Victoria: You cannot evict me without thirty days' written notice under Texas tenant law, Marcus!
Marcus: You are not a tenant, Victoria. You are an intruder facing capital murder charges.
Victoria: Attempted murder?! The baby didn't even go under for more than five seconds!
Marcus: Five seconds in eight feet of water is enough to drown an infant, you monster!
Victoria: It was an accident! I was trying to adjust his blanket while looking at the roses!
Elena: You shouted 'Take this child' right before you dropped him, Victoria! I heard your voice!
Victoria: I was shouting for Elena to take him because I felt dizzy from the heat!
Marcus: Elena was sixty feet away on the back terrace, Victoria! Who were you shouting to?!
Victoria swallowed hard, her wet hands clutching at the blue sequins on her waist.
Victoria: I panicked! When a person feels faint, they say strange things!
Marcus: You didn't feel faint, Victoria. You were following a calculated corporate plan.
Marcus reached into the inner pocket of his suit coat, pulling out a thick cream-colored folder.
The heavy parchment was stamped with the red raised seal of the Texas Probate Court.
Victoria: What is that? More fake papers drafted by your corporate legal team?!
Marcus: This is the unsealed forensic audit of Sarah's testamentary trust.
Victoria: Sarah's trust has nothing to do with our private life, Marcus!
Marcus: It has everything to do with why you dropped my son into that pool today.
Victoria: I don't care about your dead wife's contracts!
Marcus: Read clause seven, Victoria. Read what happens if my biological heir dies before age eighteen.
Marcus opened the folder, holding the crisp white page right before her face.
Victoria: 'In the event of the minor heir's accidental death, sixty percent voting equity transfers to the surviving legal spouse'...
Marcus: Which means the moment we signed our marriage license on Saturday, you stood to inherit ninety million dollars if Toby died.
Victoria's eyes darted across the black ink, her breath coming in fast, shallow gasps.
Victoria: That is standard estate survivorship language! Every wealthy family uses those clauses!
Marcus: Standard language does not include private wire transfers of two hundred thousand dollars to my family notary.
Victoria went completely rigid on the flagstones, her dripping hands dropping to her sides.
Victoria: What wire transfers?! I never sent money to any notary!
Marcus: You wired two hundred thousand dollars to Thomas Miller's offshore account in Nassau last Thursday.
Victoria: That was a private consulting retainer for estate tax advice!
Marcus: Thomas Miller was detained by federal agents at Dallas Love Field two hours ago, Victoria.
Victoria gasped, her manicured fingers flying to her mouth in pure, unmasked dread.
Victoria: Detained...? Why would they detain a private family notary?!
Marcus: Because he carried a flash drive containing forty-two forged corporate documents stolen from my office safe.
Elena: Dear God in heaven... She was altering legal documents while you were in Houston, sir!
Marcus: Not just altering documents, Elena. She forged Sarah's medical power of attorney last winter.
Victoria backed up along the pool coping, her heels slipping dangerously on the wet stone.
Victoria: Sarah was sick! She had heart failure after giving birth! The doctors verified it!
Marcus: Sarah didn't have heart failure until your father's pharmaceutical company supplied her private clinic.
The entire terrace went dead silent, the only sound being the distant rumble of city traffic.
Victoria: That was an experimental postpartum therapy! My father offered it as a personal favor!
Marcus: The medical examiner exhumed Sarah's tissue samples three days ago, Victoria.
Victoria's legs buckled, and she dropped hard onto her knees beside the edge of the deep water.
Victoria: You... You exhumed Sarah's body?!
Marcus: They found lethal traces of synthetic potassium compound in her preserved bone tissue.
Elena: You poisoned Mrs. Sarah... You killed that sweet woman to get inside this house!
Victoria: I didn't give her anything! My father sent the medicine directly to her nurse!
Marcus: Your father gave the police every single email between you two at dawn today, Victoria.
Victoria clutched her head, her face turning as white as the stucco walls around her.
Victoria: My father... gave them my personal emails?!
Marcus: He took a plea bargain to avoid the death penalty, Victoria. He traded your life for his.
Victoria: That coward! That selfish, disgusting old coward! He swore he would protect me until the end!
Marcus: There is no honor among murderers, Victoria. You should have learned that long ago.
Victoria looked up toward the glass doors, her arrogance completely shattered into raw, sobbing panic.