The silence on the high balcony felt heavy as the cool night wind blew.
Evelyn held the thick red paper envelope high above her sharp silver head.
Several wealthy business partners stared up at the high balcony from the garden lawn.
Clara rushed out onto the cool stone terrace with her heart pounding hard.
Her golden dress shivered in the wind as she reached out both hands.
Clara: Please give me that private legal paper right now, Evelyn!
Evelyn: You thought you were so smart when you forged those doctor forms!
Carter: Stop this crazy dramatic behavior in front of all our guests!
Evelyn: Your foolish love has blinded you to her dirty little scheme!
Carter took two quick steps forward across the slippery white floor tiles.
He could see that his mother was trembling with a very dangerous rage.
Her sharp knuckles turned bright white as she gripped the red wax seal.
For months Evelyn had been hiring private detectives to investigate Clara's past background.
She wanted to find any excuse to kick Clara out of the Bennett mansion.
Now it seemed she believed she had found the ultimate silver bullet evidence.
Clara: That envelope contains private medical papers that you stole today!
Evelyn: I bought these real laboratory papers from the top hospital director!
Carter: What hospital director are you talking about right now, Mother?
Evelyn: The clinic where this young woman claimed to give birth months ago!
Clara gasped loudly and put both shaking hands over her wet pale mouth.
She looked up at Carter with eyes full of absolute terror and confusion.
Carter felt a cold shiver run down his spine as he looked back.
He loved his baby girl with every single piece of his honest heart.
He had held her tiny soft hand in the hospital delivery room himself.
Yet his mother was speaking with a strange and terrifying certainty right now.
Evelyn stepped even closer to the very low iron railing of the balcony.
Below the edge was a sharp twenty foot drop to the lower stone floor.
A decorative antique silver baby rattle sat on the marble table right beside her.
It was a precious Bennett family keepsake that had been passed down generations.
Evelyn suddenly grabbed the heavy silver rattle and lifted it near the edge.
Clara: No, please do not drop our precious family heirloom down there!
Evelyn: This heirloom belongs only to a true blood relative of mine!
Carter: Put that silver rattle back on the glass table right now!
Evelyn: This child is not a Bennett and she never will be!
Evelyn pulled her hand back toward the wide open drop above the patio.
Clara screamed in total horror as she saw the silver heirloom tilt over.
The metal glittered brightly under the strong spotlight lamps on the roof.
If that heavy antique hit the stone below it would break into pieces.
More importantly it symbolized the total destruction of their happy family legacy.
Carter did not hesitate for a single second when he saw the danger.
He lunged forward across the slick marble terrace with incredible explosive speed.
His black tuxedo shoes squeaked loudly against the clean stone surface below.
He reached out both arms as far as he could over the edge.
Evelyn let go of the heavy silver heirloom with a wild mean smile.
The shiny metal object fell quickly through the cool dark evening air.
Carter threw his body down low against the cold marble balcony border.
He stretched his right fingers out to catch the heavy falling silver box.