Victoria reached down and tried to pull Leo away from Clara's waist by his small arms, but the child screamed loudly and held on even tighter. The little boy sobbed into Clara's apron, his whole body shaking with fear as Victoria's voice echoed through the high dining hall. The guests began whispering among themselves, pointing toward the maid who was kneeling down to comfort the crying child on the floor.
Victoria: Let go of him this second, you worthless servant! You are ruining everything!
Clara: Please, Mrs. Sterling, you are hurting his arms! Just let me hold him for a second!
Victoria: He is my son, not yours! You have no right to speak to me about how to handle him!
Victoria pulled her hand back and raised it high into the air, her face red with intense fury as she prepared to strike Clara across the face. Clara closed her eyes tightly and pulled Leo closer to her chest, bracing herself for the sharp blow that was about to hit her cheek. The guests gasped loudly, several of them turning their faces away as Victoria's hand cut through the bright air of the dining hall.
Thomas: STOP!
A loud, authoritative voice roared across the room as the grand entrance doors slammed open once again with a booming echo. Thomas Sterling rushed across the marble floor in dark long strides, his black tuxedo jacket flying open as he lunged into the frame. Before Victoria's hand could strike Clara, Thomas reached out and grabbed Victoria's wrist tightly in mid-air, stopping her arm completely in its path.
Victoria: Thomas! What are you doing? Let go of my arm this instant!
Thomas: I said stop! Do not you dare lay a single finger on her!
Victoria: She is just a dirty maid who is making a scene in front of our guests! She let Leo call her mommy!
Thomas tightened his grip on Victoria's wrist, his jaw set in a hard, rigid line as he looked directly into her shocked eyes. The dining room fell into an uncomfortable, absolute silence, with only the faint sound of Leo's soft sniffling filling the massive space. Thomas took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling heavily as he looked down at Clara kneeling on the polished floor with his son.
Thomas: SHE IS HIS REAL MOTHER!
The words echoed off the high gold ceilings like a sudden clap of thunder, freezing everyone in the room where they sat. Victoria gasped in sudden panic, her eyes widening with overwhelming shock as her face turned completely pale. She stared at Thomas as if he had spoken in a completely foreign language, her lips trembling while the heavy meaning of his words sank in.
Victoria: What... what are you talking about, Thomas? That is a ridiculous lie!
Thomas: It is not a lie, Victoria! Clara is Leo's biological mother! I hired my lawyers to steal him from her four years ago!
Victoria: No... no, that cannot be true! You said he was an orphan from an agency!
Thomas: I lied to you, and I lied to the court! But I cannot live with this dark sin in my heart any longer!
Victoria's legs suddenly lost all their strength, her knees collapsing under her heavy red velvet dress from pure emotional shock. She fell backward onto the cold marble floor with a dramatic thud, her head landing near the edge of the long dining table. Several women guests screamed in horror as Victoria lay motionless on the stone floor, her high-society status shattered into pieces before their very eyes.