Chapter 9 - Victoria Walked Into the Trap
Victoria arrived at exactly ten.
She wore white.
Ethan almost found the choice amusing.
She entered the library carrying a leather folder.
“I’m glad you’re finally ready to listen.”
Ethan sat behind the desk.
Jonathan stood near the bookshelves.
Victoria glanced at him.
“Why is your attorney here?”
“Documentation.”
“For what?”
“Sit down.”
Victoria hesitated.
Then obeyed.
She placed the folder on the desk.
“I found things you need to see.”
Ethan did not touch it.
“What things?”
“Rosa’s financial history.”
“Her university records.”
“Her employment history.”
Ethan stared at her.
“You investigated her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you clearly weren’t going to.”
“When did you start?”
Victoria’s expression shifted.
“After the incident.”
Ethan leaned back.
“The incident happened four days ago.”
Victoria said nothing.
Ethan continued.
“You ordered the background report eight months ago.”
Her face lost color.
A door opened behind her.
Charles Weller entered.
Victoria turned.
Everything drained from her expression.
“No.”
Weller stopped beside Jonathan.
Victoria stood.
“What is he doing here?”
Ethan’s voice remained calm.
“That’s exactly what I asked when he came yesterday.”
Victoria stared at Weller.
“You said those records were destroyed.”
Ethan did not move.
The mistake hung in the air.
Victoria realized what she had said.
Too late.
Ethan whispered,
“What records?”
Victoria looked at him.
“I meant—”
“What records, Victoria?”
Weller answered instead.
“Rosa’s letters.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
Ethan stood.
“You knew.”
She turned toward him.
“I knew there was a possibility.”
“You knew she wrote to me.”
“I knew your father handled it.”
“You knew Lily could be mine.”
“I didn’t know for certain.”
“But you knew before you pushed her away from that piano.”
Victoria’s voice rose.
“She should not have been touching it.”
Ethan stared at her in disbelief.
“That is still your defense?”
Victoria’s composure finally collapsed.
“You don’t understand.”
“You were about to marry me.”
“I spent years building a life with you.”
“Then suddenly this woman appears.”
“She didn’t suddenly appear.”
“She was here for two years.”
“Exactly.”
Victoria pointed toward the hallway.
“She stood inside your house every day and said nothing.”
“She was afraid.”
“She was calculating.”
“You don’t know her.”
“And you do?”
The question stopped Ethan.
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“You knew her for three months.”
“I have known you for five years.”
“Yet you never looked at me the way you looked at her in that hospital.”
Ethan said nothing.
Victoria’s eyes filled.
“There it is.”
“The truth.”
“This isn’t about Lily.”
“It’s about Rosa.”
“No.”
Ethan walked around the desk.
“It is about what you did to Lily.”
Victoria shook her head.
“I made a mistake.”
“You shoved a child.”
“I was angry.”
“You called her a servant’s mistake.”
“I didn’t know you would hear that.”
The room became completely silent.
Victoria realized immediately how terrible the sentence sounded.
Ethan stared at her.
“You weren’t sorry you said it.”
“You were sorry I heard it.”
“Ethan.”
He removed the engagement ring from the desk drawer.
Victoria stared at it.
He placed it in front of her.
“This wedding is canceled.”
Her face crumpled.
“You don’t mean that.”
“I do.”
“You’ll regret this.”
“Maybe.”
Ethan opened the library door.
“But I will never regret refusing to marry someone who believes kindness depends on social class.”
Victoria looked at the ring.
Then at Ethan.
May you like
And for the first time in her life, Victoria Haynes understood that money could not purchase the one thing she wanted most.
A second chance.
