Mark set Ella down gently on a cushioned kitchen chair, wrapping a warm jacket over her thin shoulders. Lily brought over a glass of orange juice, handing it to her new sister with a bright, comforting smile.
Lily: Drink this, Ella. It makes you feel much better.
Ella: Thank you, Lily.
Victoria walked into the kitchen slowly, her arms crossed tightly over her white blouse. She stood near the granite island, keeping her distance as her eyes darted toward the front door.
Victoria: Mark, we need to be reasonable about this situation. The executor of your father's estate, Mr. Harrison, is coming over tomorrow morning to review the final trust documents.
Mark: Good. He can see Ella with his own eyes.
Victoria: Are you insane? If Harrison sees her here, he will immediately report us to Child Protective Services! Do you know what that means for you? You could go to prison!
Mark: I didn't know she was locked under the stairs, Victoria! You hid her from me!
Victoria: Do you really think a judge in Dallas is going to believe that you lived in this mansion for three weeks and had no idea a child was living in your hallway closet?
Mark stopped, his hand resting on the back of Ella's chair. A cold wave of reality washed over him. Victoria was right about one thing: the legal fallout was going to be massive.
Mark: How did you even get her here without anyone noticing?
Victoria: Her legal guardian in Austin passed away last month. The social worker called our landline because your father was listed as her emergency contact. I drove to Austin myself, picked her up, and told the social worker I was bringing her here for adoption paperwork.
Mark: You brought her here under false pretenses?
Victoria: I intended to send her to a private boarding school in Europe! I was just keeping her hidden here until her passport and student visa came through next week!
Ella: She told me I had to stay in the quiet room so bad people wouldn't take me away...
Mark: There were no bad people, Ella. Just a greedy woman who was afraid of sharing a trust fund.
Victoria: I am your wife, Mark! You are supposed to stand by me no matter what!
Mark: Marriage is built on love and basic humanity, Victoria. You showed neither when you locked a ten-year-old child in a dark room.
Mark pulled his smartphone out of his pocket and tapped the screen to open his contacts list, searching for the personal cell number of his father's estate attorney.
Victoria: Who are you calling right now?
Mark: I am calling Arthur Harrison.
Victoria: No! Mark, stop! If you call Harrison, he will freeze all our business accounts tonight!
Mark: Let him freeze them! I would rather be broke and honest than rich and living with a monster!
Victoria: If you press that call button, Mark, I will take Lily and leave this house tonight! I will file for divorce tomorrow morning!
Mark looked at Victoria, seeing the cold, desperate look in her eyes. He then looked down at Lily, who was holding Ella's hand at the kitchen table, and back at Ella, who looked up at him with trusting eyes.
Mark: You can file for whatever you want, Victoria. But you are not taking Lily anywhere.