Chapter 2 - THE BLOODLINE DISCOVERY
The silence in the grand foyer was suffocating.
Natalie immediately shifted her stance, forcing tears into her green eyes as she turned toward the staircase. “Ethan! Thank goodness you’re awake. I caught this... this child stealing your family heirloom from my dressing room! When I confronted her mother, Rosa attacked me! I was only trying to protect our home!”
Ethan didn't say a word. He didn't even look at Natalie.
He walked down the remaining stairs, his leather shoes making distinct, echoing thuds on the marble. He stepped right past his crying fiancée, walked out onto the cold stone porch, and bent down on one knee.
Rosa was already holding Lily, wrapping her own thin sweater around her shivering daughter.
Ethan reached out. His large, calloused hand hesitated for a fraction of a second before gently brushing a strand of dark hair away from Lily’s forehead.
Lily blinked up at him. She didn't flinch. She reached out with her small, cold hand and patted Ethan’s cheek. “Don't be sad, mistah,” she whispered softly.
When Lily’s eyes caught the light, Ethan froze.
He had seen Lily hundreds of times in passing, but always in the dim lighting of the service hallways or the shade of the staff kitchen. He had never looked into her eyes in direct sunlight.
The double-ringed violet iris.
Ethan’s breathing became shallow. His mind raced back four years ago—to a night he had spent four years trying to piece together.
Four years ago, Ethan had been poisoned at a charity gala by a business rival attempting to steal his company's private server keys. He had managed to escape to a secluded suite in the grand hotel, near death, his vision blurred, his mind feverish. He remembered a soft pair of hands, a wet towel on his forehead, a gentle voice whispering to him to stay awake, and a night of feverish, desperate passion with a woman whose face he couldn't remember because his vision had failed him.
The next morning, the room was empty. Only a small silver nametag was left on the bedside table: Hotel Staff - Housekeeping.
Ethan had searched for her for months, but the hotel's security footage for that floor had been systematically erased.
Ethan slowly turned his head to look at Rosa.
Rosa was trembling, her head bowed, refusing to meet his gaze.
“Rosa,” Ethan said, his voice dangerously low. “Look at me.”
“Mr. Harmon, please,” Rosa sobbed softly, holding Lily tighter. “We will leave. I will pack our things right now. Just... please don't call the police. Lily didn't steal anything.”
“Look at me, Rosa!” Ethan demanded, his voice cracking with an emotion no one in the room had ever heard from him before.
Rosa slowly raised her head. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Ethan stared into her eyes. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small, tarnished silver object he had carried in his wallet for four long years—a broken nametag from the Grand Plaza Hotel, missing its name plate, but bearing a distinct scratch across the back.
Rosa’s breath caught in her throat. Her eyes widened in pure shock.
“You,” Ethan whispered, the realization hitting him like a physical blow. “It was you.”
Natalie stepped out onto the porch, her voice rising in panic. “Ethan, what are you talking about?! She’s a maid! She’s trash! Fire her right now!”
Ethan slowly stood up. He turned around to face Natalie. The warmth that had briefly touched his face while looking at Lily vanished entirely, replaced by a cold, lethal fury.
“Mr. Patel,” Ethan ordered, his voice echoing across the courtyard.
“Yes, Mr. Harmon?” the manager stepped forward immediately.
“Call my private medical team. I want an emergency, express DNA test conducted inside this mansion within twenty minutes.”
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Natalie’s face went ghost-white. “Ethan! You can’t be serious! You’re going to test yourself against a maid’s bastard child?! This is insane!”
Ethan stepped closer to Natalie, towering over her. “If she is not my child, Natalie, you have nothing to fear. But if she is...” He leaned down, his voice dropping to a icy whisper. “You laid your hands on my blood inside my home. And God help you if that’s true.”
