Victoria carried Lily out of the glass-covered hallway and placed her gently on the long leather sofa in the formal parlor. Marcus, the chief of estate security, rushed into the room carrying a heavy medical first-aid kit.
Marcus: Miss Victoria, I have the sterile gauze and antiseptic. The paramedics are four minutes away.
Victoria: Thank you, Marcus. Help me hold her leg steady while I clean these cuts.
Lily: Ouch! Mommy, it stings!
Victoria: I know, sweetie. I'm being as gentle as I can. You are being so brave for Mommy.
Grandma Evelyn: Victoria, this is completely unacceptable! You are causing a massive public scandal over a household accident!
Victoria: An accident, Evelyn? Did you hear what Lily just said about the study?
Grandma Evelyn: Children have wild imaginations! Julian was in the dining room with me all morning reviewing the estate accounts!
Victoria: Then why is Julian sweating through his dark grey suit right now?
Julian stood in the doorway of the parlor, his jaw tight, his hands thrust deep into his pants pockets as he tried to look composed.
Julian: I'm sweating because my own sister just assaulted me in the middle of our family mansion!
Victoria: Where is Lily's phone, Julian?
Julian: How should I know? She probably dropped it in the broken glass!
Victoria: Marcus, did you see a pink phone in the hallway near the broken display?
Marcus: No, Miss Victoria. I swept the immediate area around the cabinet before coming in here. There was no phone on the marble floor.
Victoria: That's because it's sitting in Julian's suit pocket right now.
Julian: That is a absurd accusation! I don't have her silly toy phone!
Victoria: Hand over your jacket, Julian. Prove me wrong.
Julian: I am not taking off my custom suit jacket to appease your paranoid delusions!
Victoria: Marcus, lock the front double doors. Nobody leaves this estate until the police arrive.
Grandma Evelyn: You have no authority to lock the doors of my house, Victoria!
Victoria: I own sixty percent of the primary deed to this estate, Evelyn! Dad left it to me in his revised will three years ago!
Grandma Evelyn: That will was supposed to be kept private until the corporate merger was finalized!
Victoria: I kept it private to preserve your dignity! But if your son thinks he can bleed my daughter on marble tile to cover up his theft, the privacy is over!
Sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder as the medical unit turned into the long tree-lined driveway of the Los Angeles property.
Lily: Mommy... my phone is pink with glitter on the back... Uncle Julian put it in his left inside pocket when he grabbed my arm...
Victoria: Did you hear that, Julian? Her memory seems remarkably clear for a child who supposedly hit her head.
Julian: She's making it up! She's parroting whatever you tell her to say!
Victoria: Then let Marcus check your left inside pocket. If it's empty, I'll publicly apologize to you in front of every board member arriving today.
Julian didn't answer. His eyes darted nervously toward the side exit leading to the garage, his body shifting as if preparing to run.
Victoria: Don't even think about moving, Julian. Marcus was a collegiate sprinter. You won't make it past the marble console.
Marcus: Mr. Julian, please hand over the jacket voluntarily, or I will be forced to restrain you until the officers step inside.
Julian: Get your hands off me, Marcus! You work for this family!
Marcus: I work for Miss Victoria, sir. She pays the security contract.
The front doors chimed as two paramedics rushed into the mansion carrying heavy red trauma bags, followed closely by two uniform LAPD officers.
Paramedic: LAPD dispatch reported an injured child from broken glass. Where is the patient?
Victoria: Over here on the sofa! Please check her legs and hands immediately!
Officer Davis: What happened here? Who broke the display cabinet in the hallway?
Victoria: My brother shoved my seven-year-old daughter into the crystal display cabinet to steal her phone because she caught him committing corporate theft in our father's study!
Julian: She's lying, Officer! It was a tragic accident! The child fell!
Officer Davis: Sir, remain calm and step back against the wall. Ma'am, is there video surveillance in that hallway?
Victoria: Marcus, open the security server on the hallway terminal right now.