The heavy quiet in the foyer felt thick enough to cut with a knife.
Arthur took his daughter's hand and guided her toward the living room sofa.
Arthur: Sit right here, Lily, and tell me everything that happened while I was away.
Victoria walked over with her wine glass and sat in a plush armchair across from them.
Victoria: She is going to exaggerate, Arthur, as teenage girls always do.
Arthur: Be quiet, Victoria, or leave this room right now.
Lily looked down at her lap, her hands trembling on her knees.
Lily: Ever since you left for your business trip three weeks ago, things changed.
Arthur: What kind of changes are you talking about, sweetie?
Lily: Victoria dismissed the regular cleaning staff and canceled my allowance card.
Arthur looked up at Victoria with sharp narrowed eyes.
Arthur: Is this true? Did you dismiss our staff without consulting me first?
Victoria: We were spending far too much money on useless household help, Arthur.
Arthur: I pay for the house staff from my own corporate income account!
Victoria: I am the mistress of this estate and I manage daily choices.
Lily: She made me clean the bathrooms and cook meals every single day.
Arthur felt his stomach turn as he listened to his daughter's trembling voice.
Arthur: What else did she do to you while I was out of town?
Lily: She locked my bedroom door from the outside at eight every night.
Arthur stood up so fast his chair shifted across the wooden floorboards.
Arthur: You locked my child inside her own room like a prisoner?
Victoria: It was for her safety so she wouldn't wander around at night!
Arthur: That is emotional abuse, Victoria, and you know it!
Victoria set her wine glass down on the glass coffee table with a harsh thud.
Victoria: Do not speak to me in that disrespectful tone in my own living room!
Arthur: This mansion belongs entirely to my family trust, not to you.
Victoria: We are legally married, Arthur, which gives me equal managerial rights here.
Arthur: We signed a prenuptial agreement before our wedding two years ago.
Victoria stood up and pulled her red dress straight with an arrogant shrug.
Victoria: That piece of paper will not protect you from a ugly public court battle.
Arthur: I do not care about a public battle when my child is harmed.
Lily: Dad, she took my mom's old lockbox from my closet too.
Arthur turned to his daughter, his eyes widening with sudden dread.
Arthur: What lockbox are you talking about, Lily?
Lily: The wooden box containing Mom's original diamond ring and paper diary.
Arthur whirled around to face Victoria with lethal focus in his eyes.
Arthur: Where is my late wife's jewelry box right now?
Victoria crossed her arms and offered only a cold smirk in response.
Victoria: I put it somewhere safe where it belongs.
Arthur: You have ten seconds to return that box to my daughter.