Harrison: You called for the feed, Mr. Sterling?
Carter: Yes, Harrison. Pull up the hallway camera from ten o'clock to eleven o'clock this morning.
Victoria: Carter, this is completely unnecessary! We are wasting time! The police should be here already!
Carter: If Elena is a thief, the police will take her. But if someone else put that necklace in her bag, I want to know who it is.
Harrison: Loading the footage now, sir. Setting timestamp to 10:15 AM.
Harrison held the digital tablet out so Carter could see the glowing screen. Victoria stepped forward, her posture stiff, her face turning pale under her heavy makeup.
Victoria: Harrison, you know how glitchy those files are. You shouldn't rely on raw video without an IT review!
Carter: Be quiet, Victoria.
Carter: Wait... rewind the camera.
Harrison: Rewinding thirty seconds, sir.
The security monitor screen played black-and-white surveillance footage of the empty hallway. An electronic beep sounded as the video fast-forwarded through the timeline.
On the screen, Elena could be seen leaving her cleaning cart and walking down the corridor toward the linen closet, carrying a stack of fresh towels.
A few seconds later, another figure stepped out from the master bedroom doorway. It was Victoria, wearing her dark velvet dress, holding the sparkling diamond necklace in her right hand.
Elena: Look! Look at the screen, Mr. Sterling!
On the high-definition footage, Victoria looked both ways down the hallway to make sure nobody was watching. She crept quickly over to Elena's cleaning cart, unbuckled the tan leather handbag resting on the lower shelf, and shoved the diamond necklace deep inside.
She then buckled the bag closed, smoothed down her dark dress, and walked calmly back into her bedroom.
Harrison: Timestamp 10:22 AM, sir. Clear as day.
The entire hallway fell into a suffocating, dead silence. Elena let out a long, shuddering sob of relief, wiping the tears from her red cheeks as she looked up from the floor.
Carter stood completely frozen, his eyes glued to the tablet screen. The calm, authoritative expression on his face slowly transformed into a dark, terrifying rage.
Victoria: Carter... listen to me... that... that video isn't what it looks like!
Carter: You planted the necklace in her bag.
Victoria: I was... I was testing her! I wanted to see if she was honest!
Carter: You slapped her across the face and called her a thief in front of my staff!
Victoria: She was disrespectful to me yesterday! She needed to be taught a lesson!
Carter slowly turned his head away from the tablet, his eyes locking onto Victoria with a look of absolute disgust.
Carter: You framed an innocent girl who works twelve hours a day to support her family.
Victoria: Carter, please! I am your fiancée! You can't embarrass me like this over a servant!
Carter took one slow step toward her, his fists clenched tight at his sides, his chest heaving with furious anger.