Mark stepped back into the kitchen to check on the roast turkey in the oven.
I leaned over to grab a clean baby bib from the blue stroller near the hallway.
Lily reached out her small hand and touched a decorative ceramic plate on the table edge.
The decorative plate tipped over and shattered into several pieces on the hard floor.
Sarah spun around rapidly with a look of pure rage across her pale face.
She stepped close to the high chair and pointed her finger aggressively at my baby daughter.
"You little monster, you ruined my grandmother's rare antique dish!" Sarah shrieked at the top of her lungs.
Sarah grabbed Lily's tiny arm roughly and shook her high chair back and forth with force.
Lily let out a shrill, terrified scream that echoed loudly through the entire house.
I dropped the bib and rushed forward as fast as my feet could carry me.
I shoved Sarah away from the high chair before she could touch my child again.
"Get your hands off my baby right now!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I quickly unbuckled the harness and pulled Lily safely into my trembling arms.
Lily sobbed uncontrollably and hid her tiny face deep into my royal blue sweater.
Sarah stood her ground and narrowed her eyes with zero hints of remorse or regret.
"It was barely anything, Elena!" Sarah shouted defensively while tossing her long red hair back.
"You put your hands on an eight-month-old infant over a stupid piece of china!" I yelled back.
My heart pounded wildly against my ribs as anger rushed through my entire body.
Mark burst through the swinging kitchen doors with a look of utter horror on his face.
"What is going on in here?" Mark demanded, his voice trembling with dark fury.
He saw me holding our weeping baby daughter while Sarah stood red-faced by the table.
"She shook Lily's high chair and screamed inches from her tiny face, Mark!" I cried out.
Mark's face turned completely pale before turning dark with deep, terrifying anger.
He stepped right into Sarah's personal space until she was forced to step backward.
"Did you just threaten and shake my infant daughter in my own house?" Mark growled softly.
"She broke the antique plate that belonged to my family!" Sarah tried to justify herself.
"I do not care about a stupid piece of glass, Sarah!" Mark roared with power.
The low rumble of his loud voice made the glass ornaments tremble on the tree.
Sarah stepped back against the edge of the wooden table, looking slightly rattled now.
She tried to maintain her cold, arrogant expression, but her lip trembled visible with fear.
The holiday cheer in the house was completely shattered within a matter of seconds.