Nora: How dare you accuse me! Everyone saw what you did!
Nora sat up on the wooden steps, cradling the tiny baby tightly in her arms while glaring back at Clara in total defiance[cite: 1]. Her hands were still trembling from the catch[cite: 1].
Clara: Shut your mouth! You're just a hired servant in this home! Your word means nothing here!
Nora: You stood right on that balcony railing and leaned her over the edge on purpose!
Clara: I slipped! My shoe caught the rug! You are the one who snatched her out of the air like a maniac and almost slammed her into the steps!
Nora: You opened your hands, Clara! I saw your fingers let go!
Clara: Give me that child right now! You have no right to touch a member of the Sterling family!
Nora: I am not letting you touch this baby ever again! You are dangerous!
Clara: Give her to me, or I will have you arrested for kidnapping before the sun goes down!
Clara reached out her manicured hands, trying to yank the blanket away from Nora's chest[cite: 1]. Nora pulled back, turning her body to protect the infant from Clara's grasp[cite: 1]. The baby whimpered again, her small cries echoing against the high ceiling[cite: 1].
Mark: What is going on here?
A man in a grey shirt stepped into the bright marble hallway from the side study, looking back and forth between the two women with a look of pure confusion and shock[cite: 1]. He looked at the maid sitting on the stairs with the infant, and then at his wife standing over her with a furious expression[cite: 1].
Clara: Mark! Thank God you're out of your meeting! Look at what this crazy maid just did!
Mark: Clara? Why is the baby crying? Why are you shouting on the stairs?
Clara: Nora tried to drop our daughter! She grabbed her from the nursery and took her to the staircase!
Nora: That is a complete lie, Mr. Mark!
Clara: She was trying to hurt our child, Mark! I had to run down the stairs to save her! Look at her, she won't even hand our daughter back to me!
Mark: Nora, is this true? What happened on the stairs?
Nora: Mr. Mark, please listen to me. I was wiping down the hall table when I looked up at the second-floor balcony[cite: 1]. Your wife was holding the baby over the wooden banister[cite: 1].
Clara: She's lying! She's trying to cover up her own carelessness!
Nora: She leaned out over the edge and released her hands! I had to dive onto the steps to catch her before she hit the floor[cite: 1]!
Mark: What? Clara... held the baby over the railing?
Clara: Mark, you can't seriously believe this maid over your own wife! She's out of her mind! She wants to get fired so she can sue us for wrongful termination!
Nora: I don't care about money, Mr. Mark! I care about this baby's life!
Clara: Mark, fire her right now! Throw her out of this house before she does something worse!
Mark took a step closer, looking at the dark banister high above, then down at his wife's red face[cite: 1]. He looked back at Nora, whose eyes were filled with real tears of panic[cite: 1].
Mark: Nora... that is a massive accusation. Did you actually see her drop the baby?
Nora: I saw everything, Mr. Mark! And if you don't believe my words, you don't have to!
Nora raised her hand and pointed her finger urgently toward the top corners of the hallway ceiling[cite: 1].
Nora: Check the security cameras!