Eleanor froze on the bottom step, her entire body shaking with sudden fear.
She slowly turned around to face Dominic, Clara, and little Harper.
The guilt on her pale face was completely undeniable to anyone standing there.
Eleanor: Dominic... Please, let me explain! It was all a terrible misunderstanding!
Dominic: You locked my wife behind a steel door in a windowless room!
Eleanor: I was just trying to protect my future! Your father promised me that money!
Clara: My father-in-law wanted this estate to go to his granddaughter, Eleanor!
Clara: You tried to steal Harper's future out of pure wickedness and greed!
Eleanor tried to squeeze past Dominic toward the upper doorway.
Dominic stepped directly in her path, blocking her completely with his broad shoulders.
Dominic: You are not walking away from this, Eleanor.
Eleanor: Get out of my way! You have no legal right to touch me or stop me!
Dominic: I don't need to touch you. The police are already on their way.
Eleanor dropped her leather purse onto the concrete floor in total horror.
Eleanor: You called the police on your own stepmother?!
Dominic: You stopped being my stepmother the moment you harmed my family.
Harper looked up at Eleanor with big, wide innocent eyes.
Harper: Bad lady, you locked Mommy in the dark!
Eleanor covered her face with her hands, sinking down onto the stair step.
She knew that her life of luxury and social status was officially over forever.
The sound of loud police sirens suddenly echoed from the driveway above the house.
Red and blue emergency lights flashed through the high windows of the estate.
Dominic wrapped his arm protectively around Clara's shoulders as the officers entered.
Dominic: Officers, she is right down here.