Victoria: You are fired, Maria! Pack your bags and get off my estate this instant!
Maria: Fire me all you want, Victoria! But you won't touch this little girl ever again!
Victoria: I am the mistress of this mansion! I have the right to discipline my stepdaughter however I see fit!
Clara: Maria... my arm feels like it's on fire...
Maria: Shh, sweetie. Keep the cold towel on it. Maria is right here.
Before Victoria could take another step toward the tub, the double oak doors burst open under the bright sunlight. David rushed into the room, his dark navy suit unbuttoned, his face pale with sudden, blinding panic. Right behind him stood Detective Vance, a state police officer holding a sleek digital tablet that streamed live video evidence.
David: Clara! My God, Clara!
Victoria: David! Thank goodness you're here! This maid has completely lost her mind!
Victoria immediately dropped to the marble floor near the tub, pointing her finger hysterically at Maria while tears welled in her own eyes.
Victoria: He's lying, David! She attacked me first! I was just giving Clara a warm bath, and Maria rushed in and threw hot water on me!
David: Shut your mouth, Victoria!
Victoria: David, darling, look at my robe! She pushed me against the glass!
David ignored her completely, dropping to his knees on the wet marble floor beside the bathtub. He reached into the water and gently lifted Clara into his broad arms, pulling her shivering body close against his navy suit. Clara buried her face in her father's shoulder, weeping uncontrollably as she pointed her small, trembling hand toward Victoria.
Clara: Daddy! She burned me and she killed Mommy!
The entire bathroom fell dead silent. The hissing steam from the clothing iron seemed to freeze in the air. David went completely rigid, his hands shaking as he pulled back slightly to look into his daughter's tear-stained face.
David: Clara... sweetie... what did you just say?
Clara: She burned my arm with the iron, Daddy! And she put the bad medicine in Mommy's tea before Mommy stopped waking up!
Victoria: She's lying! The child is delirious from a fever! David, don't listen to her!
David: Is that why you kept her locked in this bathroom every time I came home early, Victoria?
David's voice dropped into a dark, terrifying whisper. He turned his head slowly, looking at Victoria as she trembled on the marble floor under the American flag. The truth about his late wife's sudden death was finally crashing down around him.