Brandon carefully changed Leo into the dry onesie, setting the calm child down in a padded wooden crib in the corner of the study.
He stood up slowly, fixing the cuffs of his black shirt as he walked over to the heavy steel safe behind his desk.
Victoria: "What are you doing now? Pulling out severance pay for her?"
Brandon: "No, Victoria. I'm pulling out the documents you signed last month."
Brandon entered a six-digit code on the digital keypad, and the heavy metal door clicked open with a deep mechanical thud.
He pulled out a thick folder bound in black leather, setting it flat on the desk between them.
Victoria: "Our prenuptial agreement? What does that have to do with the baby nearly drowning?!"
Brandon: "Let's review clause fourteen, shall we?"
Maria: "Sir, should I step outside?"
Brandon: "No, Maria. Stay right where you are. You deserve to hear this too."
Brandon flipped open the legal document, pointing a thick finger at a highlighted paragraph near the bottom of the page.
Brandon: "Clause fourteen states that in the event of my death or incapacity, my entire thirty-million-dollar estate transfers to a trust fund dedicated exclusively to Leo."
Victoria: "I know what the contract says, Brandon! We discussed this with your lawyers!"
Brandon: "But it also states that if Leo predeceases me or dies before reaching twenty-one, seventy percent of the estate assets revert directly to my surviving spouse."
Victoria's expression tightened, her eyes darting away for a split second before she forced a scoff.
Victoria: "So what?! What does your financial structure have to do with a careless maid pushing a stroller into a pool?!"
Brandon: "It gives someone a thirty-million-dollar motive to make sure my son doesn't reach his second birthday."
Victoria: "Are you insane?! Are you actually accusing me of trying to drown a child for money?!"
Brandon: "I'm saying the timing of your sudden interest in taking Leo near the pool every afternoon seems very convenient."
Victoria: "I was trying to bond with him! Because his real mother isn't here, and his father is always buried in work!"
Maria: "You never held him once inside the house, Miss Victoria! You only took him outside near the water!"
Victoria: "Shut your mouth, servant! Brandon, are you going to let this woman insult me in your own office?!"
Brandon: "Maria is raising a valid point, Victoria. You've refused to change a single diaper or feed him a bottle since you moved in."
Victoria: "Because that's what you pay staff for! That doesn't make me a killer!"
Brandon: "No, it doesn't. But footage does."
Victoria froze, her breath catching in her throat as the color drained from her painted cheeks.
Victoria: "What... what footage?"
Brandon: "The property security system. The one I had upgraded three weeks ago."