Mark pulled his blue car into the long driveway of the family estate.
He had been away in New York on a business trip for two whole weeks.
His heart felt warm because he was finally back home in Texas.
He wanted to give his sweet elderly mother Martha a huge warm hug.
Martha was sixty-eight years old and had lived in this house for thirty years.
She had built this life alongside Mark's father before he passed away last year.
Mark grabbed his heavy black suitcase from the wide leather back seat.
He walked up the front stairs with a bright smile on his face.
He pulled out his set of brass house keys from his jacket pocket.
He expected to hear softly playing classic music inside the warm hallway.
He expected to smell fresh chocolate cookies baking in the large kitchen.
Instead, he heard a loud woman shouting from behind the double doors.
Victoria: Scrub faster right now, you slow old woman!
Mark stopped right in his tracks on the cold stone porch.
That harsh voice clearly belonged to his new wife, Victoria.
They had been married for only six short months after a quick romance.
Victoria had always seemed so sweet and soft spoken near Mark.
She always offered to help Martha around the large house during dinner.
Mark unlocked the tall front doors and pushed them wide open.
The scene in the large foyer stopped his heart instantly.
The bright white marble floor was covered in soapy dirty water.
His elderly mother Martha was kneeling on her bare trembling knees.
She was wearing an old beige cardigan that was soaked at the hem.
Her pale, thin hands were red and shaking against the wet floor.
She was holding a green sponge and scrubbing at a dark stain.
Tears were dripping steadily from her wrinkled cheeks onto the marble.
Victoria was standing directly over Martha holding a heavy wet mop.
She was wearing an expensive tight red dress and shiny black heels.
Her face was twisted with pure anger as she yelled down.
Victoria: You missed a spot right near the stairs, you useless woman!
Martha looked up with absolute terror in her tired brown eyes.
Martha: Please, Victoria, my knees hurt so much today!
Victoria: I do not care if your knees hurt, keep working!
Mark dropped his heavy suitcase onto the wet floor with a loud thud.
The loud sound echoed off the high ceilings of the foyer.
Victoria spun around quickly, and her face went completely pale.
Her harsh expression melted away into a fake sweet smile in a second.
Victoria: Mark, darling, you came home earlier than you said!
Mark stared at his wife with cold, shaking rage inside his chest.
Mark: What is going on here right now?
Victoria dropped the heavy mop onto the wet floor with a splash.
Victoria: Your mother insisted on cleaning up a spill she made herself!
Martha sobbed softly and tried to stand up from the marble floor.
Martha: That is not true, Mark, she made me do it!
Mark rushed forward and pulled his mother up into his strong arms.