Victoria: Who authorized anyone to open those doors during my private morning hours?!
Clara: Mr. Sterling...
Victoria: Shut up, you worthless maid! Stay on the floor where you belong!
Ethan Sterling walked through the entrance, flanked by four armed estate security guards. His tailored navy suit was crisp, his tie straight, but his face was dark with uncontrollable fury. His heavy dress shoes clicked rapidly against the marble as he marched straight down the center aisle.
Ethan: What is happening in my house?
Victoria: Ethan! Darling, you are back from New York early!
Ethan: Why is my son lying on bare stone?
Victoria: Oh, sweetie, he just rolled off his play blanket a second ago! I was reaching down to pick him up!
Ethan didn't answer her. He dropped to his knees right on the cold floor, his hands trembling as he reached down to lift the crying infant into his arms.
Ethan: Daddy’s here. You’re safe now. Daddy has got you, little man.
Toby buried his red, tear-streaked face against Ethan's navy suit jacket, his frantic screams slowly turning into soft, shuddering hiccups.
Clara: Mr. Sterling... please listen to me...
Ethan: Clara? Why are you on the floor? What happened to your face?
Clara: She hurts the child every time you leave!
Victoria: Don't listen to that liar! She knows nothing!
Clara: She leaves him on the cold floor for hours! She refuses to let me warm his bottles!
Victoria: Ethan, she is completely unhinged! She dropped your son and I had to discipline her!
Clara: Look at my arms, sir! Look at the bruises she gave me yesterday when I tried to bring him milk!
Ethan stood up slowly, cradling Toby against his chest. His eyes locked onto Clara’s swollen cheek and the dark purple marks along her wrists. Then he turned his gaze toward Victoria, his voice booming through the high-ceilinged hall like thunder.
Ethan: How dare you touch my child!
Victoria: Ethan, lower your voice! The staff can hear you!
Ethan: I do not care if the entire city hears me! Did you lay a hand on my son?!
Victoria: No! I swear on my life, Ethan! The maid is trying to tear us apart before the wedding!
Ethan: You swore on your life when you signed our prenuptial agreement, Victoria.
Victoria: And I have honored every word of that contract! I have been a devoted fiancee to you!
Clara: She locked him in the laundry room yesterday afternoon, Mr. Sterling! The door was deadbolted from the outside!
Victoria: That was an accident! The wind blew the heavy door shut!
Ethan: The laundry room does not have exterior windows, Victoria. There is no wind in that corridor.
Victoria's mouth snapped shut. She took a step back, her fingers clutching the royal blue silk of her gown as sweat beaded across her forehead.
Victoria: You are taking the word of a minimum-wage nanny over the daughter of your chief business partner?
Ethan: I am taking the word of the woman who has tears on her face and bruises on her skin.
Victoria: My father owns thirty percent of the voting shares in your logistics company, Ethan! If you disrespect me, he will pull every single investor from your corporate expansion!
Ethan: You think your father's stock portfolio gives you permission to abuse my baby?
Victoria: I am going to be his mother in three weeks! I have the right to raise him with strict discipline!
Ethan: He is four months old, Victoria! He cannot even sit up on his own!
Clara: She told him he would never inherit the Sterling family estate as long as she was alive, sir.
Ethan froze, his face turning ghostly pale before a cold, dangerous calm settled over his features. He looked down at his crying son, then back up at the woman standing in royal blue.
Ethan: Chief Harris, seal the main estate gates. Nobody leaves this property.