Victoria kept her face pressed against the smooth hardwood floor, feeling the cool polish against her hot, tear-stained skin as she waited. Her small freckles stood out sharply under the bright daylight filling the huge entry hall, and her chest heaved with every difficult breath she drew into her lungs. On the landing above, Samantha began pacing frantically back and forth in front of the large framed flag picture, her heels clicking loudly on the wood floor.
Samantha: Who were you talking to on that phone? Answer me, Victoria!
Victoria: You should have stopped when you had the chance, Samantha.
Samantha: You destroyed this family! She only wanted his money!
Victoria: I loved Charles, and he knew you were stealing from the family business trust fund!
Samantha gripped the wooden stair railing tightly, her knuckles turning white under the bright sunshine streaming through the upper windows. She stared down at her pregnant stepmother, her voice cracking with anger and fear as she realized her plan was falling apart before her eyes. The quiet estate had turned into a trap, and the truth about her father's multi-million dollar life insurance policy was finally coming out.
Samantha: You have no proof of anything! It was an accident, you tripped on your own dress!
Victoria: The security cameras in the hallway are connected directly to the police cloud storage.
Samantha: You liar! I turned those cameras off two hours ago before you came upstairs!
Victoria: The camera in the framed art wasn't turned off, Samantha.
Samantha froze in place, her eyes slowly drifting over to the large American flag artwork mounted on the wall right beside where she had been standing. A tiny, faint red light blinked silently from the corner of the heavy wooden frame, capturing every angle of the high landing and the stairs below. Her mouth went dry as she took two quick steps back from the artwork, realizing her every movement had been recorded in full high definition.
Samantha: You set me up from the very beginning, didn't you?
Victoria: Charles knew what you were planning for his estate long before he died in that hospital.
Samantha: He promised me this house! I grew up here, this mansion belongs to me!
Victoria: He left it in a legal trust for his grandchild, not for your luxury debts!
Outside the front doors, the loud sound of a car engine shutting off echoed across the open stone driveway, followed by the heavy slam of vehicle doors. Victoria closed her eyes for a brief second, feeling a small flutter inside her stomach as her baby moved safely despite the terrible fall. She held her phone tighter against her ear, hearing the footsteps of multiple people approaching the heavy front entry porch steps.
Detective Reeves: Victoria, we are at the front entrance now. Unlock the main doors if you can reach them.
Victoria: I can't move my leg, Detective, but the smart lock code is six-two-four-one.
Samantha: Don't you dare give them access to my home!
Samantha rushed down the top five steps of the grand staircase, her eyes wide with terror as she stared at the heavy wooden double doors at the bottom. The heavy brass lock mechanism clicked loudly inside the door frame as the electronic system processed the remote code from Victoria's phone unit. The heavy wooden doors began to swing slowly inward under the bright Texan daylight, revealing the towering figure of a man standing on the grand front porch steps outside.