Mark pulled back slightly so he could look directly into his young daughter's wet blue eyes.
He gently wiped a big tear off her red cheek with the thumb of his hand.
Mark: Tell me right now what happened while I was away.
Lily: Victoria told me I had to clean the entire ground floor before night.
Mark: Victoria told you to do this heavy work?
Lily: She said I was lazy and needed to work for my keep.
Mark felt a cold knot form in his stomach as he listened to her small voice.
Victoria was his new wife whom he had married only seven short months ago.
She was a former model who enjoyed living a high status lifestyle inside his gated community.
He had thought she would be a kind stepmother to his motherless little girl.
Mark: Did she say anything else to you today, Lily?
Lily: She said I am not your real daughter anymore.
Mark froze completely as those terrible words echoed through the silent high-ceilinged foyer.
He felt a sudden wave of sharp anger surge through his entire body.
Mark: She said what to you?
Lily: She said you were going to send me away to an orphanage soon.
Lily: She said my real mother left and that you do not want me here either.
Lily squeezed her eyes shut and cried even harder against his navy suit jacket.
Lily: She said I will not get any of the family inheritance or the house.
Mark stood up quickly while keeping one strong hand gently wrapped around Lily's shoulder.
He picked up the white teddy bear from the floor and handed it to his crying child.
He pulled the little girl behind his back to protect her from whatever was coming.
At that exact moment, high-heeled shoes clicked sharply against the hard marble tile.
Victoria walked casually out from the back hallway leading to the formal dining room.
She was wearing an expensive white silk dress and carried a tall glass of white wine.
Her golden hair was styled perfectly and she had a cool indifferent expression on her face.
She took a slow sip of her cold wine and looked at Mark without showing any surprise.
Victoria: Oh, you are back early from your business conference in Chicago.
Mark: Is what Lily just told me the absolute truth, Victoria?
Victoria: Do not listen to the dramatic lies of a silly little child, Mark.
Mark: She is eight years old and scrubbing my floors in tears!
Victoria: She needs discipline and a lesson in basic respect around this house.
Mark took three heavy steps forward until he was standing directly in front of his wife.
The air in the grand white foyer became dangerously tense and ice cold.