The sound of the slap echoed through the modern glass-floored villa like a gunshot.
Evelyn: You don't belong in this family, and you certainly don't belong in my son's life!
Claire stumbled backward, clutching her burning red cheek. Her hands instantly dropped to protect her seven-month pregnant belly as she lost her footing on the slick, polished surface.
Claire: Please, Evelyn! I haven't done anything to you!
Evelyn: You're a penniless gold-digger who tricked my son into signing a marriage license!
Evelyn raised her heavy silver-tipped cane with both hands. With a cold, merciless glare, she slammed the metal tip down onto the glass floor right beside Claire's hip. A sharp metallic crack echoed through the open-concept villa as a massive spiderweb fracture spread outward across the transparent floor.
Claire: Ah! Stop! The glass is breaking!
Evelyn: Then you had better pray my son gets home in time to collect what's left of you.
Claire gasps, staring down in absolute terror as the cracks spiderwebbed beneath her weight. The sharp sound of creaking glass filled the high-ceilinged room. Below her lay a thirty-foot drop into the rocky indoor courtyard below.
Claire: Help me! Someone please help me!
Suddenly, the side service door burst open. Maria, the villa's head maid, sprinted across the solid marble border and dropped to her knees at the edge of the fracturing glass.
Maria: Grab on, I've got you!
Maria threw a heavy fabric curtain strap toward Claire, keeping her body anchored to the solid stone frame.
Evelyn: Step back, Maria! Touch her and you are fired on the spot!
Maria: I don't care about this job, ma'am! Grab the strap, Claire!
Claire reached out with trembling hands, gripping the thick woven strap as another loud pop echoed from the glass frame. Her feet slipped lower toward the abyss.
The front doors slammed open as Mark sprinted into the foyer, his eyes widening in complete horror as he took in the scene.
Mark: Every second counts!
Mark threw his coat aside and lunged across the floor, grabbing the strap alongside Maria. With one powerful pull, they yanked Claire onto the solid marble ledge just as the entire central glass section shattered and collapsed into the rocky pit below, echoing with a deafening roar.