The video continued silently on the monitor. Maya surfaced with Leo coughing in her arm, dragging him toward the shallow stairs while Victoria finally strolled out from the lower patio doors.
Richard: You strolled. You didn't even run.
Victoria: I was in shock! I was processing the horror of the situation!
Richard: You told me she threw him in. You looked me in the eye and swore this girl tried to murder my son.
Victoria: From the angle upstairs, it looked like she pushed him! The shadows on the water—
Richard: Maya wasn't even in the frame when he fell! She came running from the laundry pavilion!
Marcus quietly stepped back toward the server rack, keeping his eyes on the floor.
Richard: Marcus, export that file immediately to an external encrypted drive. Do not overwrite it under any circumstance.
Marcus: Done, sir.
Richard turned to face his wife. The veins in his temples pulsed with raw fury.
Richard: Why, Victoria? Why would you stand by and watch a four-year-old drown?
Victoria: You think I wanted this? You think I'm some kind of monster?
Richard: Answer me! Why did you try to blame Maya?
Maya spoke softly from near the doorway, her voice shaking with quiet conviction.
Maya: She knows about the estate trust, Mr. Hayes.
Richard whirled around to look at the maid.
Richard: What do you know about my estate trust?
Maya: Yesterday afternoon, while I was vacuuming the library, Mrs. Hayes was on speakerphone with her personal attorney. She thought the room was empty.
Victoria: You eavesdropping little sewer rat!
Richard: Let her speak, Victoria, or I will have Marcus restrain you right here!
Maya: Her lawyer told her that under the terms of your prenuptial agreement, if you were to divorce, she receives only a flat settlement. But under your late wife's family trust, if Leo were to pass away before turning eighteen without siblings, eighty percent of the inheritance and the coastal real estate defaults directly to the surviving spouse as sole executor.
Richard felt as if the room had lost all oxygen.
Richard: You had my estate lawyer pulled into this?
Victoria: That was hypothetical financial planning! Every wealthy family reviews succession terms!
Richard: Leo is four years old! You don't review life insurance and trust succession on a baby unless you want him gone!