Elena squeezed her dusting cloth tightly inside her cold pale hands.
She knew that challenging the master's fiancée was a huge risk.
She could lose her job and her steady income in one second.
However, she could not stand by and watch a child suffer abuse.
She took a deep breath and stepped onto the marble floor.
Victoria snatched the small toddler roughly by his shirt collar area.
She began dragging him forcefully toward the dark storage closet nearby.
Leo cried out loudly, terrified by her sudden harsh physical movement.
His little shoes dragged along the glossy white surface of the floor.
Victoria: You are going inside until you learn to stay quiet!
Leo: No! Daddy! No!
Elena: Stop right there! Put him down this second!
Victoria froze in shock and turned her head around very quickly.
She looked down at Elena like she was a dirty piece of dust.
She dropped her hand from Leo's shirt, letting him sit down.
Leo scrambled backward on the cool floor, weeping tears of fear.
Victoria: What did you just say to me, you ignorant servant?
Elena: I said stop mistreating this poor defenseless little boy!
Victoria: How dare you speak to me in that disrespectful tone!
Elena: You have no right to treat him like trash in his home!
Victoria took two fast steps toward Elena with her hands clenched tight.
Her emerald dress rustled loudly against the wide marble hallway walls.
Her face was red with sudden blind fury at being challenged.
Victoria: I am going to be the mistress of this entire house!
Victoria: You are just a hired maid who cleans up dirt!
Elena: That does not give you permission to hurt a child!
Victoria: I will have David fire you before the sun goes down!
Elena: Fire me if you want, but leave Leo out of this!
Victoria laughed cruel and loud, echoing off the high plaster ceiling.
She leaned closer to Elena with a cold and threatening glare.
Victoria: David loves me, and he will always take my side.
Victoria: Who do you think he will believe, me or you?
Elena: He deserves to know the truth about your ugly heart.
Victoria: The truth is whatever I tell him it is, foolish girl.
Elena reached inside her apron pocket with her trembling right fingers.
She pulled out her black smartphone very quietly and very fast.
She held the small screen up toward Victoria's furious red face.
The red recording light on the phone camera was flashing brightly now.
Elena had started recording the whole argument from the very start.
Victoria noticed the glowing screen and her eyes widened in shock.
Victoria: Are you recording me right now with that cheap phone?
Elena: Yes, I have every mean word on video right here.
Victoria: Give that phone to me right now, you miserable viper!
Victoria lunged forward suddenly to grab the phone from Elena's hands.
Elena stepped back quickly and held the phone close to her chest.
Leo was crying loudly near the base of the wide staircase.
The heavy front doors of the mansion suddenly swung wide open.