Mark sat at his large mahogany desk inside the bright corner office.
He looked at the framed photo of his seven year old daughter Lily.
Her happy smile always made his hardest workdays feel completely worth it.
Mark had worked tirelessly for ten years to build his clean energy business.
He wanted to make sure Lily had every single chance at a great future.
His first wife had passed away five years ago after a long illness.
Since that painful day, Mark made Lily his absolute top priority in life.
They lived together in a beautiful stone mansion on top of the green hills.
The house featured white marble floors, wide staircases, and tall glass windows everywhere.
Mark hired Victoria as a living nanny to help care for young Lily.
Victoria was always polite and very soft spoken whenever Mark was around the mansion.
She wore simple clothes and spoke with a gentle tone that seemed very trustworthy.
Mark felt lucky to find someone who seemed so deeply dedicated to his home.
However, small things began changing around the house after six months went by.
Lily started becoming much quieter whenever Victoria walked into the sunny room.
The cheerful young girl often clung tightly to her father's grey suit jacket.
Mark thought his daughter was just missing her mother and feeling a bit lonely.
He tried spending more hours working from home to keep Lily feeling safe.
One clear Tuesday morning, Mark decided to stay downstairs in his home study.
He had a short stack of important financial documents to read through carefully.
The afternoon sun poured through the wide windows onto the clean marble foyer.
Mark finished his third cup of hot coffee and stretched his tired back.
He heard the sound of loud running feet coming from the upper balcony.
Mark stepped out of his office to check on what was happening upstairs.
He looked up toward the wide marble stairs and saw Victoria standing there.
She was yelling loudly at little Lily near the polished wooden handrail.
Lily looked frightened and was backing away slowly toward the corner edge.
Victoria reached out her hand in a very aggressive and sudden way.
She cornered the young girl right against the top of the balcony edge.
Lily lost her footing on the slick marble floor and fell backward fast.
Mark ran forward instantly across the wide foyer with complete panic in his heart.
He dove across the slick marble floor with his hands outstretched wide.
He caught Lily safely right before her head could hit the hard step floor.
He wrapped his strong arms around his trembling child and held her close.
Lily sobbed loudly into his chest as her small hands clutched his coat.
Mark felt a deep wave of dark anger rising up inside his chest.
He stood up slowly while keeping his daughter tucked safely behind his back.
He looked up toward the balcony where Victoria stood frozen in total shock.
Her quiet and gentle face was replaced by an ugly look of annoyance.
Mark realized in that single second that he had made a terrible mistake.
He had brought a dangerous person directly into his daughter's safe haven home.