Julian scrambled up off the white sofa, his hands trembling as he unfolded the court document on the glass coffee table.
Julian: This is a mistake. My attorney, Mr. Vance, will have this thrown out by tomorrow morning!
Karen: Call Mr. Vance then. Ask him what happens to a trustee when they misappropriate family trust funds to buy a twenty-million-dollar mansion.
Julian: The estate trust belongs to my family bloodline!
Karen: The trust was set up by your late grandfather specifically for Lily's care and education, Julian.
Julian: I am the primary administrator of that fund!
Karen: You were the administrator. Until the forensic audit showed you transferred three million dollars into Beatrice's offshore accounts last month.
Beatrice froze in her tracks, her eyes darting nervously toward the front doors.
Beatrice: Julian... what is she talking about? You said that money was a legal gift from your father's business!
Julian: Keep your mouth shut, Beatrice!
Beatrice: You told me it was clean money from the family firm!
Karen: It wasn't clean, Beatrice. It was Lily's inheritance money. And you used it to buy that diamond necklace around your neck.
Beatrice reached up, clutching the sparkling diamond choker at her throat as if it were suddenly burning her skin.
Beatrice: I didn't know! I had nothing to do with your family trust funds!
Karen: Tell that to the state prosecutor. He's standing right outside on the driveway.
Heavy footsteps crunching over gravel echoed from the open front doors, followed by the deep, authoritative voice of a man walking into the foyer.
District Attorney Sterling: Good evening, Julian. It's been a long time.
Julian stumbled back against the sofa, his eyes wide with fear as District Attorney Sterling stepped into the marble living room, flanked by two uniformed state troopers.
Julian: Thomas? What are you doing in my house?
District Attorney Sterling: I'm serving a federal search warrant for all financial records, servers, and bank statements linked to the Sterling Family Trust.
Julian: Search warrant?! On what grounds?!
District Attorney Sterling: On the grounds of grand larceny, wire fraud, and falsification of court documents regarding your child custody filings.
Beatrice: Officer, please! I'm just his wife! I didn't sign any of those business papers!
District Attorney Sterling: Mrs. Sterling, your name is listed as the sole proprietor of three shell companies in the Cayman Islands that received those wire transfers.
Beatrice let out a shriek of terror as one of the state troopers stepped forward, pulling a pair of steel handcuffs from his utility belt.
Officer Henderson: Hands behind your back, ma'am. Do not make this harder than it needs to be.
Beatrice: Julian! Do something! Call your father! Tell him to fix this!
Julian: Don't touch her! You have no idea who my father is!
District Attorney Sterling: Your father was stripped of his CEO title at the boardroom meeting two hours ago, Julian. He's currently being questioned at the central precinct.