Her shoulders softened.
Her voice lowered into the intimate tone she used at charity dinners and in front of cameras.
“I handled this badly,” she said.
“I can admit that.
Planning the wedding has been stressful.
I have been under pressure, and Rosa and Lily are always here.”
Rosa looked at her.
It was the first time Veronica had spoken their names together as though they were people rather than an inconvenience.
Veronica stepped closer to Ethan.
“I will apologize.
We can increase Rosa’s salary.
We can move them to a larger room.
But do not destroy our future over a few impatient comments.”
Ethan studied her.
“Our future?”
“Yes.”
“What future did you imagine for them after we married?”
Veronica hesitated.
Rosa noticed.
So did Ethan.
“I assumed we would make more appropriate arrangements,” Veronica said.
“What arrangements?”
“This is not the time.”
“It is exactly the time.”
Veronica’s eyes hardened.
“I did not agree to raise someone else’s child in our penthouse.”
Rosa inhaled sharply.
Ethan’s expression went still.
“You told me Rosa could stay.”
“I said we would discuss staffing after the wedding.”
“She has lived here for two years.”
“She works here.
That is different.”
“To Lily, this is home.”
“It is an employee room.”
The sentence hung between them.
Rosa looked toward the hallway leading to the narrow room she shared with her daughter.
The walls were plain, the window faced concrete, and their belongings fit inside two small wardrobes.
Yet Lily’s drawings were taped beside the bed.
Her shoes rested in a careful row.
Mister, the damaged rabbit, slept beneath her chin every night.
It was not a grand home.
It was the only one Lily remembered.
Veronica continued, unaware that each word was making the decision easier.
“Once we are married, we will need privacy.
We can give Rosa notice and help her find another position.
That is generous.”
Ethan looked at Rosa.
“Did she tell you this?”
Rosa shook her head, but Veronica answered first.
“I hinted that she should prepare.”
“How?”
Veronica did not reply.
Ethan opened another flagged recording.
This one came from outside Rosa’s room three nights earlier.
Veronica’s voice was low.
