Chapter 1 - The Camera Doesn't Lie
Ethan did not raise his voice.
That frightened Victoria more than shouting ever could.
He turned toward the small black camera above the east parlor doorway and stared at it for several seconds.
“Rosa, take Lily to the sitting room.”
Rosa tightened her hold on her daughter.
“I’m taking her to a doctor.”
“Of course.”
Ethan stepped aside immediately.
“I’ll have the car brought around.”
Victoria moved toward him.
“Ethan, this is getting completely out of control.”
He looked at her engagement ring.
“No.”
His eyes rose to hers.
“It just became very clear.”
Victoria’s face hardened.
“You are going to throw away everything we planned because a frightened three-year-old misunderstood what happened?”
Lily heard her.
“She pushed me.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
Ethan did not.
He walked to the security panel beside the hallway and pressed the intercom.
“Daniel, lock the east parlor recording.”
The estate security director answered immediately.
“Yes, sir.”
“Make three copies.”
Victoria’s expression changed.
“Ethan.”
“One goes to my attorney.”
He continued without looking at her.
“One goes to me.”
His voice became colder.
“And one goes somewhere you can’t reach.”
Victoria stared at him.
“You think I would tamper with evidence?”
“I didn’t think you would put your hands on a three-year-old either.”
That ended the argument.
Rosa started toward the door.
Lily suddenly stretched one small arm toward Ethan.
He froze.
“Come?”
The single word nearly broke him.
Rosa looked at Ethan.
There was anger between them.
There were four missing years between them.
There were questions neither of them was ready to answer.
But there was also a frightened child.
Ethan picked up his coat.
“I’m coming.”
Victoria blocked the doorway.
“You cannot leave me standing here like this.”
Ethan stopped.
Three months earlier, he had chosen the orchestra for their wedding reception.
Two weeks earlier, he had approved the final guest list.
That morning, his assistant had reminded him about a fitting for his tuxedo.
All of it suddenly felt as though it belonged to another man’s life.
He looked at Victoria.
“The wedding is canceled.”
Her mouth fell open.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’m not discussing it.”
“You cannot humiliate my family like this.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“My daughter is on her way to a hospital because you shoved her onto marble.”
Victoria flinched at the word.
Daughter.
It was real now.
Ethan walked past her.
She grabbed his sleeve.
He looked down at her hand.
Victoria released him immediately.
“You’ll regret this.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
For the first time, something like disgust appeared.
“No.”
He looked toward Rosa and Lily.
“I’m beginning to understand what I would have regretted.”
Outside, snow had begun falling across the Caldwell estate.
Rosa climbed into the back seat with Lily.
Ethan sat beside them.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Then Lily leaned against Rosa and whispered.
“Is he my daddy?”
Rosa stopped breathing.
Ethan looked toward the window.
His reflection stared back at him.
A billionaire.
A fiancé only minutes ago.
And perhaps, after three lost years, a father.
Rosa finally whispered.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
Lily studied Ethan carefully.
May you like
Then she asked the question neither adult was prepared for.
“Why didn’t he know?”
