Mark sat in his spacious executive office on the top floor of the downtown high-rise.
He reviewed the financial report for the upcoming quarterly board meeting.
His phone vibrated violently against the dark mahogany desk.
Mark picked up the device and saw his daughter's name on the bright screen.
Mark: Emily, sweetie, is everything okay at home?
Emily: Daddy, you need to come down to the lobby right now!
Mark: Why are you at my office building right now?
Emily: Mommy told me to wait here, but the baby will not stop crying!
Mark stood up instantly and knocked his expensive leather chair backward onto the floor.
He rushed past his startled secretary without offering a single word of explanation.
The glass elevator descended rapidly toward the ground floor of the corporate headquarters.
Mark sprinted out of the elevator doors the very second they slid open.
His expensive leather shoes clicked loudly against the polished white marble floor.
He looked around the vast lobby and spotted his young daughter near the entrance.
Seven-year-old Emily stood near a tall marble pillar with tears streaming down her face.
She wore metal leg braces and held her infant brother securely in a grey front carrier.
The infant cried loudly as the little girl tried to soothe him with trembling hands.
Mark slid to his knees on the slick floor right in front of his precious children.
Mark: Emily, look at me, why are you here alone?
Emily: I had to keep him safe!
Mark: Safe from what?
Emily: Mommy said we had to stay quiet, daddy!
Mark carefully unbuckled the harness and lifted his small infant son into his own arms.
He wrapped his black suit jacket around the baby to keep the cold lobby air off him.
Then he cupped Emily's tear-stained cheek with his free hand and looked into her eyes.
Mark: Where is your mother right now?
Emily: She said she was going to sign some papers upstairs.
Mark looked down the long hallway toward the private executive legal suites.
A well-dressed blonde woman in a sharp suit stood motionless near the glass doors.
Sarah stared back at her husband with a completely cold and unreadable expression.
Mark felt a wave of cold terror wash over his heart as he recognized his wife.
He handed the baby gently to a trusted security guard standing nearby.
Mark: Keep my kids safe until I come back.
Guard: I will watch them with my life, sir.
Mark turned around and marched straight toward his cold wife with fury in his eyes.