The crystal chandeliers in the grand hallway of the Dallas mansion threw bright light across the marble floors, but the cold air inside had nothing to do with the air conditioning.
Victoria: Stop crying this instant, Maya. You're making a complete scene over a simple misunderstanding.
Maya: It hurts! Please stop! Why are you doing this to me?
Victoria: Because you need to learn your place in this house before the wedding guests arrive tonight.
Victoria lifted a heavy silver pitcher, her golden sequined dress catching the sunlight as she tipped it directly over the young girl's head.
Maya: Say mom before I kill it! Say mom before I kill it!
Victoria: You will call me Mom, or you won't have a life in this estate at all. Do you understand me?
Ice-cold water streamed down Maya's face, soaking her clothes as she sat trapped in her wheelchair, trembling from the freezing chill and uncontrollable fear.
Maya: No! You're not my mom! You'll never be my mom!
Victoria: We'll see how long that attitude lasts once the temperature drops a few more degrees.
Victoria leaned down, her voice dropping to a harsh whisper that sent shivers straight through the terrified child.
Victoria: If you utter one single word to your father when he walks through those front doors, I will make sure you never see your real mother again.
Suddenly, the heavy double doors of the mansion swung wide open with a sharp, echoing crash.
Richard: What on earth is going on in here?!
Richard took one look at his daughter shivering in her soaked wheelchair and sprinted across the grand foyer, stripping off his blue suit jacket mid-stride.
Maya: Daddy! Help me, please!
Richard: Maya! Oh God, sweetie, what happened to you?
He dropped to his knees on the cold marble, instantly wrapping his dry suit jacket around his daughter's freezing shoulders.
Maya: Daddy, she says mom disappeared because of me!
Richard froze, his eyes widening in total horror as those words struck him like a physical blow.