The morning sun was bright over the suburban Dallas mansion.
A giant American flag fluttered softly against the clean white stone wall.
Seven-year-old Lily sat on the edge of the stone patio in her yellow summer dress.
She held the delicate silver locket tightly in her small hand.
The locket was the only thing her late mother Sarah had left behind.
Sarah had passed away two years ago after a long fight with illness.
Since that sad day, Lily never took the silver necklace off her neck.
Her stepmother Evelyn stepped onto the patio wearing a dark navy blue dress.
Evelyn had married David eight months ago after a brief romance.
She looked down at the weeping young girl with cold, narrow eyes.
Evelyn: You need to stop holding onto that old piece of junk.
Lily: No, that's Mommy's!
Evelyn: It looks cheap, and it ruins your clothes.
Evelyn reached out and unhooked the silver chain from Lily's neck.
Lily reached out her small hands and cried even harder.
Lily: Please give it back to me!
Evelyn smiled a bitter, triumphant smile in the bright daylight.
She turned toward the deep blue swimming pool nearby.
With a fast flick of her wrist, she tossed the locket far into the pool.
The silver pendant hit the clear water with a quiet splash.
It sank slowly to the cold bottom of the deep end.
Evelyn: If you love it so much, go in there and get it yourself.
Lily looked down into the water and began to tremble with fear.
She could not swim well enough to reach the bottom.
Lily: Help me! Somebody help me!
Evelyn ignored the child's desperate cries and walked toward a lounge chair.
She sat down calmly as if nothing wrong had happened.
Suddenly, the heavy double glass doors of the mansion burst open.
David rushed out onto the patio with panic written across his face.
He had heard his little girl screaming from his home office inside.
David: Lily! What is going on out here?
Lily: Daddy, she threw Mommy's locket into the water!
David turned his angry gaze straight toward his new wife.
David: Evelyn, did you touch Sarah's locket?
Evelyn: It was an accident, David, she dropped it herself!
Lily: She's lying, Daddy! She snatched it off my neck!
David did not hesitate for a single second.
He kicked off his shoes and dove straight into the deep pool water.
He swam quickly to the bottom and grabbed the glowing silver chain.
He broke through the surface and climbed back up onto the stone edge.
He wrapped his wet arms around his shivering daughter.
David: I have it, baby girl. I have it safe right here.
Evelyn: David, you are overreacting to a silly child's game.
David: Do not say another word, Evelyn.