The scorching iron sizzled loudly against eight-year-old Lily's delicate brown curls, filling the bright white marble bathroom with a terrifying cloud of acrid grey smoke[cite: 1]. Heat radiated off the ceramic plates as burnt hair fell in scorched clumps onto the pristine marble floor[cite: 1]. Lily screamed in agonizing pain, her small hands clutching the edge of the marble sink[cite: 1].
Victoria: Hold still, you foolish child![cite: 1]
Lily: Stop! Please, Aunt Victoria! It hurts so bad! Mommy, help me![cite: 1]
Victoria: Shut your mouth! Your mother is never coming back, and you will obey my rules in this mansion![cite: 1]
Victoria pressed the glowing flat iron harder against Lily's scalp, completely deaf to the young girl's weeping[cite: 1]. Lily's tears ran down her pale pink dress as the smell of burning hair filled the room[cite: 1].
Elena: Get your hands off her![cite: 1]
The bathroom door flew open as Elena, the house maid dressed in her navy blue uniform, sprinted across the polished tile[cite: 1]. In one fluid motion, Elena snatched Lily by the waist, yanking the sobbing child safely behind her back[cite: 1].
Before Victoria could react, Elena pivoted on her heel, executed a thunderous three-hundred-and-sixty-degree roundhouse kick, and slammed her foot squarely into Victoria's chest[cite: 1]. Victoria flew backward through the air with a loud scream, crashing over the high rim of the porcelain bathtub and landing in the full water with a massive splash[cite: 1].
Heavy thundering footsteps echoed down the grand hallway outside[cite: 1]. The double bathroom doors burst wide open as Arthur Vance entered, his dark navy suit immaculate, accompanied by Chief Officer Hayes holding a digital tablet displaying live security camera evidence of the burning[cite: 1].
Victoria: Look what she did! Arrest this intruder now![cite: 1]
Victoria pointed her finger frantically from inside the wet tub, her face twisted in desperate panic[cite: 1]. Lily ran to her father, wrapping her arms around his legs as tears washed down her cheeks[cite: 1].
Lily: Daddy... she hurt me and hid the truth about mom![cite: 1]
Arthur stared down at the tablet screen, his face flushing with pure rage as he realized the horrible truth about the woman he had married[cite: 1]. He stepped directly up to the edge of the bathtub, reached down, and forcefully slapped Victoria across her wet face[cite: 1].
Arthur: You monster![cite: 1]
Victoria gasped in shock, clutching her burning cheek as dripping water soaked her emerald velvet gown[cite: 1]. But the nightmare for Victoria was only just beginning, because Arthur was about to uncover the darkest secret hidden inside the mansion walls[cite: 1].