The heavy front double doors of the Sterling mansion burst open with a loud thud, revealing two armed police officers stepping into the grand entryway.
Officer Vance: Police department! Nobody move!
Julian: Up here, Officers! On the second-floor balcony!
Officer Vance: Stay right where you are, sir! We're coming up!
The two officers charged up the white marble staircase, their heavy boots making sharp, rhythmic sounds against the polished steps.
Victoria: Officers! Thank God you're here! My stepson has gone completely mad!
Officer Vance: Ma'am, keep your hands where we can see them!
Victoria: He's threatening me! He's trying to frame me so he can steal my husband's inheritance!
Julian: Officer, she held my six-month-old daughter over the balcony railing and dropped her onto the marble floor below!
Officer Miller: Is the child injured, sir?
Julian: I caught her right before she hit the stone, but the entire attempt was caught on our internal security system!
Victoria: There are no cameras in this hallway! I checked the wiring myself last month!
Julian: You checked the old system, Victoria. I had a hidden cloud-based camera installed inside the ceiling smoke detector three days ago after I found my father's rewritten will.
Victoria: You... you lied to me!
Julian: I protected my family from a predator living under our roof.
Officer Vance: Victoria Sterling, you are under arrest for attempted felony child endangerment and aggravated assault.
Victoria: Get your filthy hands off me! Do you have any idea who I am?! My late husband was Charles Sterling!
Officer Miller: Turn around and place your hands behind your back, ma'am.
The officer grabbed Victoria's wrists, pulling them behind her back as the cold steel handcuffs clicked tightly into place over her green velvet sleeves.
Victoria: AHH! You're hurting me! Julian, tell them to stop this right now!
Julian: I'm not telling them anything, Victoria. You earned every second of what's happening to you.
Victoria: You miserable coward! You think you've won?! My legal team will have me out on bail before dinner!
Officer Vance: Not for attempted murder of an infant, ma'am. The magistrate doesn't grant bail easily for child violence.
Victoria: I am the mistress of this estate! You can't drag me out of my own house like a common thief!
Julian: This isn't your house anymore. It never was.
Officer Miller: Let's go, ma'am. Down the stairs, nice and slow.
Victoria: Julian! Look at me! You will regret this day for the rest of your life! I will take everything from you! Everything!
Julian: Take whatever you want, Victoria. My daughter is safe, and that's the only thing that matters in this world.
The officers led the screaming, sobbing woman down the grand marble staircase, her expensive green velvet dress dragging along the pristine steps she had tried so hard to control.
Julian held his daughter closer to his chest, placing a gentle kiss on her soft forehead as the heavy front doors slammed shut, ending the nightmare once and for all.
Julian: You're safe now, Lily. Nobody is ever going to hurt you again.