David: What is going on here, Evelyn?
Evelyn: David, darling! Thank goodness you came down!
David: I asked you a question. Why is my daughter on the floor?
Evelyn: She was stealing from my dressing room! I caught her red-handed!
Lily: I wasn't stealing, Daddy! I promise I wasn't!
David: Hush, Lily. Take a breath, sweetie. Daddy's got you.
David pulled his handkerchief from his gray suit pocket and gently pressed it against Lily's bruised cheek.
Evelyn: Look at the mess she made! She went into my private closet and took my personal things!
David: You struck a seven-year-old child across the face?
Evelyn: She was disrespectful! She ran away when I tried to inspect her bag!
David: I don't care if she broke every vase in this house! You never lay a hand on her!
Evelyn: David, I am your wife now! I have a right to discipline your child when she acts like a criminal!
Lily: She's lying, Daddy! She took my mommy's lockbox key!
David: What lockbox key, Lily?
Evelyn: Don't listen to her silly fantasies! She's making up stories to get out of trouble!
Lily: In my yellow bag! She tried to steal the folded papers my mom left for me!
David's eyes narrowed as he looked down at the items scattered across the marble tiles.
Among the toy cars, plastic hair clips, and pink lip gloss was a thick beige envelope with an official court seal.
David: What is that envelope doing in her bag, Evelyn?
Evelyn: I... I have no idea! She must have picked it up off your office desk!
David: My office is locked code-only. Lily doesn't have the keycard.
Evelyn: Well, she found a way in! You know how sneaky children can be!
Lily: She put those papers in my bag when she thought I was sleeping! I saw her!
David: You saw her put this in your bag?
Lily: Yes! She told me if I ever told you about her phone call, she would throw my dog outside!
David: What phone call, Lily?
Evelyn: David, stop listening to a child's nonsense! We have guests arriving for the dinner party in an hour!
David: The dinner party can wait. Answer my daughter, Evelyn.
Evelyn: I don't have to stand here and be interrogated by a child and my own husband!
David: You do if you want to stay in this house past tonight.
Evelyn's breath hitched, her posture stiffening inside her green silk gown.
Evelyn: Are you threatening me? Over a spoiled brat's lies?
David: I am protecting my daughter. Now stand back against that wall.
Evelyn: David!
David: STAND BACK!
David's voice roared through the foyer, causing two housemaids at the end of the hall to gasp and stop in their tracks.
Evelyn took two slow steps backward, her knuckles white as she gripped the fabric of her dress.
David reached down with his right hand and picked up the folded document from the floor.
He unfolded the pages, his eyes scanning the black bold header at the top of the white paper.
David: This is a petition for sole legal guardianship and estate management.
Lily: What does that mean, Daddy?
David: It means someone was trying to take away your mother's trust fund.
David raised his head, his gray eyes locking onto Evelyn with a cold, terrifying intensity.
David: Why is your attorney's signature on my late wife's estate documents, Evelyn?