Victoria: Ethan! You struck me in front of a common servant!
Ethan: You are fortunate that is all I did, Victoria!
Victoria: I am your lawful fiancee! We are announcing our marriage at the country club tomorrow!
Ethan: There is no marriage, Victoria. The wedding is canceled forever.
Victoria: You cannot cancel our wedding! We have five hundred high-society guests arriving!
Ethan: Tell your guests to stay home, because you will be sitting in a county jail cell.
Clara knelt on the marble floor, wrapping Leo in a thick dry wool throw while his small chest rattled with ragged sobs.
Clara: His head hit the marble directly, Mr. Vance! He is gasping for breath!
Ethan: Give him to me, Clara. Hand my boy to me right now.
Ethan dropped to his knees, taking the shivering baby into his arms and pulling his black overcoat around him.
Ethan: Leo, look at Daddy. Open your eyes for Daddy, buddy.
Victoria: Ethan, listen to reason! The baby slipped from my arms while I was walking to the settee!
Ethan: You threw him with both hands, Victoria!
Victoria: It was a complete accident! The satin fabric was slick against my palms!
Clara: That is an evil lie, Mr. Vance! She looked right down at him and screamed that he would never belong in this family!
Victoria: Shut your mouth, servant! You speak when you are spoken to in this household!
Ethan: Do not raise your voice at Clara in my presence, Victoria!
Victoria: She accused me of attempted murder, Ethan! She is trying to tear our family apart!
Ethan: Clara saved my son's life while you tried to shatter his skull on stone!
Victoria: He was screaming for three hours straight! He has been crying all morning because of his colic!
Ethan: He is seven months old, Victoria! Babies cry when they are in distress!
Victoria: I have a severe migraine! The noise was splitting my head open!
Ethan: So your solution was to slam my infant son onto solid marble?
Victoria: I lost my balance! I tripped on the hem of my evening gown!
Clara: Look at his legs, Mr. Vance. Look at his thighs under the diaper.
Ethan pulled back the damp cloth, his breath hitching in his throat as raw fury tightened his chest.
Three dark purple bruises were dug deep into Leo's tender skin where adult fingernails had pinched him.
Ethan: Did you pinch my baby, Victoria?
Victoria: He was squirming while I tried to change his diaper! He bruised himself kicking the wooden frame!
Ethan: Babies do not leave adult fingernail gouges on their own legs!
Victoria: You are blaming me for everything! What about the sacrifices I made moving into this drafty mansion?
Ethan: You moved into this mansion because you were drowning in fifty million dollars of personal debt.
Victoria's face froze, her maroon diamond gown rustling as she pushed herself up against the mahogany console.
Victoria: What did you just say?!
Ethan: You heard me clearly, Victoria. The forensic audit from your family's maritime firm arrived on my desk at dawn.
Victoria: That audit was supposed to remain private between our corporate tax attorneys!
Ethan: It stopped being private when federal marshals raided your father's downtown office thirty minutes ago.
Victoria gasped, her hand flying to her throat as all the color drained from her cheeks.
Victoria: Federal marshals...?! You are lying to humiliate me!
Ethan: Unlock your phone on the side table, Victoria. See how many calls you missed from your defense counsel.
Victoria scrambled forward on her knees, grabbing her gold smartphone with trembling fingers.
Her display lit up with forty-eight missed calls, urgent text alerts, and breaking news banners from the local papers.
Victoria: 'Vance Maritime raided by federal task force... Chairman Arthur Vance detained on wire fraud charges'...
Ethan: Your entire house of cards collapsed before lunch, Victoria.
Victoria: No... No! Everything my father built! My trust fund! My luxury penthouse in Austin!
Ethan: Every asset linked to your social security number was seized under federal forfeiture orders.
Victoria dropped the phone onto the floor, the screen cracking against the stone as sirens rose in the distance.