Dr. Evans hurried through the front doors, carrying a blue medical kit.
Dr. Evans: Where is the child?! Let me see him immediately!
Marcus: Here, Doctor. He has a laceration on his forehead and his crying is weak.
Dr. Evans knelt beside Clara, placing a tiny stethoscope over Toby's chest.
Dr. Evans: His heart rate is rapid, but his lungs are clear. We need to check his skull for fractures.
Clara: Please be gentle with him, Doctor.
Dr. Evans: I have a portable scanner in the van. Clara, hold his legs still while I apply the dressing.
Victoria stood near the marble banister, watching the doctor work with a cold glare.
Victoria: The boy is fine! He is barely bleeding! Marcus is overreacting to ruin my reputation!
Marcus: My son was hurled onto marble tiles from four feet in the air, Victoria![cite: 1]
Victoria: Children bounce back! You are making a scene over nothing!
Marcus: You are sick in the head.
Four uniformed police officers walked into the grand foyer, led by Detective Vance.
Detective Vance: Mr. Sterling, we received an emergency 911 dispatch regarding an infant assault.
Marcus: The suspect is standing right behind you in the maroon gown, Detective[cite: 1].
Victoria: Detective Vance, wait! I am Victoria Vance, your cousin's daughter-in-law!
Detective Vance: I don't care if you are the governor's wife, ma'am. Who assaulted this child?
Marcus: Jackson, hand the detective the security tablet.
Detective Vance took the tablet and watched the high-definition recording[cite: 1].
His face hardened into stone as he looked from the screen to Victoria.
Detective Vance: You threw a three-month-old infant onto a marble floor on purpose?[cite: 1]
Victoria: I lost my balance! My heels slipped on the floor wax!
Detective Vance: You raised your arms over your head and threw him downward, Mrs. Vance[cite: 1]. That is attempted murder.
Victoria: You cannot arrest me! My father is on the city council!
Marcus: Your father was stripped of his council seat an hour ago for tax fraud, Victoria.
Victoria's eyes widened in genuine panic.
Victoria: What did you say?!
Marcus: My forensic accountants reviewed your family's shell companies last night.
Victoria: You had no right to look into my family's private finances!
Marcus: I had every right when I noticed twenty million dollars missing from my estate trust account.
Clara: She bought three luxury sports cars under Toby's trust name last Tuesday, Mr. Sterling.
Victoria: Shut your mouth, maid! That money was allocated for my bridal allowance!
Marcus: Toby's trust fund was created by his late mother, Sarah. It does not belong to you.
Victoria: Sarah is dead! I am the woman taking her place in this mansion!
Marcus: You will never take her place. You aren't even worthy of sweeping her floors.
Detective Vance signaled to the officers behind him.
Detective Vance: Place her in handcuffs immediately.
Victoria: Keep your hands off my designer dress!
The officers stepped forward, twisting her arms behind her back as the steel cuffs clicked shut.
Victoria: Marcus! Tell them to stop! Call our corporate defense attorneys!
Marcus: Our attorneys are currently drafting your felony indictment, Victoria.
Victoria: You will regret this! My family will take everything you own!
Marcus: Your family owns nothing. The bank foreclosed on your father's penthouse twenty minutes ago.
Victoria gasped, thrashing wildly against the police grip as Dr. Evans stood up from the floor.
Dr. Evans: Mr. Sterling, Toby needs to go to Children's Mercy Hospital for an emergency CT scan right now.
Marcus: Take my private ambulance, Doctor. Clara, go with them.
Clara: Yes, sir. I won't leave his side for a second.
Marcus watched Clara carry his son out the front doors, his heart burning with cold vengeance.