Chapter 2: The Question Rosa Feared
Chapter 2: The Question Rosa Feared
Ethan carried Lily to the sofa.
Rosa tried to stop him.
“I can take care of her.”
“I know.”
His voice was controlled, but his hands were not.
They trembled slightly as he checked the back of Lily’s head.
“Did you hit your head?”
Lily shook it.
“My elbow hurts.”
Ethan looked at the small red mark already forming on her arm.
His jaw tightened.
Victoria stood near the doorway, furious at being ignored.
“This is absurd. She fell. Children fall.”
Rosa turned toward her.
“She said you pushed her.”
“She is three.”
“That does not make her a liar.”
Victoria folded her arms.
“You brought a child into a private home and allowed her to climb on valuable furniture.”
“Enough,” Ethan said.
Victoria looked at him.
“No, Ethan. Not enough. You are behaving as if this child matters more than our wedding.”
Ethan slowly lifted his eyes to her.
“A child is injured.”
“She has a bruise.”
“Because you put your hands on her.”
“You do not know that.”
“I know what I saw when I entered.”
“You saw the end of an accident.”
Ethan’s voice dropped.
“I also saw fear on your face.”
Victoria’s confidence flickered.
Rosa stood.
“I’m taking Lily home.”
Ethan moved between her and the doorway.
“Not until a doctor checks her.”
“I cannot afford—”
“I did not ask what you could afford.”
The words came out too harshly.
Rosa stiffened.
Ethan immediately softened his tone.
“I’m sorry.”
That apology surprised everyone, including him.
He looked at Lily.
“I want to make sure she is all right.”
Lily studied him with solemn eyes.
“Are you the piano man?”
Ethan almost smiled.
“It was my mother’s piano.”
“She made songs?”
“She did.”
“Is she in heaven?”
“Yes.”
Lily nodded thoughtfully.
“Then maybe she heard me.”
Ethan looked away, suddenly unable to speak.
Rosa saw the emotion and felt the old wound reopen.
For years, she had imagined Ethan discovering the truth.
In none of those fantasies had he looked this human.
A private physician arrived twenty minutes later.
He examined Lily in the guest sitting room and confirmed that she had a bruised elbow but no serious injury.
“She may be sore tonight,” he said. “Watch for dizziness or vomiting. Otherwise, she should be fine.”
Ethan thanked him.
Victoria did not.
She was on her phone, pacing near the windows.
Rosa zipped Lily’s hoodie.
“We’re leaving.”
Ethan waited until Lily was distracted with Button.
Then he spoke quietly.
“Is she mine?”
Rosa’s hands stopped.
Victoria’s pacing stopped too.
Rosa looked toward her daughter.
“This is not the place.”
“Then tell me where.”
“Ethan—”
“I have spent two years walking past her.”
His voice cracked despite his effort to control it.
“I have watched her draw pictures in my kitchen. I have heard her laughing in the hallway. I have seen her asleep in a chair while you finished working.”
Rosa’s eyes filled.
“I know.”
“And you never told me.”
“I had reasons.”
“Was one of those reasons that she is not mine?”
Rosa could have lied.
She had done it through silence for three years.
But Lily looked up at that moment.
“Mama, why is the piano man sad?”
Rosa closed her eyes.
When she opened them, Ethan was still waiting.
“Yes,” she whispered.
The room went completely still.
Ethan stared at her.
Victoria gave a short, disbelieving laugh.
“No.”
Rosa swallowed.
“Ethan is Lily’s father.”
Victoria’s phone slipped from her hand.
Ethan did not move at all.
For several seconds, there was no expression on his face.
Then he turned away as if the room had become too small.
Victoria found her voice first.
“She is lying.”
Rosa ignored her.
“I found out six weeks after we stopped seeing each other.”
Ethan turned back.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“I tried.”
“That is not an answer.”
“You were gone.”
“I was working.”
“You stopped replying.”
“I was dealing with a corporate collapse and my father’s stroke.”
“You never told me that.”
“You never asked.”
Rosa flinched.
Ethan regretted the words immediately.
Victoria stepped between them.
“This is clearly a scheme. She came into your home, gained access to your life and waited for the right moment.”
Rosa’s face went pale.
“I never asked him for anything.”
“You took a job in his house.”
“I needed work.”
“How convenient.”
Ethan looked at Victoria.
“Stop.”
“She is trying to destroy us.”
“No,” Rosa said quietly. “I was trying to survive.”
Victoria pointed at Lily.
“That child could belong to anyone.”
Lily looked frightened.
Ethan stepped in front of her.
His voice became lethal.
“Do not speak about her that way.”
Victoria stared at him.
Then she looked at the ring on her hand.
“You believe her?”
Ethan looked at Lily again.
“I believe there is one way to know.”
Rosa understood.
“A DNA test.”
“Yes.”
Victoria’s face brightened with cruel satisfaction.
“Good. Then when this is exposed, she leaves tonight.”
Ethan looked at her.
“And when it is confirmed?”
Victoria’s smile vanished.
Ethan did not wait for her answer.
He turned to Rosa.
“We do the test today.”
May you like
But outside the parlor, unseen by all of them, Victoria’s mother had arrived early for dinner.
And she had heard every word.
