The two security guards stopped dead in their tracks, their hands immediately dropping from Chloe's arms.
Security Guard 1: Did he just say every dollar?
Security Guard 2: Look at the screen. That's Mr. Vance himself.
Victoria spun around toward the guards, her face twisting with pure panic.
Victoria: Don't listen to that tape! It's a fake recording! Grab the girl right now!
Security Guard 1: Ma'am, our contract is paid directly by the Vance Estate Trust. If Mr. Vance freezes the funds, we don't get paid.
Victoria: I am the estate! I am the one paying your checks!
Richard Vance: Victoria, if you are hearing this video, it means you have already tried to throw my daughter out of my funeral service.
The guests gasped, stepping back to leave a wide open space around Victoria and the security guards.
Victoria: Turn that off! Someone shut down the AV system right now!
Mr. Harrison: I am afraid nobody can turn it off, Victoria. The system is locked under my legal authority as executor.
An elderly man in a sharp grey suit walked out from the side doors, holding an iPad connected to the hall's main computer.
Victoria: Harrison! What is the meaning of this ambush?!
Mr. Harrison: It is not an ambush, Victoria. It is the reading of Richard's last wishes, exactly as he directed two weeks ago in my law office.
Chloe: Dad... you knew she would do this?
Richard Vance: Chloe, my darling girl. If you are watching this, I am so sorry I could not protect you in my final days. My illness took my strength, but it did not take my brain.
Victoria: This is ridiculous! He was on heavy medication! He didn't know what he was signing!
Mr. Harrison: Guards, please secure Mrs. Vance. Per Mr. Vance's explicit instructions in clause four of the conditional inheritance agreement.
The two security guards turned on their heels, grabbing Victoria firmly by both upper arms.
Victoria: Get your filthy hands off me! How dare you touch me!
Security Guard 1: Stand still, ma'am.
Chloe stood in the middle of the room, drying her tears with the back of her hand. Her breathing slowed down, her trembling stopping as she stared directly into Victoria's eyes.
Chloe: You told me I wasn't welcome here. You told me I wasn't a real Vance.
Victoria: You aren't! You're just a leech who came back when you heard he was dying!
Chloe: I stayed by his hospital bed every night while you were in Miami buying jewelry on his credit card!
Victoria: I was taking care of company business!
Chloe: You were spending his money while he was breathing through a machine!
Chloe took three long steps forward, her heels clicking loudly against the polished marble floor.
Victoria: Don't you dare come near me, you little brat!
Chloe stopped right in front of Victoria, her face filled with fierce, cold determination.
Chloe: This is for my father.
Chloe pulled her hand back and slapped Victoria hard across the face, the violent crack echoing through the high ceilings of the funeral hall.
Victoria's head snapped back, her pearl earring flying off and bouncing across the floor.
Victoria: HOW DARE YOU HIT ME?!
Chloe: TAKE HER OUT OF MY FATHER'S FUNERAL RIGHT NOW!
Security Guard 1: Yes, Miss Vance.
The guards turned Victoria around, forcefully dragging her kicking and screaming down the aisle toward the front exit.
Victoria: You'll pay for this! Harrison, I will sue you! I will sue every single person in this room!
The heavy glass doors opened into the bright sunlight, and the guards shoved Victoria out into the courtyard as the crowd broke into loud whispers.
Chloe turned around, her head held high as she walked back toward her father's silver casket.
Mr. Harrison: Miss Vance, the video is not over yet. Your father left specific instructions for the second part of the tape.
Chloe: Play it, Mr. Harrison. Let everyone hear what my father had to say.