Clara: You're going to pay for this, Daniel! My father will sue you for every dime in your trust fund!
Daniel: Tell your father to focus on paying your bail, because I'm requesting maximum bail terms from the magistrate.
Officer Hayes: Watch your step, ma'am. Let's go down the stairs.
Clara stumbled out of the bathroom, her wet robe trailing water across the plush carpet of the master bedroom corridor.
As her hysterical screams faded down the grand staircase, Carmen rushed back into the room holding a ice pack wrapped in a clean cotton cloth.
Carmen: Here, Mr. Vance! Put this on her scalp right away!
Daniel: Thank you, Carmen. Sit down on the chair for me, sweetie.
Lily: Is Mommy Clara going to come back, Daddy?
Daniel: No, Lily. She is never setting foot in this house ever again. I promise you.
Lily: Carmen saved me... She pushed Clara into the tub when Clara grabbed my arm.
Daniel: I saw it all on the tablet feed, Lily. Carmen is a hero.
Carmen: I just did what any decent human being would do, sir. I couldn't stand there and watch her hurt a little girl.
Daniel: You put your hands on my wife to protect my daughter, Carmen. Most people would have been too afraid of losing their job to intervene.
Carmen: A job means nothing if a child is in danger, Mr. Vance.
Daniel: Starting today, your salary is doubled. And you are no longer the house maid. I want you to be Lily's personal guardian and house manager.
Carmen: Sir... you don't have to do that!
Daniel: I insist. I need someone in this house I can trust with my life while I'm working at the firm.
A few minutes later, the front door chime echoed through the foyer, and Dr. Harrison, the family physician, stepped into the master suite carrying his medical bag.
Dr. Harrison: Daniel! I got your emergency text message. Where is the child?
Daniel: Right here, Doctor. She has a direct thermal burn on the left side of her scalp.
Dr. Harrison: Let me take a close look under the light. Hold still for me, little lady.
Lily whimpered slightly as the doctor gently parted her brown hair with a wooden applicator stick.
Dr. Harrison: The skin is severely inflamed and blistered along a two-inch strip near the crown. The hair follicle structure is damaged, but fortunately, there doesn't seem to be third-degree tissue destruction.
Daniel: Will she need skin grafts or specialized treatment?
Dr. Harrison: No skin grafts, thank goodness. But she will need antibiotic cream applied three times a day, and we need to keep the area clean to prevent infection.
Lily: Will my hair grow back, Dr. Harrison?
Dr. Harrison: It will take time, sweetie, but with the proper care, most of it should heal up fine. You were very brave today.
Daniel: Doctor, I need a full official medical report signed and notarized before four o'clock today.
Dr. Harrison: Planning to present it to the district attorney?
Daniel: I'm presenting it to the criminal court judge tomorrow morning to ensure Clara stays behind bars until her trial.
Carmen: Doctor, I can help you apply the first layer of cream right now if you show me how.
Dr. Harrison: Excellent. Follow me to the vanity light, and I'll walk you through the ointment application process.
Daniel watched as Carmen gently held Lily's chin, speaking to her in a soothing tone while the doctor worked.
He pulled his cell phone from his suit coat and dialed his lead corporate attorney, Arthur Pendelton.
Arthur: Daniel! I just saw the police alert ping on our legal department network. What happened at the estate?
Daniel: Clara assaulted Lily with a flat iron. She's currently in police transport on her way to the county jail.
Arthur: Good God! Is Lily alright?!
Daniel: She has second-degree burns, but Dr. Harrison is treating her now. I need you to file emergency divorce papers and an immediate restraining order.
Arthur: I will have the court injunction signed by a judge within two hours, Daniel. What about her father's corporate holdings?
Daniel: Terminate every joint account, freeze our venture capital transfers, and seize the collateral assets her family put up for the mortgage loan.
Arthur: That will bankrupt the entire Montgomery family by the end of the week.
Daniel: Good. Let them see what happens when they send a cruel monster into my home.