Victoria: Marcus! Come back down here right now!
Sarah: The truth is coming out, Mrs. Victoria. You can't hide it anymore.
Victoria: You backstabbing, miserable leech! I gave you a job when you had nowhere else to go!
Sarah: You hired me because you thought I was too scared to stand up to you!
Victoria: You will rot in a women's prison for defamation! I'll hire the best defense lawyers in the state!
Sarah: Money can't erase the bruises on that baby's arm, Victoria!
From the second-floor balcony above, a heavy wooden drawer slammed open. A few seconds later, Marcus walked slowly back to the top of the stairs, holding a pink cell phone and a small black leather notebook.
Marcus: Is this your phone, Sarah?
Sarah: Yes, sir! The passcode is zero-four-one-two.
Marcus typed the digits into the screen. As the photo gallery loaded, his face turned completely white. He scrolled through picture after picture of red marks, scratches, and dark purple bruises on little Leo's legs and back.
Marcus: Sweet Jesus... there are dozens of photos here. Dates stretching back three months!
Victoria: She used image editing software, Marcus! She created those fake pictures to blackmail us!
Marcus: They have time stamps, Victoria! And what about this notebook? What is written in this black journal?
Victoria: That is my private personal diary! You have no legal right to read that!
Marcus: "July 14th: The child wouldn't stop crying during my lunch with the charity board. Gave him two drops of sleep medicine in his bottle."
Sarah: Oh God... you gave him adult sleep medicine?
Victoria: It was a natural herbal supplement! It's completely harmless!
Marcus: "August 2nd: Marcus is extended on his business trip in Chicago. If the boy cries again tonight, I will leave him in the cellar room until morning."
Sarah: That's why he was shivering when I found him last Tuesday!
Victoria: It's a lie! I wrote those entries as creative writing exercises! I am writing a fiction book!
Marcus: Creative writing? You documented your own child abuse in a leather notebook!
Victoria: He is not my child! He is the son of your dead ex-wife!
Marcus: He is my blood! And you promised me when we married that you would love him like your own!
Victoria: I tried to love him! But every time I look at his face, I see her! I see your first wife!
Marcus: That gives you the right to torture an innocent baby?
Victoria: I didn't torture him! I disciplined him so he wouldn't turn out spoiled like his mother!
Marcus walked down the final steps, his boots striking the marble floor with a sound like thunder. He pulled his main cell phone out of his navy jacket pocket and dialed three digits.
Victoria: Who are you calling, Marcus?
Marcus: I'm calling the county sheriff.