Victoria: Why is the flower arrangement on the main dining table four inches to the left?
Staff Member: I am so sorry, Miss Victoria. We are still setting up the centerpieces for the charity gala tonight.
Victoria: Fix it immediately! This is my engagement celebration, and everything must be absolute perfection!
Victoria checked her diamond watch, her golden hair perfectly styled above her shoulders.
Victoria: Where is Ethan? He was supposed to review the guest list with me half an hour ago.
Clara: Mr. Vance is finishing an urgent conference call in his home office, Miss Victoria.
Clara walked into the room carrying a silver tray with warm tea and a small plate of snacks for the young boy following behind her.
Victoria: I didn't ask the nanny for an update on my future husband's schedule.
Clara: I was just letting you know so you wouldn't worry. Leo wanted to play in the ballroom for a few minutes.
Victoria: Does that child have to be in every room I walk into?
Clara: He lives here, Miss Victoria. This is his home.
Victoria glared down at six-year-old Leo, who shrank behind Clara's blue uniform, holding his favorite wooden toy train tightly.
Victoria: Once Ethan and I are officially married, things are going to change around this estate.
Clara: Mr. Vance built this home specifically for Leo after his mother passed away.
Victoria: Don't speak to me about his late wife! I am the mistress of Vance Manor now!
Leo looked up with quiet, sad eyes, his small fingers pulling on Clara's sleeve.
Leo: Clara... can we go play music now?
Clara: Of course, sweetheart. The grand piano is open right over there.
Victoria: Absolutely not! We have caterers, decorators, and high-profile board members arriving in two hours!
Clara: Playing piano calms his nerves, Miss Victoria. His father encouraged him to play before big events.
Victoria: I don't care what his father encouraged! I want quiet while I review the seating chart!
Leo walked slowly toward the grand piano anyway, climbing onto the velvet bench with practiced care.
Victoria: Did you hear what I said, you little brat?!
Clara: Please don't yell at him. He is just a little boy who misses his mother.
Victoria: His mother is dead, and I am not going to play stepmother to a silent, strange child!
Leo pressed his fingers onto the ivory keys, playing a soft melody his mother had taught him years ago.
Victoria: That is it! I have had enough of your disrespect!
Victoria stormed across the marble floor, her high heels clicking loudly against the stone.
Clara: Miss Victoria, stop!
Victoria shoved Clara aside and grabbed the top of the piano bench, violently thrusting it backward.
Leo lost his balance and plummeted to the floor, his head missing the sharp wooden leg of the piano by inches.
Leo: Mommy!
The boy hit the hard stone ground, weeping as blood began to seep from a scrape on his right elbow.
Clara: Leo! Oh God, Leo!
Clara scrambled on her hands and knees, pulling the weeping child into her chest to cover him from Victoria's shadow.
Victoria: Look at what you made me do! You completely ruined my focus!
Clara: You pushed a six-year-old off a chair! Are you insane?!
Victoria: He shouldn't have disobeyed me! I am going to be the CEO's wife!
Clara: You are a cruel, heartless woman, and Mr. Vance will hear every word of this!
Victoria: Who do you think he will believe? A low-level servant or his billionaire fiancée?
The grand double doors swung open, cutting through Victoria's voice like a sharp blade.
Ethan Vance stood in the doorway, surrounded by his senior security team and board directors.
Victoria: Ethan! Thank goodness! Come look at what this nanny just did!