Martha: Stop it! Let go of her! You're hurting the child!
Victoria: Shut your mouth, maid! Get your dirty hands off her!
Julian: Get the hell away from my daughter!
Julian rushed forward past the hanging American flag, his shoes skidding across the polished marble. He grabbed Victoria's wrist and shoved her back with enough force to send her stumbling into a nearby velvet rope stanchion. The metal post hit the floor with a heavy, echoing thud. Julian dropped to his knees, wrapping his arms around his sobbing daughter and pulling her close into his chest.
Julian: I've got you, sweetheart. Daddy's here. You're safe now. Shh, I've got you.
Lily: Daddy... she shoved me in the dark hole! She locked the door on me!
Julian: It's okay, baby. It's over. Nobody is ever going to hurt you again.
Victoria recovered her balance, smoothing out her expensive dress with hands that shook with raw rage. Her eyes burned as she glared at Julian and the crowd of high-society guests who were now whispering and pulling out their phones.
Victoria: You can't even control what happens inside your own house, Julian!
Julian: You locked a five-year-old child in a wall cavity?! Are you insane?!
Victoria: She was snooping around where she didn't belong! She took things that don't belong to her!
Evelyn: Victoria, what on earth is wrong with you? She is a child! My granddaughter!
Victoria: She's a spoiled, bratty little pest who needs to learn to keep her nose out of adult business!
Julian stood up slowly, keeping Lily nestled tightly against his shoulder. His daughter clung to his neck, her tiny body shivering against his tuxedo jacket as tears wiped through the dirt on her cheek.
Julian: Lily, look at me. Why did she put you in there? What were you doing?
Lily: Daddy... she kept asking where mommy's letters were... she was tearing up mommy's old trunk upstairs...
Julian: What letters, sweetheart?
Lily: The letters mommy wrote before she died... I hid them in my bunny so nobody would take them, but she tried to snatch it and tore my plushie!