Brandon leaned over his desk, tapping the screen of his tablet computer to bring up the local security network.
Victoria: "There are no cameras around the pool! You told me yourself the backyard construction bypassed the security wiring!"
Brandon: "The main house cameras were bypassed, yes. But I hired a private security firm to install hidden wireless lenses after the jewelry went missing from my drawer."
Maria: "You installed hidden cameras, Mr. Brandon?"
Brandon: "I did, Maria. One in the hallway, one in the master suite, and one right inside the boxwood hedge facing the pool deck."
Victoria took a slow step backward, her golden heels clicking against the hardwood floor as her hands began to shake.
Victoria: "Brandon... darling... you don't need to look at silly camera footage. It was all a chaotic misunderstanding out there!"
Brandon: "A minute ago, you were demanding I call the sheriff to arrest Maria."
Victoria: "I was upset! I was shocked by the whole situation!"
Brandon: "Let's see what really happened under the sun today."
Brandon tapped the screen, loading the high-definition video recorded just twenty minutes earlier.
The screen displayed the bright, sunny backyard. Victoria stood by the pool in her gold dress, holding the black stroller handle.
Brandon: "Look at that, Victoria. Clear as day in four-K resolution."
On the screen, Victoria could be seen looking left, then right, ensuring no one was watching from the yard.
Then, with a cold, smooth motion, she disengaged the stroller wheel lock with her foot and shoved the carriage straight into the deep end of the pool.
Maria: "Dear God... look at her face on the video..."
On the screen, Victoria smiled as the splash rose into the air, making no effort to reach for the water or scream for help.
Only when Maria came sprinting out of the glass doors did Victoria feign shock and start waving her arms frantically.
Brandon: "You pushed my seven-month-old son into six feet of water... and stood there watching him sink."
Victoria: "Brandon... please! It was an impulse! I didn't think he would sink so fast!"
Brandon: "An impulse?! You unlocked the safety brake with your foot!"
Victoria: "I was overwhelmed! You care more about that baby than you care about me! I felt invisible in this house!"
Brandon: "You tried to murder an innocent infant for a thirty-million-dollar trust fund!"
Brandon's voice boomed through the room like thunder, making the windows rattle in their frames.
Victoria collapsed against the edge of the leather sofa, burst into fake, desperate sobbing, and reached out toward him.
Victoria: "Brandon, please forgive me! I need help! We can send me to a private facility! Don't ruin my life over this!"
Brandon: "Ruin your life? You tried to end my son's life!"
Brandon picked up his desk phone, dialing three digits without taking his eyes off her shivering frame.
Brandon: "Emergency communications? This is Brandon Sterling at 404 Ocean Drive. I need an immediate police unit for an attempted murder on my property."