The sound of heavy leather shoes echoed loudly against the white floor polished like glass.
David ran through the bright corridor of the corporate head office without stopping for breath.
His black suit jacket flapped against his sides as his heart pounded violently in his chest.
David: Lily! Where are you?
He shouted into the vast open space near the executive elevators.
His voice bounced off the glass walls and high ceilings of the empty corporate floor.
At the far end of the hall stood his six-year-old daughter trembling beside a heavy pillar.
She wore her metallic leg braces that helped her walk after her summer knee surgery.
Strapped tightly across her small chest was a fabric carrier backpack holding her baby brother.
Baby Sammy was crying loudly with his face buried against her small shoulder.
Tears swept down Lily's cheeks as she struggled to hold the heavy infant steady.
David: Oh my goodness, Lily!
David dropped to his knees on the slick marble floor and slid forward to reach them.
He immediately wrapped his arms around both of his children with a deep shuddering breath.
His hands shook as he unclipped the baby harness to unburden his small daughter.
David: I have you both now, sweetie.
He lifted the crying infant into his arm while keeping his other hand on Lily's face.
David: Are you hurt anywhere, Lily?
Lily: My legs hurt a little, Daddy.
David: Why are you carrying Sammy out here all by yourself?
Lily: I had to keep him safe.
David: Safe from what, my darling?
Lily: Mommy said we had to stay quiet, daddy!
David froze completely at the sound of those frightened words from his eldest child.
He looked down the long corridor toward the glass doors of the main boardroom.
Standing motionless near the entrance was his wife Eleanor dressed in a sharp black business suit.
Her face looked completely pale and cold without a single sign of emotion or worry.
She held a thick leather briefcase tightly in her right hand without saying a word.
David felt a surge of pure anger rise inside his chest like a sudden flame.
He carefully placed Lily onto a plush leather bench near the wall with her brother.
David: Stay right here for one minute, Lily.
He stood up instantly and charged down the hallway directly toward his cold wife.
His footsteps sounded like heavy thunder on the polished floor with every fast stride.
David: What did you do?!
Eleanor: Do not raise your voice in my office building, David.
David: You left our daughter carrying a baby in braces!
Eleanor: She was interfering with my private meeting with the trust attorneys.
David grabbed the edge of her expensive briefcase and pulled it away from her grip.
David: What meeting are you talking about behind my back?
Eleanor: The meeting that settles the ownership of this company once and for all.