Victoria: Step away from that boy this second, or you will leave here in handcuffs!
Elena: Are you out of your mind? He was trapped inside a ventilation crawl space!
Victoria: Mind your tongue! You work for my catering staff. You have no authority in this house!
Elena tightened her grip around Julian, feeling every rib through his filthy cotton shirt.
Elena: He has bruises all over his wrists! His fingers are torn open from pounding on the iron!
Julian: She pushed me in before the guests arrived, Elena! She said if I made a sound, she would lock the basement too!
Victoria: Shut your mouth, Julian! You are hallucinating again from your fever!
Victoria lunged forward, her diamond bracelets clattering as she grabbed Julian's skinny forearm.
Elena: Don't you touch him!
Elena shoved Victoria's arm away, standing firmly between the glamorous blonde and the trembling child.
Victoria: Did you just lay your disgusting hands on me? In my own ballroom?
Several guests paused their laughter, turning their heads toward the alcove near the banquet tables.
Guest One: What is that commotion over there? Is that Julian?
Guest Two: I thought Victoria said Julian was sent to a private medical facility in Switzerland last month.
Victoria: It's nothing, everyone! Just a disturbed house cleaner causing a scene with a sick boy!
Elena: Sick? You locked him behind an air duct while you drank champagne in a four-thousand-dollar dress!
Julian: She told everyone my daddy didn't want me anymore!
Julian buried his wet face into Elena's apron, crying so hard his tiny shoulders shuddered.
Elena: Where is his father? Where is Arthur Sterling?
Victoria: Arthur is busy entertaining senators in the private library. Do not dare interrupt him!
Elena: If you don't call him out here, I will scream loud enough to bring down every chandelier in this mansion!
Victoria: Security! Where is my head of security?! Drag this woman out the back door!
A towering guard in a dark suit rushed over from the double doors, reaching for a baton on his hip.
Guard: Ma'am, you need to step away from Mrs. Sterling and let go of the boy.
Elena: Look at his hands! Look at his knuckles! Are you completely blind or just on her payroll?!
The guard hesitated for a second, glancing down at Julian's bleeding fingers and swollen face.
Guard: Mrs. Sterling... is the boy alright?
Victoria: I don't pay you to ask medical questions, Marcus! I pay you to remove trash from my sight!
Julian: Daddy! Daddy, help me!
Julian's shriek echoed through the cavernous foyer, bouncing off the vaulted ceilings and cutting straight through the string quartet.
Elena: Louder, Julian! Call him again!
Victoria: Silence him!
Victoria raised her hand to strike Elena across the face, but a booming voice thundered across the room, freezing the entire room in place.
Arthur: What the hell is going on here?!
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