The ornate black railing on the second-floor balcony vibrated under the morning sun.
Margaret stood in her tailored lace dress, glaring down at four-year-old Lily with cold disdain.
Margaret: Stop that whining right this second!
Lily: I want my daddy! Please let me go down to the kitchen!
Margaret: You are an embarrassment to the Sterling name!
Lily: Grandma, you're hurting my arm!
Margaret: Children like you...
Margaret gripped the girl's small wrist, yanking her straight against the cold iron balusters.
Margaret: ...don't belong upstairs.
With a sudden, violent shove of both hands, Margaret thrust the little girl over the ledge.
Lily shrieked as she tumbled into empty space, falling past the giant crystal chandelier in the center of the foyer.
Lily: No! Daddy!
Down on the ground floor, Ethan heard the scream and looked up from his briefcase.
He dropped everything, his blue suit coat flaring out as he threw himself forward in a desperate slide across the polished marble floor.
Ethan: I've got you!
He thrust his arms upward, catching the falling child against his chest an inch before she hit the stone.
A single gold glittery girl's shoe flew off her foot, bouncing down the marble stairs with sharp, echoing clacks.
Lily clutched his neck, her face flushed red and soaked with tears as sobs racked her body.
Lily: Daddy, she said Grandpa told her...
Ethan: Shh, baby, Daddy's holding you tight.
Lily: ...to do it.
Ethan froze, his jaw clenching until the bone showed white under his skin.
He carried Lily up the sweeping staircase, his heavy footsteps echoing with lethal intent.
Ethan: How dare you try to murder my daughter!
Margaret backed away from the railing, her hands shaking against her lace skirt.
Before she could speak, a deep voice cut through the cavernous room from the library doors.
Standing beside the grand fireplace beneath a massive framed American flag was Arthur Sterling, the billionaire family patriarch.
Arthur: Enough! I gave the order.
Ethan turned his head, his gaze locking onto his father with freezing, unforgiving menace.
Ethan: Then I caught the wrong person first.
Arthur adjusted his cuffs, completely unbothered, unaware that an emergency transmission was already broadcasting his confession to the federal authorities outside.