Evelyn: Cancel that call, Rachel! Hang up that phone right now!
Rachel: The suspect is right here, operator. Her name is Evelyn Vance. Please hurry, my daughter is injured.
Evelyn rushed toward Rachel, her nails extended as if she wanted to snatch the phone out of her hand.
Rachel raised her arm, stepping firmly into Evelyn’s path and shoving her back onto the sofa.
Rachel: Touch me again, Evelyn, and I swear to God you won't walk out of this living room!
Richard: How dare you push my wife! You are out of your mind!
Tires screeched outside in the driveway, followed by the loud slamming of a car door.
A few seconds later, Mark rushed through the front entrance, his tie loosened and his forehead covered in cold sweat.
Mark: What the hell is going on here?! Rachel, what happened to Lily?!
Lily let out a loud sob, stretching her tiny arms toward her father from the floor.
Lily: DADDY! Grandma hit me! My shoulder hurts!
Mark dropped his leather briefcase onto the hardwood floor and dropped to his knees beside his daughter.
Mark: Oh my God, Lily... sweetie, let Daddy see. Look at me, baby.
Rachel: Look at her shoulder, Mark. Look at the purple welt forming right where your mother struck her with a wooden chair.
Mark pulled back Lily’s sleeve, his face instantly draining of all color as he saw the deep bruise.
Mark: Mom... tell me this is a mistake. Tell me you didn't do this.
Evelyn stood up from the sofa, smoothing down her beige shirt with trembling hands as she forced a sweet, innocent tone.
Evelyn: Mark, darling, listen to me! It was an absolute accident! Lily was running around like a wild animal!
Rachel: She was standing near the fireplace display, Evelyn! She barely touched the table!
Evelyn: She broke my grandmother’s heirloom vase! She was undisciplined! I was just trying to correct her behavior!
Mark: Correct her behavior?! By hitting a seven-year-old girl with furniture?!
Richard stepped beside Evelyn, placing a heavy hand on Mark’s shoulder with a firm, controlling grip.
Richard: Mark, son, calm down. Your wife is hysterical and escalating this out of proportion.
Mark: Get your hands off me, Dad!
Mark shoved Richard’s hand away, standing up to his full height as his eyes burned with fury.
Richard: Don't speak to me in that tone! I am your father, and I am the senior partner at Vance & Associates!
Mark: I don't give a damn about the partnership! My daughter is bleeding under her shirt!
Evelyn: Mark! Rachel slapped me! Look at my face! She physically assaulted your mother!
Mark turned his gaze to Rachel, seeing her hand still shaking with rage as she kept her phone held tight.
Rachel: I slapped her after she stood over our daughter like a monster, Mark. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Mark: She protected our daughter. You hit a child, Mom!
Evelyn: I am your mother! You side with this ungrateful girl over the woman who gave you everything?!
Mark: You gave me money, Mom. You never gave me love. And I won't let you ruin my daughter the way you tried to ruin me.
Sirens wailed in the distance, getting louder as emergency vehicles turned down the quiet residential street.
Richard: Mark, tell those officers to turn around! If this news gets out to the board, our stock values will plummet!
Mark: Let them plummet, Dad. Because as of today, I quit.