Captain Hayes: Mrs. Eleanor Sterling, is everything alright here?
Eleanor: Everything is under control, Captain Hayes. I am just handling a minor internal issue.
Chloe: Minor issue?! She slapped me in front of everyone! I want her arrested right now!
Captain Hayes: Ma'am, I suggest you lower your voice immediately. You are addressing the founder of Sterling Maritime Lines.
Chloe: I don't care who she is! No one touches my face!
Julian: Chloe, please! Just stop talking for one second!
Chloe: Don't tell me to stop talking, Julian! You said your mother was a penniless old woman who lived on a tiny pension!
Eleanor: Is that what you told her, Julian?
Julian stared at his mother, his face turning completely pale as sweat broke out across his forehead.
Julian: Mom... I can explain everything. Please, let's talk about this in private.
Eleanor: Private? You didn't want to talk in private two weeks ago when you moved me into that cramped nursing home.
Julian: That was for your own safety! You were getting forgetful!
Eleanor: I forgot where I put my reading glasses once, Julian. That didn't mean I lost my mind.
Chloe: Wait... Julian, what is going on here? You said we were inheriting this entire ship through your family trust!
Eleanor: My trust fund is registered solely under my name, young lady. My son doesn't own a single bolt on this ship.
Julian: Mom, I'm your only biological son! You built this company for our family!
Eleanor: I built this company with your late father while you were busy spending my money in Paris and London.
Chloe: Julian, you lied to me! You told me you were the CEO of Sterling Maritime!
Julian: I am going to be the CEO! Once my mother signs the power of attorney papers!
Eleanor: I will never sign those papers, Julian. Not after what I found in this folder today.
Eleanor held up the black leather folder in her hand, tapping it against her palm with cold precision.
Julian: What is in that folder?
Eleanor: The wire transfer requests you submitted to my private bank in Zurich three days ago.
Chloe: You checked her private bank records?
Eleanor: I own the bank, my dear. Checking my own accounts takes five seconds.
Julian took a step back, looking toward the railing as if he wanted to jump into the sea.
Julian: Mom... I had business debts. The real estate market in Miami crashed!
Eleanor: So you tried to forge my signature on a twelve-million-dollar asset transfer while locking me away in a care facility?
Chloe: Twelve million dollars?! Julian, you told me it was forty million!
Julian: Shut up, Chloe!
Eleanor: You brought this greedy woman onto my flagship vessel using my private VIP suite, thinking I would never find out.
Julian: I thought you were still in Chicago!
Eleanor: A mother always knows when her child is plotting against her, Julian.
Captain Hayes stepped forward, giving a small signal to two ship security officers standing near the lounge doors.
Captain Hayes: Mrs. Sterling, should we hold them in the security office until we dock in Nassau?
Eleanor: Not yet, Captain. I want my son to hear every single detail of what he just lost.