Marcus: What the hell just happened in here?!
Marcus Sterling, the eldest son of the late Arthur Sterling, rushed straight toward Clara on the marble floor. His eyes were wild with fear as he saw the maid weeping while clutching his baby daughter.
Clara: Mr. Marcus! Oh thank God you're home!
Marcus: Give her to me! Is she hurt?! Is Maya okay?!
Clara: She's shaking, but I caught her! She fell from the second floor balcony!
Marcus scooped his daughter into his arms, pulling her tightly against his shoulder while dropping to one knee beside Clara. He buried his face in Maya's soft curls, his chest heaving as tears filled his eyes.
Marcus: I've got you, baby... I've got you. No one will ever touch you again.
Evelyn: Oh, Marcus, don't be so dramatic. It was an absolute accident. The baby was playing near the balustrade and slipped right out of my hands.
Marcus: An accident?! She is a toddler! How did she get on top of the balcony railing in the first place?!
Evelyn: She was climbing! You know how unruly she is! I was trying to pull her down when she lost her balance!
Clara: That's a lie! Mr. Marcus, I saw everything from the bottom of the stairs!
Evelyn: Shut your mouth, maid! You don't speak to my stepson like that!
Clara: She held Maya over the edge on purpose! She told me Maya didn't belong in this family, and then she let go!
Marcus stood up slowly, clutching Maya against his chest while his face turned dark with an intense, burning fury. He glared past Clara straight at Evelyn, who was standing on the bottom step of the staircase in her bright orange dress.
Marcus: You let my daughter fall, Evelyn?
Evelyn: Marcus, darling, you know how nervous I get! The maid is making up stories to save her job because she was supposed to be watching Maya!
Clara: I was instructed to clean the banisters while you took Maya to her room for a nap!
Evelyn: See? She admits she wasn't paying attention! I tried to rescue the child when she crawled onto the balcony balustrade!
Marcus: Maya can barely walk up three stairs by herself, Evelyn. There is no way she climbed a three-foot white marble balustrade on her own.
Evelyn: Are you calling me a liar in my own house?!
Marcus: This isn't your house! My father's estate is currently in probate, and you are only living here until the court decides your widow's allowance!
Evelyn: I am Arthur's legal wife! Half of this Dallas mansion belongs to me, along with the family business!
Marcus: You married my father six months before he died! You don't own a single brick of this property, and if you ever step near my daughter again, I will destroy you.
Evelyn: You have no proof of anything! It's your maid's word against mine!
Marcus: Then let's check the security system.
Evelyn's smug expression instantly vanished, her pale face turning as white as the marble floor beneath her high heels. She took a involuntary step back toward the staircase railing.
Evelyn: The... the security system is offline. The estate manager told me the main server blew a fuse during yesterday's thunderstorm.
Marcus: The estate server went down, yes. But I installed a backup cloud camera above the foyer entry three weeks ago after my father's safe was opened.
Clara: Mr. Marcus, the light on the camera near the American flag is blinking red right now!
Marcus pulled his smartphone out of his beige suit jacket, tapping the screen with cold precision as Evelyn stared in absolute horror.