Arthur: You're making a massive mistake, young lady.
I stepped into the ship's executive lounge ten minutes later. Arthur Vance sat in a leather armchair, holding a glass of scotch in his hand. He looked calm, arrogant, and completely unbothered by his son's arrest.
Maya: Mr. Vance. I see you're enjoying your drink while your son sits in a holding cell.
Arthur: Liam made a minor tactical error. He was impatient. But you... you are blowing this way out of proportion.
Maya: He pulled a bat on me!
Arthur: Men in our family are firm, Maya. Your mother-in-law learned her place forty years ago, and she lived a very comfortable life because of it.
Maya: That's sickening, Arthur.
Arthur: It's reality. You think you can just walk away from the Vance family? Do you know how much power I hold in the corporate world?
Maya: You hold six million dollars in debt, Arthur. That's not power. That's desperation.
Arthur set his glass down on the table with a hard clatter, his eyes narrowing into cold slits.
Arthur: Watch your tongue, girl. Your father and I were business associates before he passed away. I know where every dollar of your trust fund is stored.
Maya: And you thought you could use your son to drain it.
Arthur: It was a mutually beneficial arrangement! Your father owed me!
Maya: My father owed you nothing! He cut ties with you five years ago because he realized you were a criminal!
Arthur: If you proceed with these police charges against Liam, I will make sure your family's design firm is blacklisted across the entire East Coast.
Maya: Is that a threat, Mr. Vance?
Arthur: It's a promise. You won't get a single corporate contract in Florida ever again.
I took a step closer to his chair, looking down at him with absolute disgust.
Maya: You really don't get it, do you? You think money and threats can hide what you are.
Arthur: I am a powerful man, Maya. You are just a girl in a white dress.
Maya: I'm not just a girl in a dress, Arthur. I'm the woman who recorded this entire conversation on my phone.
I pulled my smartphone out from the pocket concealed within the lace folds of my wedding dress and tapped the red recording button.
Maya: Every threat, every admission of financial fraud, every word about your son's violent behavior... it's all right here on audio.
Arthur froze, his jaw dropping open as he stared at the screen in my hand.
Arthur: You... you recorded me?
Maya: The coast guard and the FBI are meeting this ship at the port in Miami tomorrow morning. I'll make sure they get a copy of this file first thing.
Arthur scrambled out of his chair, reaching for the phone, but two ship security guards stepped in front of him, blocking his path.
Security Guard: Back away, Mr. Vance. Sir, step back immediately.
Maya: Enjoy the rest of your cruise, Arthur. It's the last luxury vacation you'll have for a very long time.