The golden ballroom of the Moretti estate gleamed brightly under the morning sunlight.
Huge glass windows let natural light flood over the white marble floors and marble columns.
Dozens of wealthy guests walked through the high room in expensive tuxedos and silk dresses.
They came to celebrate the seven year birthday of young Ethan Moretti.
Laughter filled the cool air as servants carried silver trays filled with clear juice glasses.
An American flag stood tall on a polished pole near the main archway of the room.
Near the center of the hall sat a small white table made just for the children.
Ethan sat in a dark suit with a dark bow tie tied neatly at his collar.
He held a small silver fork and stared down at a big slice of chocolate cake.
A young maid named Elena stood a few steps away in a black uniform dress.
She kept a close eye on her three year old daughter named Lily.
Lily wore a simple yellow dress that looked bright against the cold white marble floor.
Elena had worked for the wealthy Moretti family for almost two years straight without complaints.
She was thankful for the quiet job that allowed her to raise her young daughter safely.
Marcus Moretti stood near the side wall talking with two tall men in dark grey suits.
He was a powerful man who ran a giant shipping company across the whole country.
His stern face rarely showed any emotion during big public parties like this one.
Ethan reached out his fork to take a huge bite of the sweet dark chocolate cake.
Suddenly little Lily rushed forward toward the small kids table with her arms wide open.
She hit the edge of the fine china plate with both of her small hands.
The porcelain plate flew off the edge of the table and hit the marble floor hard.
A loud crash echoed across the ballroom as the plate broke into twenty small pieces.
Dark cake and sweet brown frosting spread across the white floor near Ethan's polished shoes.
The loud noise made every single guest in the ballroom stop talking at the same time.
Music stopped playing as people turned their heads toward the small children's table in surprise.
Elena gasped out loud and felt her face turn completely pale with sudden deep fear.
Marcus Moretti turned around fast and walked straight toward the broken plate with huge steps.
His heavy black shoes clicked loudly against the floor while the crowd stayed dead silent.
Mr. Moretti: What just happened right here?
Elena fell to her knees immediately on the hard floor right beside her small daughter.
She wrapped her arms protectively around Lily and pulled the little girl close to her chest.
Elena: Mr. Moretti, please forgive her! She is only three years old!
Elena: I will pay for the broken plate right out of my next paycheck!
Marcus pulled his jacket back and looked down at the crying maid with sharp brown eyes.
He raised his right hand to stop Elena from talking any further in front of guests.
He bent his tall body down until his knee touched the smooth white marble surface.
Mr. Moretti: Lily, look at me right now.
Mr. Moretti: Why did you push your friend's cake onto the clean floor?
Lily wiped her wet cheek with her sleeve and pointed one tiny finger toward the door.
Lily: I could not let Ethan eat that sweet cake, Uncle Marcus.
Lily: A tall man touched Ethan's cake when nobody was watching him.
Lily: He put strange grey stuff on top of the dark frosting.