Chapter 2 - THE ANSWER
Victoria dropped her bouquet.
It landed on the marble floor with a soft thud.
Nobody bent down to pick it up.
Ethan stared at Rosa.
Rosa stared at Lily.
“Mommy?”
Lily tugged her sleeve.
Rosa knelt quickly.
“Sweetheart, go with Mrs. Hall.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“I wanna stay with you.”
Rosa swallowed hard.
Ethan stepped closer.
“Don’t send her away.”
Victoria finally found her voice.
“Are you serious?”
Ethan didn’t look at her.
“Rosa, answer me.”
She stood.
Her eyes were wet, but her voice was steadier now.
“Yes.”
The word barely carried.
Ethan blinked.
“What?”
“Yes.”
Rosa looked directly at him.
“She’s your daughter.”
A sound swept through the guests.
Not quite a gasp.
More like four hundred people breathing at once.
Ethan sat down on the edge of the piano bench.
For the first time in years, he looked completely lost.
“No.”
Rosa flinched.
He shook his head.
“No, I don’t mean no.”
He rubbed both hands over his face.
“I mean... how?”
Victoria let out a sharp laugh.
“How?”
She turned toward the guests.
“Apparently our staff comes with surprise children now.”
Rosa’s expression hardened.
“Don’t talk about my daughter like that.”
“My wedding just got hijacked by a maid.”
“Victoria.”
Ethan’s tone was low.
She spun toward him.
“You’re defending her?”
“I’m telling you to stop.”
Victoria stared at him.
That answer frightened her more than any accusation could have.
Ethan turned back to Rosa.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“For months.”
“I never got anything.”
“I called.”
“My number changed.”
“I emailed.”
“My father controlled my office accounts back then.”
“I sent letters.”
Ethan went still.
“What letters?”
Rosa’s jaw tightened.
“Exactly.”
A new silence fell.
Ethan’s father, Richard Cole, stood near the front row.
Seventy years old.
Silver-haired.
Perfect tuxedo.
Perfect posture.
For the first time all afternoon, he looked uncomfortable.
Ethan noticed.
“Dad?”
Richard adjusted his cuff.
“This is not the time.”
Rosa laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“That’s what you told me three years ago.”
Ethan slowly stood.
Victoria whispered, “What is she talking about?”
Richard’s gaze hardened.
“Rosa was confused.”
“No,” Rosa said.
“I was pregnant.”
Ethan looked between them.
Richard said nothing.
Rosa reached into the pocket of her apron.
She pulled out an old envelope.
Creased.
Yellowed.
Unopened.
Ethan recognized his own name on the front.
His handwriting wasn’t there.
Rosa’s was.
She held it up.
“Your father returned this to me.”
Ethan took the envelope.
Across the front, someone had written in black ink:
DO NOT CONTACT MY SON AGAIN.
Ethan looked at Richard.
“Did you write this?”
Richard’s silence answered first.
May you like
Then he said—
“You were leaving for London. I protected your future.”
