Sophie's composure shattered completely the moment she registered the gleaming watch in Daniel's palm, her hands flying instinctively to cover her face as tears streamed rapidly down her cheeks. "I swear I didn't," she sobbed desperately, her voice cracking with raw, overwhelming panic, "I don't know how that got in there!"
Patricia's expression shifted instantly into something cold and deeply satisfied, her arms crossing smugly across her chest as she watched Sophie's desperate denial unfold. "Save your excuses," she said coldly, her voice carrying icy, superior confidence. "Have her arrested."
Sophie's sobbing intensified, her entire body trembling with the overwhelming weight of an accusation she couldn't begin to understand or defend herself against. She had never once touched anything belonging to the Whitfield family beyond her assigned cleaning duties, and yet the evidence sitting in Daniel's palm seemed to condemn her entirely.
Daniel remained silent, studying the watch carefully, his expression unreadable as he processed the situation unfolding before him. Something about the timing, the convenience of the discovery, and Patricia's immediate, gleeful satisfaction struck him as deeply suspicious, though he said nothing yet, choosing instead to reach quietly for his phone.
Patricia watched him with growing confidence, clearly expecting her carefully orchestrated plan to unfold exactly as she had intended, unaware that Daniel's growing suspicion was about to unravel everything she had worked so hard to construct.