The heavy silver papers trembled in Clara's hand as she stood on the second-floor interior balcony of the Sterling mansion, staring down into the marble atrium.
Tears blurred her vision, spilling over her cheeks as she tried to make sense of the legal documents proving her mother-in-law had secretly dissolved her husband's trust fund.
Clara: How could you do this to your own son?
Evelyn: You were never meant to find those, Clara.
Evelyn stepped out from the shadows, her eyes cold and merciless as she closed the distance between them near the low wooden railing.
Clara: He deserves to know that his mother stole his inheritance!
Evelyn: You won't be telling anyone anything.
Before Clara could react, Evelyn lunged forward and shoved her violently over the edge of the balcony railing.
A horrified scream ripped from Clara's throat as her feet left the carpeted floor and she flipped upside down into empty space.
Clara: Help me! Someone help!
She plummeted downward toward the hard marble floor of the main foyer below, wind roaring in her ears as her hands grasped at nothing.
Across the grand hallway on the ground floor, Julian burst out of his study after hearing the frantic commotion upstairs.
Julian: Clara!
He saw his pregnant wife falling through the air and instinctively sprinted across the polished floor toward the center of the atrium.
His shoes squealed against the slick marble as he threw himself into a desperate slide directly underneath her falling body.
With a bone-rattling thud, Julian caught Clara securely against his chest and hit the floor, taking the entire force of the fall onto his own back and knees.
Julian: I've got you. I've got you, sweetheart.
Clara sobbed against his shirt, clinging to him in absolute terror as Julian looked up at the balcony above with eyes burning with rage.
Julian: Call the police! Right now!
The butler ran toward them with a telephone already in his hand as Evelyn peered over the edge, her face turning pale with sudden panic.