Marcus, the head of estate security, hurried through the double doors with two guards behind him.
Marcus: Mr. Vance, we found your boy?
Arthur: Elena pulled him out of the wall dumbwaiter. Sealed shut.
Marcus: Good God. Leo, are you alright, son?
Leo: My knees hurt, Mr. Marcus. It was dark and spiders were on my shoes.
Victoria: Marcus, escort this maid off the property. She is causing a massive disturbance.
Marcus: I report directly to Mr. Vance, ma'am. Not to you.
Victoria: I am co-owner of this mansion!
Arthur: You own nothing here, Victoria. Not according to the prenuptial agreement you signed.
Victoria's manicured fingernails dug into the fabric of her cream dress until her knuckles turned white.
Victoria: Arthur, you are humiliating me in front of the entire city elite!
Arthur: Marcus, pull the corridor cameras from the north pantry hallway between six and eight.
Victoria: The cameras in the west wing are offline for maintenance!
Marcus: No, ma'am. The maintenance was scheduled for next week. The system is fully online.
Victoria swallowed hard, her chest heaving as she glanced toward the side exit.
Arthur: Show me the monitor right now on your tablet, Marcus.
Marcus: Pulling up camera six now, sir. Timestamp six forty-two.
The security tablet glowed brightly between Arthur and Elena.
On the screen, Victoria dragged Leo down the narrow back hallway by his wrist.
Leo: No, please! I'm sorry about the dress! Please, Victoria!
Victoria on Video: Get in there and shut up! You ruin every single thing your father gives me!
The video showed Victoria shoving the crying boy into the shaft and sliding the thick wood barrier shut.
Then she dragged a heavy antique oak chair and wedged it under the exterior iron latch handle.
Arthur: You shoved my son into an airless wall cavity and blocked the latch.
Victoria: He was going to ruin my dinner with the foundation investors!
Arthur: You risked his life for a party?
Victoria: He is not my child! Why should I spend my life raising another woman's baggage?
A loud gasp rippled through the guests clustered by the grand pillars.
Arthur: That baggage is my late wife's child. The only thing I have left of Clara.
Victoria: Clara is dead! But you keep building shrines to her memory in every room!
Arthur: And now I see who you really are.
Victoria: You need me, Arthur! The merger with my father's bank depends entirely on our marriage!
Arthur: Then let the merger burn to the ground tonight.
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