Officer Vance: Turn around and put your hands behind your back, ma'am.
The cold steel handcuffs snapped around Vanessa's manicured wrists with two sharp clicks.
Vanessa: You're making a massive mistake! My attorney, Mr. Sterling, will have you stripped of your badge by nightfall!
Officer Vance: You can call Mr. Sterling from the precinct, ma'am. Walk forward.
Vanessa was marched out of the luxury dining room in front of thirty wealthy patrons who pulled out their phones to record her downfall.
Julian: Officer Davis, where are you taking that wine glass?
Officer Davis: Straight to the forensics lab for tox screen testing, Mr. Hayes. We'll need a statement from you and Miss...?
Clara: Clara. Clara Jenkins.
Officer Davis: We'll need your official statement at the station whenever you're ready, Miss Jenkins.
Clara: I can come right now. My shift is definitely over.
The manager stepped forward, holding a white linen napkin and a small glass of water for Clara.
Manager: Clara, here, wipe your cheek. I am so sorry you had to endure that violent attack.
Clara: Thank you, Mr. Higgins. I'm just glad Mr. Hayes is still breathing.
Julian: Clara, why was she so desperate to do this today? Did she say anything before I arrived at the table?
Clara: Sir, she was on her phone in the back hallway before you walked into the building.
Julian: What did you hear?
Clara: She was talking to an insurance broker about an policy update.
Julian froze, his brow furrowing as he looked at Clara.
Julian: An insurance policy?
Clara: She was confirming that your twenty-million-dollar key-man life insurance policy had a double indemnity clause that expired at midnight tonight.
Julian: Midnight tonight... that policy was tied to our corporate merger agreement.
Clara: She said if you died before midnight, the entire payout would go directly to her personal account instead of the company trust fund.
Julian sat down hard on a dining chair, burying his face in his hands as the full magnitude of her betrayal settled over him.
Julian: Twenty million dollars... she was going to kill me for an insurance payout.
Clara: She mentioned something about a debt in the Bahamas, too. A offshore casino line of credit.
Julian: Five million dollars. I found a wire transfer statement in her desk last week, but she claimed it was for an art investment.
Clara: She was planning to take the money and leave the country tomorrow morning, sir.
Julian: I would have been dead on the floor, and she would have been drinking champagne on a private jet to South America.
Clara: Not while I'm on duty, Mr. Hayes.
Julian looked up at Clara, tears shining in his eyes as he took her hand gently.
Julian: You saved more than just my life today, Clara. You saved my daughter from losing her father.
Clara: You have a daughter?
Julian: Seven years old. Her name is Lily. Vanessa isn't her biological mother, thank God.
Clara: I'm glad she still has you, sir. Every child deserves to have their father home for dinner.