Clara reached the bottom of the stairs with a furious look on her face.
Her posture changed instantly as she heard a car pull into the driveway.
She smoothed down her yellow silk dress and put on a fake expression of horror.
Arthur rushed through the heavy front double doors with panic in his eyes.
He had forgotten his briefing papers and came back at the exact right moment.
The loud slamming of the front doors echoed throughout the massive entrance hall.
Arthur: What on earth is happening in here?
Clara: Oh Arthur, thank goodness you came back home!
Clara ran toward her husband while wiping fake tears from her cheeks.
Clara: The maid was clumsy and let Lily fall near the balcony!
Clara: She slipped right from my hands while I tried to save her!
Elena stood up slowly while holding the trembling child in her arms.
She could feel a painful mark swelling on the side of her face from the fall.
She refused to let Clara lie her way out of this terrible moment.
Elena: Sir, she is lying to you!
Elena: She dropped her on purpose from the balcony ledge!
Elena: Don't let her come anywhere near this poor baby again!
Arthur looked from the crying maid to his trembling wife in utter disbelief.
He saw the red mark on Elena's face and the fear in his daughter's eyes.
Lily reached her tiny hands out toward her father while sobbing loudly.
Arthur: Give me my daughter right now, Elena.
Elena carefully handed the little girl over into her father's safe arms.
Arthur held his child close and felt her racing heart against his chest.
He looked into Clara's eyes and saw a flash of guilt before she looked away.
Clara: You cannot believe a simple servant over your own wife, Arthur!
Arthur: Elena has worked for my family for years without a single lie.
Clara: I was only trying to protect our family's future interest!
Arthur stepped back from Clara as if her very presence sickened him.
He realized in that moment what kind of monster he had married.
The truth was finally coming out after months of quiet suspicion.