Chapter 5: The Missing Records
Chapter 5: The Missing Records
The next morning, Ethan arrived at Rosa’s apartment in Queens without security.
The building was old.
The hallway smelled faintly of fried onions and laundry detergent.
A child’s drawing was taped beside Rosa’s door.
Three stick figures stood under a yellow sun.
One was labeled MAMA.
One was labeled LILY.
The third had no name.
Ethan knocked.
Rosa opened the door in jeans and a worn sweater.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Lily appeared behind her.
“Piano man!”
She smiled.
Ethan’s chest tightened.
“Hello, Lily.”
She held up Button.
“He slept good.”
“I’m glad.”
Rosa stepped aside.
The apartment was small but warm.
Children’s books were stacked beneath the coffee table. A drying rack stood near the radiator. On the wall hung a framed Columbia acceptance letter.
Ethan stared at it.
“You kept it.”
“I earned it.”
The answer carried more pain than anger.
Lily sat on the floor with crayons.
Ethan lowered his voice.
“Victoria said I should request the original medical records.”
Rosa went still.
“Why?”
“She claimed you were lying.”
“About the pregnancy?”
“About something.”
Rosa walked to a kitchen drawer and pulled out a folder.
“I kept everything.”
She placed ultrasound images, clinic bills and hospital documents on the table.
Ethan examined them carefully.
The dates aligned.
But one page was missing from the prenatal file.
“What was here?”
Rosa looked.
“I don’t know.”
“The numbering skips from page twelve to page fourteen.”
“It never did before.”
“Who had access to this folder?”
“No one.”
“Did you bring it to the estate?”
“Never.”
Ethan looked around the apartment.
The lock on the door showed faint scratches.
“Has anyone been inside?”
Rosa frowned.
“Last week I thought a drawer had been moved. I assumed Lily had done it.”
Lily looked up.
“I don’t touch Mama’s papers.”
Rosa’s face changed.
Ethan called his security director.
Within an hour, two investigators arrived.
They found no camera, but they discovered that the apartment lock had recently been manipulated.
Someone had entered without forcing the door.
Rosa crossed her arms tightly.
“This is because of you.”
Ethan did not defend himself.
“Yes.”
The honesty surprised her.
“Your family knew about Lily before I did. Now someone is stealing records.”
“I did not say they knew about Lily.”
“Your father knew I was pregnant. Victoria knew who I was. Her mother knew enough to warn you.”
Ethan looked at Lily.
“She should not be here.”
Rosa’s eyes flashed.
“This is her home.”
“I mean she should not be somewhere they can enter.”
“And where do you suggest?”
“My estate.”
Rosa laughed without humor.
“The house where your fiancée pushed her?”
“Victoria is gone.”
“Her influence is not.”
“I have security.”
“You also had security four years ago, and your father still erased me from your life.”
Ethan absorbed the accusation.
Then Lily walked over holding a drawing.
She gave it to him.
It showed a black piano and three people standing beside it.
“Who is this?” Ethan asked.
“That’s Mama.”
“And that?”
“Me.”
He pointed to the tall figure.
Lily hesitated.
“That’s you.”
Rosa closed her eyes.
Ethan’s throat tightened.
“Why did you draw me?”
“Because you look sad alone.”
No one spoke.
Then Ethan’s security director entered from the hallway.
“Mr. Caldwell, we found something in the building’s rear stairwell.”
He held up a small black glove.
Inside it was a monogram.
May you like
C.H.
Caroline Haynes.
