The high-key dining room was bathed in full bright daylight, highlighting the polished marble floors and the grand crystal chandelier above the mahogany table. Sixty-eight-year-old billionaire Charles Vance sat at the head of the table, smiling as he lifted a glass of champagne to his lips. High on the back wall, a framed American flag hung above the marble fireplace. But before the rim touched his mouth, twenty-two-year-old maid Maya rushed forward from the side pantry, her hands shaking in her black vest and bowtie.
Maya: Sir, please don't drink it!
Charles: Maya? What on earth is wrong with you?
Victoria: How dare you interrupt our anniversary dinner, you incompetent servant!
Forty-five-year-old Victoria, dressed in a shimmering bronze satin dress, stood up from her chair and crossed the floor in two sharp steps. Before Maya could take a breath, Victoria's palm swung through the air and struck the young maid across the cheek with a loud, violent slap.
Victoria: Do not embarrass this family!
Maya staggered sideways, clutching her red, bruised cheek as hot tears spilled over her lashes under the bright daylight. She dropped to her knees on the marble floor, her body trembling with fear and pain. Victoria smoothed her bronze gown, glaring down with cold disgust as Charles stared in shock at his wife.
Charles: Victoria! There was no need to strike the girl!
Victoria: She was about to ruin your toast, Charles! She has been clumsy and insolent all evening!
Maya: I am not lying, Mr. Vance! Please, you have to look at this!
Maya reached into her vest pocket with a trembling hand and pulled out her smartphone. She tapped the screen with a chiming sound and held the display straight up toward the old man. The crystal-clear camera footage began playing in full high definition under the bright room lights. On the small screen, Victoria was captured secretly opening a dark glass dropper bottle and pouring five slow drops of clear liquid into a crystal wine decanter sitting on the kitchen counter.
Maya: She marked that decanter with your name!
Charles turned his head in utter shock, his eyes locking onto his wife as Victoria gasped in sheer horror, her bronze dress shaking against her chest.