Maria walked down the long carpeted hallway while whispering sweet words to the little baby.
Leo giggled softly and reached his small hands up toward Maria's smiling face.
Victoria stopped right in the middle of the hallway and crossed her thin arms tightly.
Victoria: Stop making those foolish noises with that annoying little brat right now.
Maria: He is just a tiny child, ma'am, he means no harm at all.
Victoria: That child stands between me and complete control of this entire estate.
Maria: Mr. Arthur loves his son more than anything else in this world.
Victoria: Arthur will do whatever I tell him to do once we are married.
Maria kept her head down and moved quickly toward the main lower ballroom floor.
She knew that Victoria was only interested in the vast family inheritance money.
The legal documents explicitly stated that Leo would inherit the family mansion on his first birthday.
If anything happened to the baby, the entire fortune would pass directly to Arthur's wife.
Victoria pulled a small gold mirror from her purse and checked her dark lipstick.
She looked down at the bright marble floor of the grand ballroom with a cruel smirk.
The room was completely empty except for a large American flag hanging on the wall.
Bright natural daylight filled the massive space, highlighting every polished corner of the floor.
Victoria stepped right in front of Maria and blocked the heavy double doors completely.
Victoria: Give me that baby right now, you worthless little servant girl.
Maria: Please, Miss Victoria, do not do anything that you will regret later.
Victoria: Hand him over before I make sure you lose your job today.
Maria held the baby closer to her chest and backed away toward the open doors.
Her heart pounded wildly inside her chest as she saw the dark anger in Victoria's eyes.
Victoria lunged forward suddenly and grabbed the small child right out of Maria's arms.
Leo began to cry loudly as the aggressive motion frightened him terribly.
Maria gasped in total horror and dropped to her knees on the cold hard marble.