Sarah remained on the cold floor, holding baby Leo close to her heart while her knees throbbed with pain from the slide. She gently rocked the child back and forth, listening to his small heartbeat steady against her palm. Up on the balcony, Elena clutched the iron railing with white knuckles, her eyes wide as she stared down at the living baby. She had not expected the maid to move so quickly across the massive room, and panic began to show in her posture.
Elena: Is... is he alright down there?
Sarah: How could you do that? You let go of him!
Elena: My hand slipped, Sarah! It was an accident! Do not speak to me like that!
Sarah lifted herself up to a kneeling position, keeping one arm wrapped securely around the baby while wiping her eyes. Before Elena could say another word, the heavy double doors at the front entrance swung open with a loud thud. Richard Vance stepped inside, holding a black leather briefcase, having returned home early from his morning board meeting to grab forgotten documents. He took one step onto the shiny floor and stopped cold, noticing his maid kneeling in tears and his wife trembling high above.
Richard: What is going on here? Why are you on the floor, Sarah?
Sarah: Mr. Vance! Thank God you are home!
Richard set his heavy briefcase on a wooden chair and walked quickly toward the center of the large foyer. His eyes darted from Sarah's tear-streaked face to the baby wrapped tight in her arms, then up to his wide-eyed wife. The silence in the mansion felt heavy, charged with tension as Richard waited for an explanation from the people inside his home.
Richard: Why is Leo wrapped up like that on the ground?
Sarah: She deliberately dropped the baby! She leaned over the balcony rail and let him fall!
Elena: That is a lie! Richard, she is making things up because she made a mistake!
Richard looked up at Elena, his face twisting into explosive, furious rage as the truth began to hit him. He had noticed how cold Elena was toward his newborn son over the past few weeks, but he had brushed it off as stress. Now, seeing Sarah's bruised knees and the position of the baby beneath the balcony, he knew the maid was telling the truth. A low dramatic rumble of anger filled his chest as he turned toward the bottom step of the staircase.
Richard: Stay right there, Elena. Do not move an inch.
He marched up the stairs, his firm footsteps echoing off the high ceiling of the mansion foyer. Elena backed away slowly, clutching her beige gown, but there was nowhere for her to run on the high corridor floor. Richard reached the top of the stairs in three long strides, his face red with overwhelming fury as he closed the distance between them. He grabbed her by the shoulder, spinning her around to face him directly near the top railing.