Victoria lay on the floor whimpering as the household staff gathered.
The head butler stood frozen at the archway in total shock.
Mark held his newborn son close to shield him from the scene.
His arms were shaking from the sheer rush of intense adrenaline.
He looked at his father's trusted assistant with clear authority.
Mark: Call the police right now and lock the main gate.
Butler: Yes, sir, immediately!
Victoria tried to scramble up from the cold white marble floor.
Her burgundy suit was wrinkled and covered in dusty gray marks.
Victoria: You can't lock me out of my own home, Mark!
Mark: This is not your home anymore, Victoria.
She pulled herself up by holding onto a carved wooden chair.
Her voice sounded desperate and hollow in the vast high room.
Victoria: Your father left this estate in my legal care!
Mark: My father is still alive upstairs, and he will know everything.
She took a step back as Mark moved firmly toward the hall.
He carried his son upstairs toward the master bedroom suite.
He needed to check on his sickly father before the police arrived.
For months, his father had been growing weaker every single day.
The family doctor claimed it was just old age taking its toll.
Mark had always suspected that something else was terribly wrong.
He pushed open the heavy oak doors to his father's bedroom.
The old man lay resting in the large velvet four-poster bed.
His face looked pale and thin against the white linen pillows.
Arthur: Mark? What was that awful noise downstairs?
Mark: Victoria tried to harm my son, Dad.
Arthur gasped softly and tried to sit up in his bed.
He looked at the tiny yellow blanket cradled in Mark's arms.
Arthur: Is the baby safe? Tell me he is okay!
Mark: He is safe because I caught him just in time.
Mark placed the baby gently inside the portable crib nearby.
Then he walked over to the nightstand beside his father's bed.
A glass of dark tea sat half-empty next to a small bottle.
Mark picked up the small clear bottle and examined the label.
There was no doctor's name written on the prescription sticker.
He brought the bottle close to his nose and sniffed it.
It had a strange bitter smell that made his throat burn.
Mark: Has she been giving you this medicine every single morning?
Arthur: Yes, she said the personal doctor ordered it for me.
Mark remembered the family attorney mentioning a modified will last week.
Victoria had been pushing hard to gain control of the trust fund.
She wanted Mark and his child completely out of the picture.
Sirens blared softly in the distance coming down the long drive.
The police were finally approaching the main iron gates of the estate.
Victoria ran into the master bedroom with red eyes and wild hair.
Victoria: Arthur, you have to tell them it was all a mistake!
Arthur: Get away from me, Victoria!
Mark: The police are here, and you are going to answer for everything.
Victoria backed out into the hallway as heavy boots hurried upstairs.