Mark stared at his wife with eyes filled with pure rage.
He stepped quickly across the marble floor toward his young daughter.
Mark: Get your foot away from my daughter right now!
Evelyn stepped back fast with a startled expression on her face.
Evelyn: Mark, you were supposed to be at the office today!
Mark: What have you been doing to my child while I was away?
Evelyn: She was disobeying my orders and breaking valuable china!
Mark: That does not give you the right to hurt her!
Mark knelt down on the floor to check on Lily's bruised hands.
Lily wrapped her small arms around her father's neck in deep relief.
Evelyn grabbed a heavy brass candlestick from the nearby marble counter.
She moved toward Mark with a look of frantic desperation.
Mark saw her movement reflected in the glass frame on the wall.
He stood up fast and stepped between Evelyn and his daughter.
He grabbed Evelyn's wrists before she could swing the heavy object.
Mark: Drop the candlestick right now, Evelyn!
Evelyn: You do not know the full truth about this household!
They struggled against each other near the bright white living room wall.
Mark managed to twist the heavy brass piece safely from her grasp.
The metal object fell onto the marble floor with a loud clang.
Mark pinned Evelyn's arms firmly behind her to keep everyone safe.
Mark: Stay away from her, or I call the police this second!
Evelyn: You are making a huge mistake touching me like this!
Mark forced her down safely onto the floor while holding her hands.
He kept her firmly restrained so she could not hurt anyone else.
Lily wiped her teary eyes and reached into her small apron pocket.
She stepped closer to her father while holding out a golden object.
Lily: Daddy, you need to take this right now!
Mark: Where did you get that ornate gold key, Lily?
Lily: Daddy, she hid them behind that locked door down the hall!
Mark stared at the key and then at the locked double doors.
Evelyn gasped loudly as her face turned completely pale with terror.