The sound of the slap echoed through the grand marble hallway like a gunshot.
Victoria: How dare you touch me, you miserable little brat!
Ten-year-old Leo stumbled back, his left cheek burning red where his stepmother's palm had struck him. He clutched a small sewing needle tightly between his fingers, his eyes fixed on her overflowing gold satin gown.
Victoria: Richard, look at what your useless son just did to me!
Richard: Leo! What is wrong with you? Apologize to Victoria right now!
Leo: That's not a baby.
Victoria: What did you just say to me?
Leo: I said, that's not a baby under your dress.
Leo stepped forward without fear, ignoring the pain in his cheek. He reached out and drove the sharp sewing needle directly into the rounded stomach of her designer gown.
A loud, sharp pop echoed through the hall, followed by a violent hiss of escaping air.
Richard: No! No! You little liar!
Victoria: My stomach! Oh God, my stomach!
Victoria gasped as the golden fabric of her dress instantly deflated, flattening completely against her ribs. She sank to the marble floor, clutching her now-flat belly as tears smeared her makeup.
Richard: What have you done? What did you just do!
Richard leaned into the boy's face, his eyes wide and contorted with furious rage. He grabbed Leo by the collar of his black formal vest, shaking him violently.
Richard: You destroyed everything! Do you have any idea what you just ruined?
Leo: You lied to everyone, Dad. She was never pregnant.
Richard: Shut up! Shut your mouth!
Richard slowly turned his head, pointing a trembling finger upward toward the high ceiling of the foyer.
Richard: The camera...
A small white dome security camera sat mounted on the ceiling beam, its red light blinking continuously as it recorded every single second of the confrontation.