The grandfather clock in the marble foyer struck four in the afternoon, but the heavy silence in the mansion was shattered by a piercing cry.

Leo: "Dad! Dad, please hurry downstairs!"

Eight-year-old Leo raced across the polished marble floor, his small sneakers sliding on the slick surface as tears streamed down his pale cheeks.

Victoria: "Leo, stop running through this house right now!"

Victoria stepped out from the formal dining room, smoothing down her beige satin blouse and adjusting her tailored pencil skirt. Her blond hair was pulled back tight, her eyes cold as ice.

Leo: "You have to open it! He cannot breathe in there!"

Victoria: "Lower your voice this instant. Nobody is listening to your wild imagination."

Leo: "I am not lying! Grandpa is locked in the vault!"

Victoria took two sharp strides across the foyer, her high heels clicking loudly against the stone, her hand shooting out to grab the boy’s wrist.

Victoria: "Quiet down and shut your mouth! Not another word out of you!"

Leo: "Let go of me! He was coughing! He said his chest hurt!"

Victoria shoved the boy backward with sudden, vicious force. Leo lost his balance, falling hard onto the cold stone, his elbow striking the floor with a dull thud.

Victoria: "Stay on the ground where you belong! You do not speak unless you are spoken to."

Leo curled up on the cold floor, clutching his bruised arm as quiet sobs racked his tiny chest.

Daniel: "What in God's name is happening here?!"

The heavy mahogany front door slammed shut, and Daniel strode into the great foyer, his navy suit jacket unbuttoned, his briefcase slipping from his fingers and crashing to the floor.

Victoria: "Daniel! Darling, you are home early from the office."

Daniel: "Don't you ever touch my son!"

Daniel rushed past his wife, dropping to his knees beside the weeping boy and pulling him tightly against his chest.

Leo: "Dad... the basement vault... she closed the big wheel on him!"

Daniel looked up at Victoria, whose painted smile suddenly turned pale and completely hollow.