wrapping the thick wool around Toby's shivering body.
Marcus: Toby, breathe for Daddy. Keep crying, buddy. Let me hear your lungs.
Elena: His skin is freezing, Mr. Sterling. We need dry towels from the pool house.
Marcus: Run inside and grab the heated blankets from the nursery, Elena. Move!
Elena rushed through the glass doors, her wet shoes squeaking loudly against the floor.
Victoria dragged herself onto the edge, coughing chlorinated water onto the stone pavers.
Victoria: You cannot treat me like this in front of hired staff, Marcus!
Marcus: You are fortunate that pool was full, Victoria. If my son had hit concrete, you wouldn't be breathing right now.
Victoria: I am the future mistress of this estate! We have five hundred wedding guests arriving on Saturday!
Marcus: The wedding is canceled. It was canceled the second you opened your hands.
Victoria's jaw dropped open, blue sequins catching the sunlight as she pulled herself to her feet.
Victoria: You cannot cancel our wedding! We signed our partnership merger with Vance Maritime!
Marcus: Vance Maritime does not exist anymore, Victoria.
Victoria froze on the patio, her dripping hair clinging to her pale cheeks.
Victoria: What are you talking about?! My father runs the largest cargo terminal in Galveston!
Marcus: Your father was arrested at his private hangar forty minutes ago by federal marshals.
The quiet afternoon air hung dead, broken only by the sound of Toby's muffled sobbing.
Victoria: Arrested...? You are making up ridiculous stories to humiliate me!
Marcus: Check your phone on the outdoor table, Victoria. See how many calls you missed from your family lawyer.
Victoria scrambled across the wet patio, snatching her phone with shaking fingers.
Her screen lit up with fifty missed calls and red news banners from the Dallas Morning News.
Victoria: 'Vance Maritime raided in federal securities fraud... Chairman Arthur Vance in custody'...
Marcus: The Department of Justice unsealed the indictment at noon today.
Victoria dropped the phone onto the stone pavers, the glass cracking with a sharp pop.
Victoria: No... No! Arthur swore our offshore trusts were completely protected!
Marcus: Your father lied to you, just like you lied to me about loving this child.
Victoria: I tried to love him, Marcus! But he isn't even mine!
Marcus: He is my son! And he carries his mother's blood!
Victoria: His mother has been dead for six months, Marcus! She is gone!
Marcus: Sarah built this entire shipping company from nothing, Victoria. You will never replace her.
Elena sprinted back through the glass doors carrying two thick heated fleece blankets.
Elena: Here, Mr. Sterling! Wrap his chest tightly! The doctor is at the security gate!
Marcus wrapped his child, pressing his lips to Toby's cold cheek as tears burned his eyes.
Marcus: Bring Dr. Reynolds straight out here, Elena. Do not let this woman step foot inside my house.
Victoria: This is my residence too, Marcus! My clothes are in the master suite!
Marcus turned his icy glare onto her, stepping between her and the glass doors.
Marcus: Your clothes are going into trash bags on the curb, Victoria. Your time here is finished.
Victoria backed away toward the edge of the water, realization settling over her face like a dark shadow.