Chapter 6: The Woman Who Never Touched a Door
Chapter 6: The Woman Who Never Touched a Door
Caroline denied entering Rosa’s apartment.
She denied sending anyone.
She denied recognizing the glove.
“It is a common monogram,” she said during a meeting at her attorney’s office.
“Your initials are common?” Ethan asked.
“My initials are not evidence.”
Ethan sat across from her.
His lawyer was beside him.
Caroline’s lawyer remained silent.
Victoria was not present.
“You knew about Rosa four years ago,” Ethan said.
“I knew your father disliked her.”
“You knew she was pregnant.”
Caroline smiled faintly.
“That is an accusation.”
“It is a question.”
“Then no.”
“You told me to request original records.”
“Because desperate people manufacture proof.”
“Someone removed a page.”
“That sounds convenient.”
Ethan leaned forward.
“What was on it?”
For the first time, Caroline’s expression shifted.
Only slightly.
But Ethan saw it.
“You know.”
“I know nothing.”
“You were involved.”
Caroline looked toward the window.
“Your father was terrified you would throw away your position for a woman you had known three months.”
“It was my life.”
“You were not capable of making a rational decision.”
“I was thirty-four.”
“You were grieving your mother. Your company was collapsing. Rosa was an escape.”
“She was a person.”
Caroline’s eyes returned to him.
“And now she has a child who may inherit billions.”
The room went cold.
“This is about money to you.”
“It will be about money to everyone once the test comes back.”
“The test is being done this afternoon.”
“I know.”
Ethan studied her.
“How?”
Caroline realized her mistake.
She smiled.
“Victoria told me.”
“Victoria did not know the appointment time.”
Silence.
Ethan’s lawyer shifted in his chair.
Caroline stood.
“This meeting is over.”
Ethan remained seated.
“My security team found that someone attempted to access the private laboratory database this morning.”
Caroline stopped.
“They failed.”
She turned slowly.
“I do not know what you expect me to say.”
“I expect you to understand that if anyone threatens Rosa or Lily, I will use every resource I have to destroy them.”
Caroline’s smile disappeared.
“You sound like your father.”
“No.”
Ethan stood.
“My father operated in secret.”
He buttoned his jacket.
“I’m warning you openly.”
That afternoon, Ethan, Rosa and Lily arrived at a private medical facility.
The technician swabbed Ethan’s cheek.
Lily frowned at the cotton swab.
“Does it hurt?”
“No,” Ethan said.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
She opened her mouth.
Afterward, she received a sticker shaped like a star.
Ethan watched her place it on Button’s forehead.
“How long?” Rosa asked.
“Forty-eight hours,” the technician said.
As they left, photographers were waiting outside.
Cameras exploded in their faces.
“Mr. Caldwell, is this your secret daughter?”
“Rosa, were you Ethan Caldwell’s mistress?”
“Did you work in his house to extort him?”
Lily screamed and covered her ears.
Ethan lifted her into his arms and shielded her face.
Rosa pushed through the crowd beside him.
“How did they know?” she demanded once they reached the car.
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“Someone leaked it.”
That evening, every major gossip site carried the story.
One headline read:
BILLIONAIRE’S MAID CLAIMS HER CHILD IS HIS HEIR
Another said:
WEDDING DESTROYED BY SECRET LOVE CHILD
But the most damaging article came from a respected financial newspaper.
It claimed Rosa had been expelled from Columbia for falsifying laboratory data.
Ethan read it twice.
Then he called Rosa.
She did not answer.
When he reached her apartment, the door was open.
The rooms were empty.
Rosa and Lily were gone.
May you like
On the kitchen table was a single note.
Do not look for us.
