Mark: Lily, baby, come here right now. Come to Daddy.
Mark rushed across the foyer, sweeping his small daughter up into his arms. He held her tight, his hand cradling the back of her head as she sobbed uncontrollably into his jacket.
Mark: Shhh, I've got you. Daddy's here. Nobody is going to hurt you.
Victoria: Mark, don't listen to this crazy woman! Clara put her up to this! She’s trying to set me up so she can sue us!
Clara: I didn't set up anything, Victoria. I followed the sound of her crying while you were upstairs taking a bath!
Victoria: You lie! You're just a bitter, low-class maid looking for a payday!
Mark: Shut up, Victoria! Just shut your mouth for one second!
Mark's voice boomed through the massive mansion, startling even Clara. He had always been a quiet, reserved man—a wealthy hedge fund manager who spent twelve hours a day at his downtown firm, leaving his daughter entirely in his new wife's care.
Mark: Clara, tell me exactly what happened from the moment I left for work this morning.
Clara: I came in at eight to start cleaning the guest bedrooms on the main floor. That's when I heard the tapping.
Victoria: It was maintenance work! We had contractors coming!
Clara: There were no contractors! I heard a tiny voice whispering behind the wall near the storage closet under the stairs. It was Lily asking for water.
Mark: Water?! Lily, were you locked in there all day?!
Lily: Stepmom told me if I made a sound, she would lock me in the dark forever. She put the fake wall panel up yesterday while you were in New York.
Victoria: That is an absolute lie! She’s making it up! Kids have wild imaginations, Mark!
Mark: She's seven years old, Victoria! Look at her! Look at the plaster dust in her hair!
Clara: I tried to open the hidden panel door, but it was nailed shut from the outside. That's when I went to the garage and grabbed your sledgehammer.
Victoria: You ruined a forty-thousand-dollar architectural entryway! Mark, she damaged our property!
Clara: I would have destroyed this entire house to get that child out!
Mark: And you did the right thing, Clara. God help me, you did the right thing.
Mark set Lily down gently on the bottom stair of the grand staircase. His hands were shaking as he looked from the gaping hole in his pristine wall to his wife's immaculately manicured face.
Mark: What is that in your hand, Lily? What did you give Clara?
Lily: It's the small camera from my room. The one Mommy put up to watch me. I hid it in my pocket before she pushed me in the dark room.
Victoria: Mark, give me that! You can't trust what's on there! It’s corrupted!
Mark: Touch that memory card, Victoria, and see what happens. Stand back!
Victoria: You're choosing a maid and a rebellious child over your own wife?! We signed a prenuptial agreement, Mark! You can't just accuse me of things without proof!
Clara: The proof is in that card, Mr. Vance. Put it in your phone. Look at it right now.
Mark pulled his smartphone from his inner jacket pocket. He took the micro-SD card from Lily’s tiny palm, his jaw set in a hard, rigid line as he inserted it into the reader slot.
Mark: Let's see what's on here.
Victoria: Mark, please... let's talk about this in private. Dismiss the maid first.
Clara: I'm not going anywhere, Victoria. Not until I know Lily is safe from you.
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