Chapter 8 - the father who came too quickly
Richard Vale entered the mansion as though he still owned it.
He was sixty-eight, silver-haired and perfectly dressed despite arriving after midnight. Victoria followed him carrying the black ledger, but the sealed envelope was no longer in her hands.
Richard looked at Ethan first.
“You have created enough scandal for one evening.”
Ethan stood at the foot of the staircase.
“You arrived quickly.”
“I was in London.”
“You told me you were in New York.”
“Plans change.”
“Victoria called you?”
“She called someone capable of solving this.”
Rosa lifted Lily into her arms.
Richard’s gaze moved toward the child.
His expression did not change.
That lack of surprise told Ethan everything.
“You knew about Lily,” he said.
“I knew there was an allegation.”
“You knew Rosa was pregnant.”
“I knew she claimed to be.”
Rosa stepped forward.
“You froze my bank account.”
Richard barely looked at her.
“The foundation investigated financial irregularities.”
“Using documents Victoria forged.”
“Can you prove that?”
Arthur entered from the west corridor.
“Yes.”
Richard’s confidence flickered.
Arthur carried a second folder.
“The original audit records were stored in Eleanor’s hidden room,” he said. “The signatures authorizing the investigation belong to Victoria, not Ethan.”
Victoria raised the black ledger.
“And this proves Eleanor secretly diverted foundation assets.”
Arthur looked at the ledger.
“No. It proves Richard borrowed against company property without board authorization.”
Ethan turned toward his father.
Richard’s jaw tightened.
Victoria had taken the ledger to protect him.
Or to control him.
“What happened to the envelope?” Ethan asked.
Victoria folded her arms.
“It was destroyed.”
Rosa’s face went pale.
Ethan looked toward the fireplace.
No fire was burning.
“You didn’t destroy it here.”
“I burned it before returning.”
“Then why come back?”
Richard answered.
“To prevent you from making a permanent decision based on the claims of a former employee.”
“She is the mother of my child.”
“You do not know that.”
Ethan looked at Lily.
She had rested her head on Rosa’s shoulder. Her eyes were closing, but one hand remained wrapped in her mother’s collar.
He remembered asking for certainty.
He remembered Rosa’s face when he called Lily a possibility.
“You’re right,” Ethan said.
Richard appeared relieved.
Then Ethan continued.
“I don’t need the envelope.”
Victoria’s eyes narrowed.
“The laboratory can repeat the test.”
“The archived sample was destroyed,” Richard said.
“Then I will provide a new one.”
Rosa looked at Ethan.
He met her gaze.
“Only with your permission and only if Lily’s doctor says the process will not frighten her.”
“A simple cheek swab,” Arthur said. “Noninvasive.”
Richard’s control began to slip.
“You will not conduct a public paternity spectacle during your wedding week.”
“There is no wedding week.”
Victoria laughed once.
“You are emotional.”
“I am certain.”
“You will destroy your reputation.”
Ethan looked around the mansion.
The employees had gathered in the corridor. Several held phones, and at least one camera was recording.
“My reputation survived believing you,” he said. “It will survive leaving you.”
Victoria moved closer.
“You think Rosa came here because she loves you?”
“No.”
The answer surprised everyone.
Ethan looked at Rosa.
“She came because I failed to find the truth. Whatever she feels about me is not relevant to Lily’s rights.”
Rosa’s eyes softened slightly.
Richard struck the top of his cane against the marble floor.
“This child has no rights until proof exists.”
Arthur opened the folder.
“Eleanor’s trust anticipated interference with testing. Testimony, correspondence and visual hereditary evidence allow the court to issue temporary protection.”
“Visual evidence?” Richard scoffed.
Arthur looked at Lily’s eyes.
“Eleanor documented a rare inherited ocular pattern carried through her maternal line.”
Richard went silent.
Ethan noticed.
“You know those eyes too,” he said.
Richard looked away.
Arthur removed an old photograph.
Eleanor stood beside the lake with the unknown girl whose face had been cut from the painted portrait.
Both girls had identical gray-green eyes.
On the back was a name.
Amelia Vale.
Ethan stared at it.
“I don’t have an aunt named Amelia.”
Richard seized the photograph.
“You were never supposed to see this.”
Lily woke at the sound of his voice.
She looked directly at him.
Richard’s face changed.
May you like
Not with recognition.
With fear.
