Chapter 2 - THE FALL (Continued)The air in the east parlor was thick, suffocating. Ethan took a step forward, his eyes locked on Lily, who was cradled in Rosa’s arms. Victoria stood like a statue, her perfectly manicured hand still hovering in the air as if the ghost of the push remained.
"Is she mine?" Ethan repeated, his voice dropping an octave, vibrating with a lethal stillness.
Rosa clutched Lily to her chest, the little girl’s sobs echoing against the cold walls. "She is my daughter, Ethan," she whispered, her voice hardening with a sudden, sharp clarity. "She is the daughter you never asked for, never looked for, and never deserved to know."
Victoria stepped forward, a desperate, brittle laugh escaping her lips. "Ethan, don't be absurd. This is a pathetic ploy. The maid is just trying to extort you, to ruin our day. Look at them! They belong in the servants’ quarters, not in our lives."
Ethan didn't even turn his head. He looked at Victoria, and for the first time, she saw the man the business world feared—the predator who devoured empires without blinking. "Get out, Victoria."
"Excuse me?"
"You touched my child," Ethan said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "You laid a hand on my flesh and blood. You have exactly one minute to get out of this house, or I will ensure your father’s company is bankrupt by sunset."
Victoria’s face drained of color. The arrogance shattered. She turned and fled, the sound of her heels clicking frantically against the marble. But she wasn't the one who mattered.
Ethan finally reached out. His fingers brushed Lily’s hair—the same dark, unruly curls he remembered seeing in his own childhood photos. "Lily," he whispered.
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Lily looked up, her gray-green eyes wet with tears, clutching her stuffed rabbit. She didn't know he was a billionaire. She didn't know he was the man who had left her mother behind. She only saw the man who had just saved her. "You... you have my eyes too," she whispered back.
Rosa turned away, tears streaming down her face. She had protected this secret for three years, and now, it was ripped open in the most brutal way imaginable.
