The crystal chandelier in the high entrance hall shook as cold drops splashed across the polished marble floor.
Seven-month-old Toby sat buckled in his high chair, his tiny hands shaking as he gasped for air in his wet diaper.
Victoria stood over him in a shimmering bright yellow satin gown, tipping a heavy glass pitcher until sharp cubes of ice spilled straight down.
Victoria: Scream all you want! You'll never take my place!
Victoria: You think your dead mother left you a permanent spot in this family?
Victoria: You are nothing but an obstacle in my way, you little brat.
Toby let out a high, choked scream as the freezing water soaked through his diaper and chilled his skin.
Across the tiled corridor, Clara dropped her polishing cloth and sprinted forward in her navy blue uniform.
Clara: Get away from him, you heartless monster!
Clara slammed both hands into Victoria's shoulder, shoving the woman hard enough to send her sliding across the slick stone.
The glass pitcher crashed against the marble baseboard, shattering into jagged shards and splashing icy water everywhere.
Clara scooped Toby into her arms, wrapping her navy cloth around his shivering body beneath the massive American flag hanging from the second-floor gallery.
The heavy wooden front double doors slammed open with a booming crash that echoed off the high ceiling.
Ethan Sterling rushed into the hall in a dark charcoal grey suit, his briefcase hitting the floor as his eyes locked onto the chaos.
Ethan: What did you do to my son?!
Clara: Sir! She tried to freeze your baby!
Victoria: Ethan, she's lying to you!
Ethan took three furious strides across the room, his eyes wild with terror and rage.
Ethan: You dared to torture my child?!
His right hand whipped through the air, cracking across Victoria's face with a deafening slap that sent her tumbling back to the floor.
Victoria: Ah! You monster!
Ethan stood over her, his finger trembling with pure fury as his jaw worked.
Ethan: You are leaving this house in chains forever!
Ethan: Get out!
Victoria lay clutching her burning cheek on the wet stone, totally unaware that the locked legal folder in Ethan's coat held a secret that would destroy her by nightfall.