Brenda: Arthur, grab her arm and put her outside the gate right now!
Arthur strode over to Brenda with fast, heavy steps, his face dark with intense, furious emotion.
Before Brenda could say another word, Arthur swung his hand and slapped her forcefully across the face with a loud, violent crack.
The sharp sound echoed off the brick walls of the patio.
Brenda stumbled back against her patio chair, clutching her stinging, reddened cheek in absolute shock.
Brenda: YOU SLAPPED ME?!
Susan stood up from her chair in horror, covering her mouth as a collective gasp broke out across the patio.
Arthur pointed a sharp, commanding finger directly at Brenda's face, his voice booming across the yard.
Arthur: WHAT DID YOU DO?! YOU SHOULD NOT DO THAT!
Brenda: Arthur! How dare you lay a hand on me in front of our neighbors!
Arthur: How dare I? How dare YOU speak to my daughter like she is trash in her own home!
Brenda: Her home?! This is OUR home! We signed the papers five years ago!
Arthur: You signed nothing, Brenda! I signed the deed, and Maya provided the down payment from her mother's life insurance policy!
Brenda froze, her hand still holding her burning red cheek as her eyes widened in fear.
Brenda: Arthur... you said we weren't going to talk about that...
Arthur: I kept quiet for five years because I wanted peace in this house. But I will not sit here and watch you abuse my daughter for another second!
Maya: Dad... it's okay. You don't have to fight her.
Arthur: No, Maya. It's not okay. It has never been okay.
Arthur turned to face Brenda, his voice shaking with deep, heavy regret.
Arthur: Every month for five years, you told me you were paying the bank. You told me Maya's money was going into a savings account for her future wedding.
Brenda: I was going to put it in savings! I just had some unexpected expenses!
Arthur: Designer bags? Country club memberships? Spa days with your friends?
Brenda: I deserve to live comfortably! I am your wife!
Arthur: You are a thief, Brenda. You stole from my daughter, and you lied to my face every single day.
Susan: Arthur... is this really true? Maya paid the down payment?
Arthur: Every single penny of the fifty thousand dollar down payment came from Maya's mother when she passed away.
Maya wiped a tear from her eye, looking down at the sunlit patio floor.
Maya: Mom wanted me to have a safe place to live after she died. She trusted Dad to build a home for us.
Arthur: And I let this woman trick me into putting her name on the title documents three years ago when we got married.
Brenda: The law recognizes me as a co-owner, Arthur! You can't take my name off the deed without a court order!
Arthur: Then I will get a court order today.
Arthur reached inside his blue polo shirt pocket and pulled out a thick yellow paper envelope, holding it firmly in his hand.