Chapter 10 - the bride’s final rehearsal
The wedding remained scheduled.
That was Ethan’s decision.
Rosa thought he had lost his mind.
“You said there would be no wedding.”
“There won’t.”
“Then why allow the guests to arrive?”
“Because Victoria believes she still has control.”
They stood in Eleanor’s old music room the morning before the ceremony. Lily sat on the carpet arranging wooden blocks into uneven towers.
Ethan had moved Rosa and Lily into a secure guest suite. He had also replaced every member of Victoria’s private security team with guards hired by Arthur.
Victoria and Richard were not told.
Ethan explained the plan.
The duplicate report had been delivered by a laboratory courier and signed for by someone using Rosa’s name. Security footage showed Victoria’s assistant carrying the envelope into the ballroom.
She had hidden it inside the piano, believing it would be the last place Arthur searched again.
“We can retrieve it now,” Rosa said.
“If we do, Victoria will deny knowing it existed.”
“She already has.”
“Tomorrow, she will reveal what she is willing to do to destroy it.”
Rosa looked at Lily.
“I will not use my daughter as bait.”
“Neither will I.”
“The ceremony is beside the piano.”
“Lily will remain upstairs.”
Rosa studied him.
“You expect Victoria to search for the envelope while hundreds of people are watching?”
“I expect her to believe public reputation will protect her.”
Arthur entered carrying legal documents.
“The police need direct evidence that she knowingly suppressed the report,” he said. “The financial records prove fraud, but Richard can claim she acted under instruction. The envelope connects her actions specifically to Lily.”
Rosa hated the logic.
She hated that wealthy people required dramatic proof before accepting what powerless people had said for years.
“What happens after she is exposed?” Rosa asked.
Arthur answered carefully.
“The wedding is canceled. The trust is frozen. A family court recognizes Lily’s temporary status while the new test is processed.”
“And Victoria?”
“That depends on what she does.”
Rosa looked at Ethan.
“You knew her for years. What will she do?”
Ethan watched Lily place a green block on top of the tower.
“She will remain calm until calmness stops working.”
Lily’s tower fell.
She laughed.
The sound changed Ethan’s expression.
During the previous twelve hours, he had tried to learn how to be near her without frightening her. He sat on the floor when speaking to her. He asked permission before touching her toys. He listened when Rosa explained Lily’s routines, allergies and fear of loud doors.
He did not ask Lily to call him anything.
He was simply Ethan.
When Lily became tired, she leaned against his arm for several seconds before returning to Rosa.
That small act affected him more than the paternity report could have.
Rosa saw it.
She also saw the guilt beneath his careful behavior.
Later, while Lily slept, Ethan stood beside the window.
“I should have questioned the letter in Madrid,” he said.
“Yes.”
“I should have searched for you.”
“Yes.”
“I thought you chose to leave.”
“I thought you chose not to answer.”
“Victoria built two different silences and placed us inside them.”
Rosa nodded.
Ethan looked at her.
“I am sorry.”
The words were not enough to restore three lost years.
But they were honest.
Rosa accepted them for what they were.
“I don’t know what happens between us,” she said.
“Neither do I.”
“But Lily comes first.”
“Always.”
It was the first promise he made as her father.
That evening, Victoria requested permission to rehearse privately in the ballroom.
Security allowed it.
Hidden cameras recorded her walking toward the piano after everyone left.
She opened the lower panel and removed the sealed envelope.
Then she heard footsteps.
Richard appeared beside the staircase.
“Give it to me,” he said.
Victoria held the envelope behind her back.
“You told me the laboratory destroyed every copy.”
“They lied.”
“You promised this would be finished before the wedding.”
“It will be.”
Richard moved closer.
Victoria stepped away.
“You need me now.”
“I never needed you.”
“You needed a wife Ethan trusted. You needed access to Eleanor’s trust. You needed someone willing to do what you were too frightened to do yourself.”
Richard’s face tightened.
“I made you.”
“No,” Victoria said. “You introduced me to a locked door. I taught myself how to open it.”
She slipped the envelope into the folds of her rehearsal gown.
Richard lowered his voice.
“After the ceremony, you will challenge the child’s claim.”
“After the ceremony, I will control the foundation.”
“We will control it.”
Victoria smiled.
“Of course.”
Neither noticed the red recording light beneath the piano.
Upstairs, Ethan watched the live security feed.
Arthur stood beside him.
“We have enough,” Arthur said.
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
“What else do you need?”
“I need to know what Victoria plans to do with the report during the ceremony.”
On the screen, Victoria turned toward the hidden camera.
For one impossible moment, it looked as though she was staring directly at Ethan.
Then she smiled and placed the envelope on top of the piano.
May you like
“She knows,” Arthur whispered.
The ballroom feed went black.
