Ethan looked up.
“She was doing this in my house.”
“Yes.”
“With my money.”
“Yes.”
“While I was on planes telling myself I was working for Lily.”
David leaned back.
“Then change what you do now.”
The footage changed the legal situation.
So did the communications records.
So did the forged school document.
Vanessa’s attorneys became less aggressive about public accusations.
But Vanessa herself did not.
Two weeks later, an entertainment website published photographs of Ethan outside Lily’s school.
The headline described a “Billionaire Divorce Battle.”
Anonymous sources claimed Vanessa had been unfairly portrayed as an abusive stepmother after attempting to teach an entitled child responsibility.
Ethan read exactly three paragraphs.
Then he closed the article.
Caroline was furious.
“You need to respond.”
“No.”
“She’s calling Lily entitled.”
“An unnamed source is.”
“We both know who it is.”
“Probably.”
“So say something.”
Ethan shook his head.
“I’m not turning Lily into evidence for strangers.”
Caroline paced across the kitchen.
“People are going to believe Vanessa.”
“Some will.”
“That doesn’t bother you?”
“Yes.”
“Then fight.”
“I am.”
“This doesn’t look like fighting.”
Ethan looked at his sister.
“Lily slept through the night yesterday.”
Caroline stopped.
“For the first time in two weeks.”
He continued.
“She ate breakfast without asking whether she had to finish a chore first.”
Caroline’s anger softened.
“That is the fight.”
She sat down.
Ethan poured coffee.
After a moment Caroline said, “You know Dad would have burned the whole world down.”
Ethan smiled.
“Dad also once tried to fix a microwave with a screwdriver while it was plugged in.”
“True.”
“He wasn’t always a model of judgment.”
Caroline laughed.
Then she became quiet.
“You’re doing the right thing.”
Ethan looked toward the stairs.
“I’m trying.”
Weeks became months.
Lily improved slowly.
Some changes were obvious.
Others were small enough that only Ethan noticed.
She stopped asking permission before taking food from the refrigerator.
She stopped hiding dirty clothes beneath her bed.
She stopped apologizing every time she spilled something.
That last one took longer.
One Saturday morning, Lily knocked a glass of milk from the kitchen island.
It shattered on the tile.
She froze.
Ethan turned from the stove.
For a second, neither moved.
Lily’s face went pale.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“I know.”
“I’ll clean it.”
“Don’t move. There’s glass.”
She began crying.
Ethan immediately understood.
He turned off the stove.
“Hey.”
“I’ll clean everything.”
“Lily.”
“I can do it.”
He walked carefully around the broken glass.
“You are not in trouble.”
She shook her head.
“I should have been careful.”
“It was an accident.”
“She said accidents happen when people are careless.”
Ethan knelt.
“Everyone is careless sometimes.”
“I’ll work it off.”
His chest tightened.
“There is nothing to work off.”
“It costs money.”
“It was a glass.”
“What if it was expensive?”
“I don’t care.”
Lily looked confused.
Ethan smiled gently.
“Actually, Aunt Caroline bought those glasses, so breaking one might be an improvement.”
Lily laughed through her tears.
“Daddy.”
“I’m serious. They’re ugly.”
Caroline happened to enter from the hallway.
“I heard that.”