Elena shook her head rapidly, her face turning red with sudden disbelief.
She pointed her shaking hand straight up toward the high balcony railings above.
Elena: Sir, please! She dropped the baby on purpose!
Richard: Victoria, what is she talking about right now?
Richard walked toward the center of the foyer with long, heavy strides.
His face grew pale as he saw how hard Elena was protecting his infant son.
Victoria ran toward Richard and tried to grab his arm with both hands.
Victoria: She is out of her mind, my love!
Victoria: She accidentally bumped the carrier while dusting the top ledges!
Victoria: Now she is trying to blame me so she does not lose her job!
Elena: That is a complete lie, Mr. Sterling!
Elena: I was standing downstairs near the green ferns the entire time!
Elena: I saw her push the carrier over the rail with her own gloved hand!
Richard looked down at his baby son, who was slowly calming down in Elena's arms.
He saw the look of pure terror still lingering in Elena's tearful eyes.
He also noticed that Elena's knees were bruised and dirty from sliding on the floor.
If Elena had bumped the seat upstairs, she could never have caught it downstairs.
The math made no sense at all in Victoria's hasty explanation.
Richard: Elena has worked here for three years without a single complaint.
Victoria: Are you seriously taking the word of a poor servant over your wife?!
Victoria: I am the mistress of this house now, Richard!
Victoria: I want this lying girl fired and thrown out onto the street immediately!
Richard raised his hand to quiet his wife's loud, shrill voice.
The silence in the grand marble room became heavy and tight.
Richard: Nobody is leaving this house until I see what really happened.
Victoria: What do you mean by that, Richard?
Richard: I installed new security cameras throughout the upper halls last weekend.
Victoria's body went instantly stiff when she heard those heavy words.
She had forgotten about the tiny black domes mounted near the ceiling corners.
Her face lost all its color under the bright daylight streaming through the glass.
Victoria: You... you put security cameras inside our private home?
Richard: I put them everywhere to protect my son while I was away.
Richard pulled out his black smartphone from his inner jacket pocket.
He tapped the security app icon to pull up the live balcony footage logs.
Victoria's hands began to shake uncontrollably against her bright teal dress.
She realized that her carefully planned golden future was crumbling in seconds.