Chapter 4 - THE RING ON THE MARBLE FLOOR
Victoria stared at Ethan as if she had misheard him.
“What did you say?”
Ethan’s voice remained calm.
That frightened her more than anger would have.
“I said get out.”
Victoria glanced at Rosa.
Then at Thomas.
Then at the security footage still frozen on the tablet.
“This is my home too.”
“No.”
Ethan stepped toward her.
“It never was.”
Victoria lifted her left hand.
The enormous diamond engagement ring caught the afternoon light.
“We are getting married in twelve days.”
“We were.”
The word landed with finality.
Victoria’s face changed.
“Ethan.”
“No.”
“You are confused.”
“No.”
“You’re emotional because this woman has suddenly appeared with a child and a story.”
“No.”
“She worked in your house for two years without saying anything.”
“No.”
Victoria’s voice sharpened.
“Would you stop saying that?”
Ethan finally looked directly at her.
“No.”
Rosa almost forgot to breathe.
Victoria pulled the ring from her finger.
For a moment, Rosa thought she might throw it at him.
Instead, she placed it carefully on the piano.
“You are making the biggest mistake of your life.”
Ethan looked at the ring.
“No.”
“I made that mistake when I proposed.”
Victoria flinched.
Her humiliation immediately became anger.
“You think she wants you?”
She pointed at Rosa.
“You think this is some beautiful reunion?”
“She works for you.”
“She cleans your bathrooms.”
“She changes sheets.”
“She brought your supposed child into this house without telling you because she was waiting for exactly this moment.”
Rosa stood.
“That’s enough.”
Victoria laughed.
“There she is.”
“The innocent maid finally grows a spine.”
Ethan stepped between them.
“You will leave now.”
Victoria’s face twisted.
“And if I don’t?”
Ethan turned toward Thomas.
“Call security.”
Thomas nodded.
Victoria’s eyes widened.
“You’re having security remove your fiancée?”
“My former fiancée.”
A sharp silence followed.
Then Victoria smiled.
It was not a pleasant smile.
“Fine.”
She picked up her handbag.
“But when this becomes public, do not expect me to protect you.”
Ethan did not respond.
Victoria moved toward the doorway.
Then she paused beside Rosa.
“You think you won.”
Rosa looked at her.
“I wasn’t competing.”
Victoria leaned closer.
“You will.”
Then she walked away.
A minute later, the front doors closed behind her.
But the silence she left behind felt even heavier than her presence.
Ethan looked at Rosa.
“The hospital.”
Rosa nodded.
“I can take her.”
“We’re both going.”
“I don’t need—”
“I do.”
The words surprised both of them.
Ethan looked at Lily.
“I need to know she’s okay.”
Rosa hesitated.
Then she nodded.
Twenty minutes later, they were sitting in the back of Ethan’s black SUV.
Lily rested against Rosa.
Ethan sat across from them.
He kept staring.
Not rudely.
Not suspiciously.
Almost desperately.
Lily eventually noticed.
“Why you look at me?”
Ethan blinked.
“I’m sorry.”
“You look a lot.”
Rosa almost smiled.
Ethan cleared his throat.
“I guess I do.”
Lily studied him.
Then she held out Button, her stuffed rabbit.
“He scared too.”
Ethan looked at the worn rabbit.
“What is his name?”
“Button.”
“Hello, Button.”
Lily nodded seriously.
“He doesn’t talk to strangers.”
Something inside Rosa cracked.
Ethan noticed.
His eyes moved toward her.
“You told her nothing about me?”
Rosa looked out the window.
“She knew you were the man who owned the house.”
“That’s all?”
“That was all she needed to know.”
Ethan leaned back.
“You hate me.”
Rosa’s head turned.
“I don’t hate you.”
“You should.”
“That would have been easier.”
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Ethan asked the question she had feared most.
“Why did you take this job?”
Rosa looked down at Lily.
“I needed health insurance.”
His face tightened.
“And the university?”
“I left.”
“Because of Lily?”
“Because childcare costs money.”
“Rent costs money.”
“Life costs money.”
Ethan looked devastated.
“You should have come to me.”
“I tried.”
The SUV became silent again.
At the hospital, doctors examined Lily.
No fracture.
No internal injury.
A mild concussion.
Bruising on her shoulder.
Observation for several hours.
Ethan listened to every word as though preparing for an exam.
He asked questions.
He wrote down instructions.
He called one of the best pediatric specialists in the city.
Rosa finally stopped him.
“She doesn’t need six doctors.”
“I want to be sure.”
“She needs calm.”
Ethan looked embarrassed.
“All right.”
Lily sat on the hospital bed coloring.
Then she held up a picture.
Three figures stood beside a giant black rectangle.
Rosa smiled.
“Is that the piano?”
Lily nodded.
“That Mama.”
She pointed.
“That me.”
Then her finger moved to the third figure.
“And that Ethan.”
Ethan went still.
Rosa did too.
Lily looked at him.
“You can come play piano with us.”
Ethan smiled faintly.
“I don’t know how anymore.”
Lily considered this.
“I teach you.”
A laugh escaped Rosa before she could stop it.
Ethan looked at her.
For one second, they were not billionaire and maid.
Not former lovers.
Not two frightened parents standing inside a disaster.
They were simply Ethan and Rosa again.
Then Ethan’s phone rang.
Thomas.
Ethan answered.
“What is it?”
Thomas spoke quickly.
Ethan’s expression darkened.
“What?”
Rosa watched him.
“What happened?”
Ethan lowered the phone.
“Someone leaked the security footage.”
Rosa’s stomach dropped.
“How much?”
“All of it.”
He turned the screen toward her.
The video already had more than two million views.
But the headline was even worse.
BILLIONAIRE ETHAN CALDWELL CANCELS WEDDING AFTER MAID CLAIMS HER DAUGHTER IS HIS SECRET CHILD.
Rosa stared at the screen.
Then another notification appeared.
Victoria Haynes had released a public statement.
May you like
And she was calling Rosa a liar.
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