Clarissa reached down and grabbed the silver picture frame straight out of Maya's small hands.
Maya let out a tiny soft cry as her favorite memory was snatched away.
Elena: Ma'am, please let the child keep her mother's photo.
Elena spoke softly as she stood at the bottom of the grand marble staircase.
Clarissa looked down over the balcony railing with an annoyed glare in her eyes.
Clarissa: Mind your own business, Elena, and return to your cleaning duties.
Elena: Sir Richard asked me specifically to look after Maya while he was away.
Clarissa: I am the lady of this estate now, not you.
Clarissa held a thick manila folder under her arm beneath the orange dress sleeve.
Inside that folder were important trust fund documents belonging to young Maya.
Clarissa had spent the morning searching Richard's private office while he was out.
She wanted to convince Richard to transfer the family trust fund into her name.
She believed that Maya was too young to hold such a massive financial inheritance.
If she could prove that Elena was negligent, she could fire the loyal maid.
Without Elena around, Clarissa could control the household completely without any witnesses.
She looked down at the marble floor two stories below the balcony rail.
She held the delicate silver picture frame high over the grand railing edge.
Clarissa: Oops! Bye-bye, little picture!
Clarissa intentionally let go of the framed photograph right over the edge.
The glass frame tumbled through the air toward the hard marble floor below.
Maya reached out toward the edge and let out a frightened gasp.
Clarissa stepped toward Maya and grabbed the toddler's arm tightly to pull her back.
Clarissa: See what happens when you do not listen to me?
Maya began to sob loudly, scared by the harsh grip on her arm.
Elena sprinted across the polished marble floor directly below the upper balcony.
She caught the falling picture frame against her apron just before it hit the floor.
She held the intact photo safely in her hands and looked up in total shock.
Elena: You did that on purpose just to scare this child!
Clarissa: She slipped from my hands! Don't touch her or speak to me like that!
Clarissa began pulling Maya toward the guest bedroom near the upper hallway staircase.
She intended to lock the child inside until the legal documents were finalized.
Elena dropped her cleaning cloth and raced up the marble stairs without hesitating.
She knew she had to protect the helpless child from the stepmother's cruelty.
Her heart pounded heavily in her chest as she reached the top landing.
She put herself directly between Clarissa and the crying little girl.