Arthur Sterling took three fast steps into the hall, staring at his crying son and the breathless maid.
His sharp eyes darted from Clara kneeling on the floor up to Victoria standing halfway down the marble staircase.
"Why is Leo crying like that, and why are you on the floor, Clara?" Arthur asked loudly.
Clara raised her shaking hand and pointed a trembling finger directly at Victoria's bitter, frozen face.
"Sir, please listen to me!" Clara called out, her voice breaking with intense emotion.
"She pushed the baby's carrier right over the balcony edge on purpose!" Clara shouted to her employer.
Victoria's face turned pale for a split second before she forced a loud, theatrical laugh of disbelief.
"Shut up! Not another word out of your mouth, you lying maid!" Victoria yelled down the stairs.
She hurried down the remaining marble steps, placing a dramatic hand over her own chest in fake horror.
"Arthur, darling, do not listen to a single word this crazy girl tells you," Victoria pleaded smoothly.
"She tripped over her own feet while carrying Leo, and now she is trying to blame me!" Victoria added instantly.
Arthur looked back and forth between his new wife and the loyal maid who had cared for his child for years.
Heavy, rapid footsteps echoed off the high marble walls as Arthur marched directly toward the center of the room.
"Is this true, Clara? Did you drop my son?" Arthur asked, his tone turning dangerously low and stern.
Clara wiped a tear from her cheek and looked her boss straight in the eye without flinching at all.
"I swear on my life, Mr. Sterling, I caught him after she shoved the carrier over the railing," Clara said.
"She muttered that Leo was standing between her and your family fortune right before she did it," Clara added.
Victoria gasped loudly, taking a quick step toward Clara as if to strike the maid down instantly.
"How dare you invent such horrible lies about me!" Victoria shrieked with fake indignation in her voice.
"Arthur, fire this dangerous woman immediately and throw her out onto the street!" Victoria demanded sharply.
Arthur looked at Victoria's intense, angry posture, then down at his weeping infant son in Clara's arms.
He stepped between Victoria and the maid, his massive frame blocking his wife from taking another step forward.
"Nobody is leaving this house until I find out the absolute truth," Arthur said with icy calmness.
Victoria backed away slightly, her eyes darting nervously toward the front door and the security office hallway.
"Are you actually doubting your own wife over the word of a servant?" Victoria asked with growing desperation.
"I trust the person who saved my son's life today," Arthur answered, his voice dropping into a dangerous growl.
He turned to Clara and gently took the heavy baby carrier from her trembling hands to inspect his son.
"Did anyone else witness what happened near the second-floor balcony?" Arthur asked, looking around the hall.
Clara took a deep breath, remembering something crucial that had happened just five minutes before the incident.
"Check the mansion security cameras, sir, and look at the financial documents in her room," Clara said quickly.