Eleanor: Do you remember your father's last words to you before he passed away, Julian?
Julian: Mom, don't bring Dad into this.
Eleanor: He told you to protect the family name. He told you that wealth without honor is just polished garbage.
Julian: I was trying to expand our family business!
Eleanor: By selling off three of our luxury cruise liners to a foreign liquidation firm?
Chloe gasped, looking at Julian with wide, angry eyes.
Chloe: You were selling the ships?! You told me we were going to host private parties on them!
Julian: Chloe, stay out of this! You don't know anything about corporate finance!
Chloe: I know you promised me a three-carat diamond ring and a penthouse in Manhattan!
Eleanor: He promised you my penthouse, my dear. The one overlooking Central Park.
Chloe: Your penthouse?!
Eleanor: Yes. The deed is sitting safely inside my attorney's vault in Chicago.
Officer Vance from the maritime security team stepped out onto the deck holding an iPad and a thick white envelope.
Officer Vance: Mrs. Sterling, we just received confirmation from the state police department in Florida.
Eleanor: What did they find, Officer?
Officer Vance: The notary seal used on the power of attorney document was purchased illegally from an online broker in Tampa.
Julian: That's a lie! I hired a licensed notary public!
Officer Vance: The notary signed a statement two hours ago admitting you paid her fifteen thousand dollars to forge your mother's initials.
Julian slumped his shoulders, dropping his head into his hands as his chest heaved with heavy breaths.
Chloe: You idiot! You committed felony forgery?!
Julian: I did it for us, Chloe! I wanted to give you the life you deserved!
Chloe: Don't drag me into your illegal mess! I had no idea he was doing any of this, Officer!
Eleanor: Oh, really? Is that why your name is listed as the co-signatory on the Panama shell account, Chloe?
Chloe froze instantly, her face turning as white as her designer coat.
Chloe: My... my name?
Eleanor: Panama Corporate Registry, Account Number 4092. Registered to Chloe Dupont.
Chloe: Julian... what did you put my name on?!
Julian: I needed a second officer for the shell company! You signed the papers at the hotel last week!
Chloe: You told me those were hotel check-in forms!
Julian: You didn't even read them! You just wanted my credit card to buy expensive clothes!
Eleanor: Two greedy fools who deserved each other from the very beginning.
Officer Vance: Mr. Julian Sterling, Miss Chloe Dupont, you are both being detained under federal maritime jurisdiction for attempted wire fraud and identity theft.
Julian: Mom! Please! Tell them to drop the charges! I'm your son!
Eleanor: My son died the day he locked me in a room and tried to steal my life's work.