Julian: What did you just say to my wife, mother?
Evelyn: Ask her! Ask her about the contract she signed three days ago!
Julian: What contract are you talking about?
Evelyn: The prenuptial agreement! The one where she accepted two million dollars from the family trust fund to stay silent!
Julian turned his head slowly toward Chloe, his expression shifting from anger to complete confusion.
Julian: Chloe... what is she talking about?
Chloe: Julian, let me explain. It isn't what she makes it sound like.
Evelyn: Tell him the truth! Tell him you took the money from my account!
Chloe: I never took a single cent from your account, Evelyn!
Evelyn: Liar! You signed the wire transfer papers in front of my divorce lawyer!
Chloe: Your lawyer brought those papers to my apartment and threatened me!
Julian stepped closer to Chloe, his hands shaking as he took her by the shoulders.
Julian: Who threatened you, Chloe? Tell me right now.
Chloe: Your mother sent Mr. Sterling to my house on Thursday night. He told me that if I didn't sign the document, your father would pull all funding from your startup company.
Julian: He threatened my business to force you away?
Chloe: He didn't just threaten your business, Julian. He said they would make sure my family lost our bakery mortgage.
Evelyn: We were protecting our family estate from a woman who came from nothing!
Julian: She didn't come from nothing! She came from an honest family that actually cares about people!
Evelyn: An honest family? Her father is a small-town baker who owes hundreds of thousands in bank loans!
Chloe: My father works sixteen hours a day, Evelyn! Don't you dare talk about him like that!
Evelyn pushed herself up from the floor, wiping her ruined mascara with the back of her hand as her dark green gown rustled.
Evelyn: You used my son's trust fund to pay off your father's business debt! I checked the bank statements this morning!
Chloe: That was my own savings from my interior design business!
Evelyn: You don't make that kind of money! You're a low-class thief who targeted my son from the day you met him!
Julian: Stop talking, mother! Just stop talking!
Evelyn: Julian, look at her! She manipulated you! I did everything for you, and you strike your own mother for this stranger?
Julian: You paid a lawyer to blackmail the woman I love. You aren't protecting me, you're controlling me!
Evelyn: I bought that vintage engagement ring on her finger with my grandmother's inheritance money! We bought her loyalty, and she still betrayed us!
Julian stared at his mother, his chest heaving as tears finally spilled over his eyelashes.
Julian: You think everything in this world can be bought and sold, don't you?
Evelyn: In our world, yes! Money buys respect, position, and safety!
Julian: Then I don't want any part of your world anymore.
Julian reached for Chloe's hand, pulling off the shimmering diamond ring from her finger before turning back toward his mother.