Mark pulled his blue pickup truck into the winding driveway of his expansive country estate.
The afternoon sun reflected off the massive high glass windows of the grand luxury mansion.
He had decided to leave his corporate executive office early to surprise his two young children.
His daughter Lily and his son Toby were supposed to be finishing their afternoon tutoring sessions.
Mark stepped through the heavy oak front door and noticed an eerie silence inside the main foyer.
The bright light hit the polished white marble floors that spanned across the entire bottom floor.
Suddenly, a loud screech echoed from the secondary parlor near the giant gold decorative display.
Mark immediately dropped his heavy black leather briefcase onto the shiny floor of the entryway.
He sprinted across the vast hallway as fast as his heavy leather boots could carry him.
Mark: What is going on in here right now?
Sarah: Stay out of this room right now, Mark!
Mark: Put that stick down on the floor immediately!
Sarah stood in her bright orange jumpsuit while brandishing a solid heavy wooden hockey stick high.
Seven-year-old Toby and five-year-old Lily were cowering together behind a massive blue decorative ceramic vase.
Toby: Daddy, please help us right now!
Lily: We did not mean to break anything, Daddy!
Mark: Get away from my kids this instant, Sarah!
Mark rushed across the smooth marble floor and placed his solid frame directly between them.
He grabbed the center of the wooden stick and yanked it completely out of her grip.
Sarah lost her footing on the slick tile surface and stumbled backward against the display pedestal.
The giant blue and gold porcelain vase wobbled violently before crashing down onto the floor.
A deafening crack echoed through the wide room as ceramic shards scattered across the room.
Sarah: You just destroyed a fifty thousand dollar antique vase, you idiot!
Mark: I do not give a single care about your expensive vase right now!
Mark knelt down on the cold floor and wrapped his strong arms around both kids.
Mark: I have got you both now, and you are completely safe.
Toby buried his tear-stained face directly into his father's thick blue denim work shirt.
Lily held onto her brother's striped shirt while continuing to sob uncontrollably against Mark's chest.
Sarah: You are ruining their discipline because you soft-hearted fool!
Mark: Threatening small children with a heavy stick is not discipline, Sarah!
Sarah: They knocked over my imported cosmetics order on purpose!
Mark: Go to the master bedroom and do not come out until I call you!
Sarah glared at him with pure anger before turning around on her high heels.
Her sharp footfalls echoed down the long hallway toward the winding central staircase of the house.
Mark took a deep breath and gently wiped the warm tears from his daughter's cheeks.
Mark: Are either of you hurt anywhere at all?
Toby: No, Daddy, but she was yelling so loud at us.
Lily: She said you were going to send us away to boarding school.
Mark felt a sharp knife of ice strike through his heart at those terrifying words.
Mark: Nobody is ever sending you away from this house, I promise you both.
He lifted both children into his arms and carried them away from the broken sharp glass.