The morning sun cast a harsh, blinding glare across the polished marble floors of the grand suburban mansion.
Arthur: I need these quarterly financial reports signed and delivered to the board before noon.
Nora: Everything is already prepared in your study, Mr. Vance.
Arthur: Good. Make sure my wife doesn't wander into my home office today.
Nora: She's upstairs in the nursery with little Lily right now.
Upstairs, the heavy oak doors of the master wing muffled the sounds of a growing family feud.
Victoria: Stop crying right this second or I will give you something real to cry about!
Lily: Mommy, stop! You're hurting my arm!
Victoria: I am not your mother, you ungrateful little brat. Your real mother abandoned you years ago.
Lily's terrified shrieks echoed down the long hallway, piercing the quiet morning air.
Nora dropped the stack of linen towels she was carrying, her heart dropping straight into her stomach.
Nora: What on earth is happening up there?
She sprinted up the winding staircase, her footsteps pounding against the expensive wool carpeting.
Victoria: One more peep out of you, and you'll see what happens to disobedient children.
Lily: Daddy! Help me!
Nora rounded the corner into the nursery, her breath catching in her throat as she saw the sheer terror in the little girl's eyes.
Can Nora reach the child in time before Victoria crosses a line from which there is no turning back?