The morning sunlight streamed through the high stained-glass windows of the Vance estate, casting soft golden patches across the white marble floor of the grand foyer. Clara lowered her bucket and squeezed out her cloth. She had worked as a maid for the Vance family for over four years. She knew every inch of this suburban luxury mansion, from the mahogany doors to the grand curved staircase that swept up toward the upper floor balconies.
Clara: I need to finish wiping down these marble tiles before Mr. Vance comes down for his morning tea.
She wiped the cold stone surface, but a sudden sharp cry from high above made her freeze. Clara looked up toward the tenth-floor interior balcony railing that overlooked the open foyer. Standing right at the edge of the high drop was Elena, the late mother's replacement and Arthur Vance's new wife.
Elena: Stop crying, you miserable little brat! I cannot stand the sound of your voice for another second!
Clara felt her blood run cold. Elena was holding one-year-old baby Lily right over the wooden top rail of the high balcony. The baby girl was squirming in her arms, her tiny red face wet with tears, clutching at her pink blanket.
Clara: Mrs. Vance! Please, step back from the railing! What are you doing up there?!
Elena: Mind your own business, Clara! You are just a hired maid, so keep your nose out of family matters!
Clara: Please! Look at how high you are! Put Lily back in her crib right now, I am begging you!
Elena: This brat is not family. She is just an obstacle standing between me and Arthur's full inheritance trust fund!
Clara: She is just a one-year-old infant! She has done nothing to you!
Elena grinned maliciously, her eyes flashing with pure hatred as she shifted her grip on the baby's blanket. She leaned her upper body further over the terrifying drop, hovering right over the hard marble floor ten stories below, and Clara's heart stopped in her chest.
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