Chapter 6: A New Composition
For the next ten minutes, the grand parlor was filled with the irregular, beautiful notes of a three-year-old discovering middle C, accompanied by the deep, steady chords of a father guiding her fingers.
Rosa sat on the adjacent armchair, her shoulders finally dropping from the defensive posture she had held for three years. The weight of the secret was gone, replaced by a strange, quiet peace.
The dinner party was canceled. The investors were notified via a brief text from Ethan’s secretary. The wedding planners were dismissed by noon.
By 3:00 PM, the mansion was quiet again, but it no longer felt frozen. The frosted boxwoods outside were still trimmed to perfection, but inside, the pale marble floors held the scattered crayons and crackers of a child who belonged there.
Ethan looked across the parlor at Rosa, his eyes reflecting the gray winter light. "We have four years to make up for," he said quietly. "But we’re going to start right here. No more agencies, Rosa. No more cleaning my floors."
"And what are we now, Ethan?" Rosa asked, a small, genuine smile finally breaking across her face.
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Ethan kissed the top of Lily's curls as she drifted off to sleep right on his chest, her little cloth rabbit tucked under her chin.
"We're a family," Ethan said. "And this time, nobody gets to tell us who belongs in the room."
