David carried Mia down to the plush velvet sofa in the sitting room, gently laying her down while keeping his hand locked around hers.
Eleanor stood on the landing above, her fingers clutching her bruised cheek as she watched him comfort the girl.
Eleanor: You think you're so noble, David, but you need me! Who is going to host your corporate galas?! Who is going to maintain your public image?!
David: I don't give a damn about my public image, Eleanor. My daughter is my entire world.
Eleanor: The board of directors will drop your stock value the second news of a domestic scandal hits the papers!
David: Let them drop it. I own seventy percent of Sterling Enterprises. I can fire every single board member by morning.
Eleanor: What about the merger with Vance Logistics?! They won't deal with a man who slaps his wife in his own foyer!
David: They won't deal with a woman who attempts child murder. The video feed will be played in court, Eleanor.
Eleanor ran her shaking hands through her hair, looking around the grand mansion as if looking for an emergency exit.
Eleanor: I have rights in this state! As your legal wife, I have a right to remain on this property until a judge says otherwise!
David: Read section fourteen of your prenuptial agreement again, Eleanor. You signed it three months ago.
Eleanor: What are you talking about?
David: Section fourteen states that any physical harm, criminal act, or endangerment toward Mia immediately voids all marital property rights and revokes your residential access.
Eleanor: That... that clause was only supposed to apply to hired nannies!
David: My lawyer drafted it to apply to anyone living under this roof, including you.
Eleanor: You set me up! You knew I hated that kid!
David: I trusted you with my heart and my home, and you showed me your true colors the moment you thought I was out at the office.
Eleanor: I was going to give you real children, David! Biological children of our own!
David: Mia is my biological child, and she is the only child I will ever need.
Mia whimpered slightly on the cushion, pulling David's hand closer to her face.
Mia: Daddy... is the mean lady going away now?
David: Yes, my sweet girl. She's leaving and she's never coming back.
Mia: She told me if I told you about the bruises on my legs, she would drop me again.
David's head snapped up, his eyes burning with a fresh layer of cold, deadly rage.
David: What did you just say, Mia?
Mia: She pinched me yesterday when you were in the garage... she said I was taking all your time.
David: Eleanor... you've been hurting her before today?!
Eleanor: She's making things up, David! Children lie all the time to get attention!
David: She's three years old! She doesn't even know how to lie!
Eleanor: I just gave her a firm pinch on the arm because she spilled her juice on my silk dress!
David: You laid hands on my motherless daughter because of a spilled drink?!
David stood up from the couch, his towering frame casting a dark shadow across the foyer floor toward the stairs.
David: Clara! Where is that security team?!
Clara: They just pulled up to the security gates, Mr. Sterling! The police are right behind them!
David: Lock the front gates behind them. I don't want this woman stepping one foot off this estate until she's in handcuffs.
Eleanor: You can't lock me in here! That's unlawful imprisonment!
David: It's a citizen's arrest for attempted murder. Try to walk past me and see what happens.
Eleanor backed away into the upper hallway, clutching her dress as heavy footfalls began to echo outside the front entrance.