Valeria Brant (Deadly Estate)

The evil Valeria Brant

Valeria Brant (Karen Cliche) is the hidden main villainess from the 2023 film, Deadly Estate (release date March 3, 2023) (Also aired on Lifetime Movie Network on August 1, 2024). She is the newlywed wife of wealthy hotel chain owner Ron Brant.

The couple appeared as guests at The Magnate, a hotel managed by main protagonist Zakiya Carter, with Valeria revealing that she and Ron met at a gala that she hosted a year prior. As Zakiya revealed to her close friend and employee, Alexis, Valeria is a famous model, but unbeknownst to Ron (among others), Valeria turned heel at some point by starting an escort service, with a number of her escorts performing their duties to her stepson, Astor Brant, who knew about Valeria's business and was supplied the girls in exchange for his silence.

Valeria knew about Astor's violent tendencies, as he murdered one escort, Morgan, three months prior, and in the film's events, he killed another escort, Phoenix. The villainess later had Astor killed, enlisting war veteran Daniel Denton to eliminate Astor, while detective George Finn was ordered to obtain Phoenix's phone, as it had photos of Valeria and the other escorts. Following Astor's murder, Valeria approached Zakiya and convinced her that other members of the hotel were involved in covering up the disappearances, and later enlisted Daniel to kill Zakiya's longtime friend, Harry Belfort, as well as consoling Ron and manipulating him into believing that his son committed suicide.

Zakiya ended up arrested and accused of the murder, but was cleared by George, who later revealed his own role after Zakiya figured out that an escort service was operating in the hotel. Steve Weissner, Zakiya's boss, was suspected of being the head of the service, only for Zakiya to realize that the true boss was Valeria, leading to Zakiya and George planning to trap the villainess by having the former pose as a woman looking to help run her business. Valeria suspected Zakiya of tricking George, but after Zakiya played up her ruse, the evil Valeria revealed her role as a madam and an indirect murderess, boasting that she had Astor killed to cover her tracks. At that moment, Ron appeared with a recording of Valeria's confession, as George was capturing the villainess on audiotape, and it was followed by Ron ejecting Valeria, who was later arrested (off-screen).

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