Downstairs, the front door opened again as Victoria's daughter, Chloe, walked in carrying three giant shopping bags from high-end boutiques. Chloe was wearing a fur coat and diamond earrings that had originally belonged to Elena's mother before she passed away. She stopped in her tracks when she saw her mother sitting on the bottom step, holding her face and sobbing quietly. The floor was covered in spilled wine, broken glass, and dirty soap water from the bucket Elena had left behind. Chloe dropped her bags on the oak floor, rushing over to her mother with a look of utter confusion on her face. She looked around the giant foyer, expecting to see Elena scrubbing the floor like she usually did every afternoon. Instead, she saw two security guards standing near the front door, looking terrified and preparing to leave their posts.
Chloe: Mom! What happened to your face? Who did this to you?
Victoria: He came back... the husband came back from the dead!
Chloe: What are you talking about? David Sterling is dead and gone!
Victoria: He is upstairs right now, and he froze all our accounts!
Chloe's face turned pale as she heard the terrifying name that held all the power in their wealthy city. She had spent the last two years spending thousands of dollars every week on luxury trips using Elena's stolen inheritance money. She looked toward the top of the stairs just as David and Elena began walking slowly back down together. Elena was now wearing a clean, elegant trench coat that David had brought in his suitcase from his private car outside. Her face was clean, and though she was pale, her eyes shone with a new strength beside her husband. David held the original will and deed firmly in his right hand as he stepped onto the hardwood floor below. The security guards immediately opened the front doors, stepping outside to avoid being caught in the massive legal storm. Chloe took a step back, hiding her expensive diamond earrings behind her long blonde hair in total shame.
David: You have ten minutes to take your personal rags and get out.
Chloe: You can't just kick us out! We have rights in this house!
David: You have the right to remain silent when the police arrive.
Victoria: Please, David... we can make a deal! Think of the family!
Victoria threw herself onto her knees, grabbing at David's shiny leather shoes in a desperate plea for mercy. The woman who had spent two years tormenting a helpless girl was now groveling on the floor she forced Elena to scrub. David pulled his shoe back with absolute disgust, refusing to let her touch him or his smiling wife. Elena looked down at Victoria, feeling a strange mix of deep pity and immense relief wash over her heart. She realized that Victoria's power had only existed because Elena was alone and believed the lies she was told. Now that the truth was out in the open, Victoria was nothing more than a desperate criminal facing total ruin. Sirens began to wail in the distance, growing louder as three police cars turned down the long paved driveway.
Elena: You stole my mother's ring, Chloe. Give it back to me now.
Chloe: It's mine! My mom gave it to me for my birthday!
David: Take it off her finger right now, or the charges double.