Victoria placed her wine glass down on a side table with a sudden click.
She adjusted her silver diamond necklace as her hands began to shake visible.
Victoria: Richard, please let me explain before you get angry!
Richard: Explain why my daughter is treated like a servant in my home?
Clara slowly pulled herself up from the wet marble tiles.
She held the damp cleaning cloth against her worn apron.
Clara: She told me you disowned me, Dad.
Richard: I did what?
Richard felt the blood drain from his face as he looked at his daughter.
Clara: She said you lost all your money and that I had to work off my debt.
Clara: She said if I tried to call you, you would have me arrested.
Richard turned his head slowly to glare directly at Victoria.
Victoria backed up until her lower back hit the edge of the mahogany table.
Victoria: She is confused, Richard! She was staying here out of charity!
Richard: Charity? In her own father's house?
Richard walked over to Clara and gently took her hands in his.
He saw the deep red marks across her palms from hours of manual labor.
Her face looked pale, thin, and worn out from months of continuous stress.
Richard: Where have you been sleeping, Clara?
Clara looked down at the marble floor with tears pouring over her cheeks.
Clara: In the small laundry room behind the kitchen.
Clara: She locked my old bedroom and took my phone away six months ago.
Richard felt a surge of explosive fury deep in his chest.
He remembered every fake text message he had received over the last half year.
Victoria had used a second phone to pretend to be Clara asking for privacy in Europe.
Victoria had told Richard that Clara wanted no contact with him anymore.
He had spent sleepless nights crying over his daughter's sudden cold detachment.
Now he realized every single word from his new wife had been a calculated lie.
Richard: You stole six months of my life with my daughter!
Victoria: I did it to save our marriage, Richard!
Victoria: She was spoiled and standing between us and our future!
Richard: You are a monster.
Richard pointed his hand firmly toward the grand front door of the mansion.
Richard: Get your things and leave this house before the police arrive.