Victoria sneered with extreme fury, her teeth clenched tight as she tried desperately to pull her captured hand back from the maid's firm grip. Her face grew darker with every second of public humiliation. She looked around at the staring crowd, feeling her pride shatter into a thousand pieces under the gaze of the city's highest society members.
Victoria: DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?! Release me right now, you filthy servant!
Clara: It does not matter who your father is or how much money you have in your bank account. You do not lay a hand on an innocent person in front of me.
Victoria yanked again, using all her strength, but Clara's hands were hardened by years of real physical labor. She maintained her grip until she felt Victoria stop straining forward, making sure the danger to Mrs. Sterling had completely passed. The elderly woman in the wheelchair let out a soft sigh of relief, reaching out weakly to touch the side of Clara's white apron with her trembling fingers.
The air in the room felt ice cold as the two women remained locked in a tense standoff. Victoria's chest heaved up and down as she tried to think of the most painful way to ruin the housemaid's life. She knew her father held powerful influence over several major businesses, and she intended to use every bit of that power to make Clara pay for this moment.
Victoria: You are fired! You will never work in this town again after I tell the manager about this assault!
Clara: Fire me if you want, but you will still answer for trying to hit an elderly lady.
Before Victoria could spit out another insult, a heavy set of footsteps echoed down the grand oak staircase leading into the ballroom. A distinguished grey-haired man in a classic black tuxedo with a crisp white bow tie walked rapidly toward the commotion. It was Arthur Sterling, the billionaire owner of the estate and the host of tonight's charity gala.
Arthur had been upstairs finalizing an international business merger when he heard the loud screaming echoing up the marble hallway. His eyes swept over the crowded circle, landing instantly on the silver sequined dress and the brave young maid holding Victoria back. A look of deep, dangerous outrage crossed his stern facial features as he realized what was taking place in his own home.
He pushed through the crowd of frozen guests with powerful strides, his jaw set tight with anger. The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly from general curiosity to pure terror as the powerful host approached the center of the drama. Nobody in the city had ever seen Arthur Sterling look so genuinely dangerous.
Victoria noticed Arthur approaching and immediately changed her expression, twisting her face into a fake look of distress and tearful helplessness. She assumed the billionaire host would instantly side with a wealthy family friend over a hired housemaid who had dared to touch a guest.