Victoria: David, darling, don't pay any attention to this low-class girl! She probably stole that rag from our laundry quarter to play on your sympathies!
David: Victoria, step back for a second. I am asking Clara a direct question.
Clara: I didn't steal anything from your laundry quarter, Miss Victoria. This blanket has belonged to me for three years.
Victoria: Liar! You're a temporary catering maid hired for one night! Guards, escort this girl out through the service entrance immediately!
David: Stay where you are, guards! Nobody touches her until I get an answer.
David stepped away from his business partners, his polished black dress shoes making heavy, deliberate sounds on the light marble floor as he approached Clara.
Little Leo refused to let go of Clara's grey uniform skirts, clinging to her knees while hugging the soft white cloth tightly against his chest.
Clara wrapped both of her arms around the toddler, pulling him into a warm, emotional embrace as hot tears spilled over her eyelashes.
Leo: Mommy... you smelled like sweet lavender when I was tiny. I remember you.
Victoria: This is an absolute farce! David, she is brainwashing our son! Look at how she's holding him in front of all our board members and investors!
David: Shut your mouth, Victoria! Clara, look me in the eye. How does my three-year-old son recognize a piece of cloth you brought into this house?
Clara: Because I wrapped him in it the very day he was born in Saint Jude's charity hospital!
The entire ballroom erupted into collective gasps, corporate executives and socialites whispering behind their silk hand fans and crystal glasses.
Victoria’s face turned completely pale, her immaculate makeup failing to hide the sudden terror in her eyes.
Victoria: That is a slanderous lie! David, she is trying to extort money from our family trust fund! Call our corporate defense lawyers right now!
David: You said Leo was born in a private medical facility in Switzerland while I was managing our firm's European merger, Victoria.
Victoria: He was! I have official Swiss birth certificates signed by top doctors! This maid is making up a sick story to ruin our engagement party!
Clara: Check the bottom left corner of that white blanket, Mr. Sterling. The initials 'L.S.' are hand-stitched in gold thread by my grandmother.
David knelt on one knee beside Clara on the marble floor, his expensive tuxedo jacket brushing against her humble uniform.
He gently took the edge of the white cloth from his son's small fingers and turned over the corner.
Stitched in delicate gold thread was the small monogram: L.S.
David: Leo Sterling... My son's full legal name.
Victoria: It's a coincidence! Anybody can embroider initials on a cheap piece of cotton!
David: Clara, how did a cloth embroidered with my son's exact initials end up in your hands three years ago?
Clara: Because I am not just a maid, Mr. Sterling. I am the biological mother you were told died in childbirth three years ago.