Mark: What did you just say, Leo?
Leo: She hit my face, Daddy! Look at my cheek!
Victoria: Mark, honey, he's hysterical! He's making things up because he was scared of drowning!
Mark: Victoria, stay back right now.
Victoria: I was standing right by the outdoor lounge chair! I tried to reach for him when the wheel slipped!
Leo: She didn't try to save me! She pushed the handles hard!
Mark looked down at his son's pale face, wiping the pool water from the boy's eyes.
The bright red outline of an adult handprint was burning across Leo's cheek.
Mark: You hit him, Victoria?
Victoria: Of course not! He must have hit his face against the metal armrest when the chair went under!
Mark: An armrest doesn't leave five distinct finger marks on a child's skin.
Victoria: Are you seriously taking the word of a ten-year-old over your own wife?!
Mark: I'm taking the word of what I see right in front of my eyes.
Elena: Sir... if I may speak...
The maid in the blue uniform stepped forward, holding a large dry towel around Leo's trembling shoulders.
Victoria: Elena, shut your mouth and go clean the kitchen!
Mark: Speak, Elena. What did you see?
Elena: I was bringing out the fresh lemon tea from the pantry window, Mr. Vance.
Victoria: Elena, don't you dare lie to keep your job!
Mark: Let her finish, Victoria!
Elena: I heard Mrs. Vance shouting at Leo about the family trust fund. Then I heard a loud slap.
Victoria: You absolute liar! You're making up stories because I reprimanded you yesterday!
Elena: I dropped my tray when I saw her push the wheelchair into the water, sir. The glass is broken by the pantry door.
Mark stood up slowly, his suit dripping wet onto the pristine marble floor.
His eyes were cold, dark, and filled with a dangerous rage as he looked at Victoria.
Mark: You pushed my disabled son into eight feet of water?
Victoria: Mark, listen to me! That maid is jealous of my position in this house!
Mark: Leo can't swim, Victoria! You know he lost his leg movement in the accident that took his mother!
Victoria: It was a mistake! The chair moved on its own on the slippery tile!
Mark: You told him he wouldn't get a single cent of my inheritance?
Victoria's face flushed red, her lips trembling as she tried to find the right words.
Victoria: We were having a minor argument about his attitude, Mark! He was being disrespectful to me all morning!
Mark: He is a child recovering from spinal surgery!
Victoria: He treats me like an intruder in my own home!
Mark: You ARE an intruder if you think you can lay a hand on my son!