Caleb: What on earth just happened in here?!
Maya: Caleb! Oh God, Caleb, look at him!
Caleb: Maya, why are you on the floor? Why is the baby crying like that?
Maya: She dropped him! She dropped him right over the second-floor railing!
Maya buried her wet face into the baby's blanket, her whole body shaking violently as tears soaked through her light blue uniform.
Caleb: She did what?!
Maya: She held him over the brass bar and let him go! I had to slide across the stone to catch him!
Caleb froze in place, his black suit coat stiffening as his hands curled into tight fists. He slowly lifted his head toward the curved staircase.
The sharp click of designer high heels sounded from the top landing. Evelyn walked down the curved spiral steps, her green dress swishing against the banister.
Evelyn: Don't you dare lie to him, you pathetic maid!
Maya: She tried to kill our baby, Caleb! She looked me in the eyes and said he was a leech!
Evelyn: I was holding the boy near the window to see the garden birds, Caleb! The maid startled me and I slipped!
Maya: You didn't slip! You leaned over and pushed him!
Evelyn: Shut your lying mouth, Maya! You're just a hired hand who cleans our guest rooms!
Caleb: Evelyn, stay right where you are on those stairs.
Evelyn: Caleb, darling, listen to reason! The girl dropped the baby herself while mopping the floor!
Maya: Look at my knees, Caleb! My skin is scraped raw from sliding to catch him before he hit the tiles!
Caleb looked down at Maya's legs. Fresh red blood was seeping through her torn uniform stockings where her knees had dragged across the marble.
Caleb: How could you do this, Evelyn?
Evelyn: I told you, it was an accident! Why are you taking the word of a servant over your lawful wife?
Caleb: Because this servant was bleeding on the floor while you walked down the stairs with a smirk on your face.
Evelyn: Don't you dare accuse me! My family funds your commercial logistics firm!
Caleb: Don't you dare lie to me!
Caleb stepped forward, his eyes burning with uncontrollable fury. Before Evelyn could reach the bottom step, his right hand swung through the air and delivered a violent, resounding slap across her face.
The loud, sharp impact cracked like a whip through the open foyer. Evelyn let out a shocked gasp, stumbling back onto the carpeted stairs as her manicured hand flew to her stinging cheek.
Evelyn: You... you hit me?!
Caleb: Get out of my house immediately!
Evelyn: Have you completely lost your mind?! I am Evelyn Vance Sterling! You cannot throw me out!
Caleb: Watch me, Evelyn. Pack your designer clothes and get off my property before I have the police drag you away in chains.
Evelyn pushed herself up from the steps, her green dress twisting as she glared at the man who had just struck her for the first time in their three-year marriage.