Richard: What did you just say, Evelyn?!
Evelyn: Richard! Thank goodness you walked in! I caught her playing with a lighter from the drawer!
Richard: Lily! Oh God, baby, look at me!
Richard ignored Evelyn completely, sprinting past her toward the back of the spacious bathroom. He dropped to his knees on the cold white marble floor right beside his daughter, his black suit trousers pressing into the hard tile. Lily threw her small arms around his neck, weeping uncontrollably against his shoulder.
Lily: Daddy! She burned me! She held the fire on my arm!
Evelyn: Don't listen to her, Richard! She's making up stories because she was caught stealing!
Richard: Hold still, sweetheart. Let Daddy see your arm.
Lily: It stings, Daddy! It hurts so bad!
Richard gently pulled back Lily's white sleeve, examining her fair skin. A raw, dark red burn mark stood out starkly against her bare arm, blistered from the direct heat. The distinct smell of scorched fabric and lighter fluid lingered heavy in the air. Richard's breathing stopped, his hands trembling as he stared down at his daughter's injury.
Evelyn: I tried to snatch the lighter away from her, Richard, but she lunged forward! It was an accident!
Lily: She lied! She grabbed my wrist and held the flame on me!
Evelyn: You lying little brat! How dare you accuse me of such a monstrous thing!
Richard: Shut up, Evelyn!
Evelyn: Excuse me?! I am your late wife's mother! I am your family!
Richard: I said shut your mouth!
Richard's face twisted instantly into an expression of absolute, uncontainable rage. The warm concern in his eyes vanished, replaced by a dark, terrifying fury that made Evelyn take an involuntary step backward toward the golden bathtub.
Evelyn: Richard... look at the situation logically. Why would I ever hurt my own granddaughter?
Richard: She is not your biological granddaughter, Evelyn! She was my late wife's adopted daughter, and you have treated her like a stranger ever since she entered this home!
Evelyn: That is entirely untrue! I have given this child shelter in my home!
Lily: She said I didn't belong in the family estate, Daddy... She said I was taking her money!
Evelyn: She's putting words together that she heard on television! She's six years old!
Richard stood up swiftly, his tall frame towering over the bathroom floor as he marched aggressively toward the older woman in the white satin robe. Evelyn backed up until her heels hit the edge of the marble vanity, her hands shaking as she pulled her robe tight around her chest.
Richard: You will pay dearly for this!
Evelyn: Don't you threaten me in my own daughter's memory! This mansion's trust fund was built by my family!
Richard: My wife left this estate to Lily, not to you! And you burned a six-year-old child because you couldn't stand losing control of the money!
Evelyn: It was a mistake! She was snooping in my private safe!
Richard: So you admit you held the lighter to her arm?!
Evelyn: I... I was trying to discipline her!
Richard: You abused my child! In my own house!
Richard pulled his smartphone from his inner suit jacket pocket, his knuckles white as he tapped the emergency icon on his screen. Evelyn gasped, her manicured hand flying to her throat as she realized what he was doing.
Evelyn: Richard, put that phone away right now! You cannot call the authorities on me!
Richard: Watch me.