Liam: Shh, Clara. It's okay. I'm right here. She can't hurt you anymore.
Clara: I tried so hard to be patient, Liam. I tried to follow all her rules while you were away.
Liam: You don't have to follow any of her rules. You never had to.
Clara: She told me that if I spoke a word to you about Sophia, she would take away my job and have me evicted from my apartment.
Liam: She threatened to evict you?
Clara: She said she owned the building where I live. She said she could ruin my credit score and make sure I never found another job in this city.
Liam squeezed his eyes shut, breathing heavily as he ran a hand through his hair.
Liam: My mother doesn't own your building, Clara. That apartment complex is registered under my real estate company.
Clara: What? But she showed me the deed papers last month!
Liam: She showed you a fake paper to scare you into staying silent. She wanted to keep you under her thumb.
Clara: I was so terrified, Liam. I thought if I lost that job, I wouldn't be able to buy milk or diapers for Sophia.
Liam: You will never have to worry about buying anything ever again. Sophia is my daughter, Clara.
Clara: She said you would hate me if you knew. She said a man like you, a CEO of a real estate firm, would never accept a child with a house maid.
Liam: I love you, Clara. I've loved you since the day we met in this very house two years ago.
Clara: But your mother made me wear this uniform. She forced me to clean up after her friends every weekend.
Liam: My mother is a bitter woman who cares more about social status than her own family. But that ends today.
Clara wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her apron, looking at Liam with a mix of fear and hope.
Clara: Where did she go, Liam? She looked so angry when you slapped her.
Liam: She probably went straight to her attorney or her country club to complain about me.
Clara: What if she comes back with the police?
Liam: Let her bring the police. I have the entire legal title to this house, and I have the bank statements proving she's been stealing money from my trust fund.
Clara: She was stealing from you?
Liam: I hired a forensic auditor three weeks ago because the estate accounts weren't adding up. She's been transferring money out of my daughter's savings trust.
Clara: Sophia had a savings trust?
Liam: I set up a five-million-dollar trust fund for Sophia the day she was born, Clara. My mother was supposed to be the backup trustee, but she used the funds to pay off her own personal debts.
Clara: Five million dollars? Liam, I had no idea...
Liam: You didn't know because my mother intercepted the bank letters before they reached your mailbox.
A heavy car horn blared from the front driveway, followed by the sharp sound of heels marching toward the front porch.
Liam: Stay behind me, Clara. It looks like my mother brought reinforcement.