Chapter 3 - THE ENGAGEMENT RING ON THE TABLE
Victoria arrived at the hospital with her attorney.
She wore a new dress.
Her hair had been restyled.
The engagement ring remained on her hand.
She entered the private waiting room as though the evening could still be repaired.
“Ethan, we need to speak alone.”
Detective Shaw stood beside the door.
“There will be no private conversation until my questions are complete.”
Victoria looked offended.
“This is a family matter.”
“You injured a child.”
“I touched her shoulder.”
“She lost her balance.”
“The recording shows a push.”
“The camera angle is misleading.”
Ethan placed the tablet on the table.
“The audio is not misleading.”
Victoria looked at him.
“You cannot believe that woman.”
“Her name is Rosa.”
“She hid your child from you.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“That does not change what you did.”
“It changes everything.”
Victoria turned toward the hallway leading to Lily’s room.
“She brought the girl into your house deliberately.”
“She wanted you to see the resemblance.”
“She has been planning this.”
Rosa appeared behind the glass door.
She had heard enough.
“I spent two years trying not to be seen.”
Victoria laughed.
“A maid working in the home of a billionaire she once slept with?”
“You expect anyone to believe that was an accident?”
Rosa’s face burned.
Ethan stepped between them.
“Do not speak to her like that.”
Victoria stared at him.
“I am your fiancée.”
Ethan looked at the diamond ring.
Then he looked at the woman wearing it.
“My mother sat at that piano every morning.”
“She taught me my first song there.”
“You walked into her parlor and pushed a three-year-old child because you thought the room belonged to you.”
Victoria’s expression hardened.
“It would have belonged to me after the wedding.”
“No.”
Ethan removed the ring from her hand before she understood what he was doing.
He placed it on the table.
“There will be no wedding.”
Victoria’s face became white.
“You are ending our engagement over a servant?”
“I am ending it because you hurt a child.”
“You do not even know whether she is yours.”
Ethan looked toward Lily’s room.
“I know what I saw.”
“A pair of eyes?”
“A calculated woman can teach a child what to say.”
Rosa stepped forward.
“Order the test.”
Everyone looked at her.
She continued.
“Order the DNA test.”
“I will sign whatever is required.”
“I am done protecting Lily with secrets.”
Victoria smiled.
“Good.”
“Then when the test proves Rosa is lying, we can finish this conversation.”
Ethan looked at Detective Shaw.
“What happens to Victoria now?”
The detective answered carefully.
“The evidence supports an assault investigation.”
Victoria’s attorney objected.
The argument continued.
Ethan no longer listened.
He entered Lily’s room.
The child was awake.
A white bandage covered the cut behind her ear.
She looked at him uncertainly.
“Are you the piano’s dad?”
Ethan almost laughed despite everything.
“No.”
“The piano belonged to my mom.”
“Did she know songs?”
“She knew many songs.”
Lily held out Button.
“He got scared too.”
Ethan accepted the rabbit.
“May I sit here?”
Lily looked toward Rosa.
Rosa nodded.
Ethan sat beside the bed.
Lily studied his face.
“Your eyes look like mine.”
His throat tightened.
“Yes.”
“They are a little sadder.”
May you like
Ethan handed Button back to her.
“I am working on that.”
