Chapter 3 - SECRETS UNVEILED
The word hung in the air, shifting the axis of Ethan’s world. He fell back on his heels, a hand dragging through his hair as he stared at the ceiling, as if praying for strength. When he looked back at me, there was anger—a deep, burning betrayal that made me flinch.
"Four years, Rosa," he said, his voice ragged. "You disappeared in the middle of the night. No note. No forwarding address. My private investigators spent six months looking for you. And now you're here, working in my house, with my son?"
"I didn't plan to work for you," I defended myself, my voice trembling. "The agency sent me to the Caldwell Estate. I didn't know you had moved into the main house. I thought your mother was still living here. I needed the money, Ethan. Leo got sick last month, and the medical bills..."
Ethan winced as if I had struck him. "Sick? He was sick and you didn't come to me?"
"How could I?" I cried softly, mindful of Leo who was watching us with wide, confused eyes. "Do you remember the night I left? Do you remember what your mother told me?"
Ethan froze. "My mother?"
I nodded, the bitter memories flooding back. "She came to my apartment while you were in London. She offered me a check for half a million dollars. When I refused it, she told me that if I ever tried to trap you with a pregnancy, she would use the Caldwell lawyers to take the child away and ensure I never saw him again. She said I was a temporary distraction. And then... a week later, I found out I was pregnant."
Ethan's jaw clenched so hard I thought his teeth might shatter. "She threatened you. And you believed her."
"She is Eleanor Caldwell!" I whispered fiercely. "She destroys people for sport. What was I supposed to do? Wait for you to come back and hope you chose a waitress over your family's empire? I couldn't risk losing my baby, Ethan. I had to protect him."
Ethan looked at Leo again. The anger in his eyes melted into a profound, aching sadness. He reached out, holding his hands open, palms up, waiting.
"Hey, buddy," Ethan said, his voice impossibly soft. "I'm Ethan."
Leo hesitated, clinging to me, but Ethan's gentle demeanor was disarming. "I like pianos," Leo whispered.
May you like
Ethan smiled, a genuine, heartbreaking smile. "I like pianos too. In fact, that piano used to be my favorite thing in the world." He looked at me, a silent promise in his eyes. "No one is taking him away from you, Rosa. Not my mother. Not anyone. You have my word."
---
