CHAPTER 5: A House Full of Echoes
CHAPTER 5: A House Full of Echoes
For several seconds, I simply stared at my phone.
The words refused to make sense.
You're one of them.
Laid off.
Just like that.
Ten years of cleaning offices. Never late. Never written up. Never calling in sick unless my mother was in the emergency room.
Gone in a text message.
Ethan watched my face carefully.
"What happened?"
I handed him the phone.
His eyes moved across the screen, and I saw the color drain from his face.
"No."
He read it again.
"No... that's impossible."
"You canceled the contract."
"I didn't."
I gave a tired laugh.
"The message says your company did."
"My company has hundreds of divisions." He was already pulling out his phone. "I never approved this."
He dialed before I could stop him.
The call was answered almost instantly.
"Martin."
His voice had turned icy.
"Who authorized the termination of the facilities contract for our Midtown headquarters?"
Silence.
Then—
"No."
Another pause.
"I don't care if Legal recommended it."
His jaw tightened.
"Reinstate every employee immediately."
He listened again.
"No, that's not a suggestion."
A longer silence.
Then his expression darkened.
"They've already been notified?"
He closed his eyes briefly.
"Fine."
He ended the call and placed the phone on the table.
"It can't be undone."
I folded my arms.
"So I really did lose my job."
"I'm sorry."
Neither of us spoke for a moment.
Finally he looked up.
"The contract wasn't canceled because of performance."
"Then why?"
"The board panicked after last night."
I frowned.
"What does that have to do with janitors?"
"They're trying to reduce visible liabilities."
I blinked.
"I don't understand."
"They're afraid someone from the cleaning staff leaked the story to the press."
I laughed in disbelief.
"So they fired innocent people?"
His silence answered the question.
My stomach turned.
"They're using working people as scapegoats."
"I know."
"No."
I stood up.
"You don't know."
The words came out sharper than I intended.
"You'll go home to a penthouse tonight."
"I'll go home to two frightened daughters."
"And I'll go home unemployed."
My mother gently touched my arm.
"Victoria..."
I shook my head.
"I'm sorry."
I wasn't angry with him.
Not really.
But his world had collided with mine, and somehow the people who could least afford it were paying the price.
Ethan stood.
"You're right."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"You're right."
There was no defensiveness.
No excuses.
"My board made a decision that hurt innocent people."
"It wasn't just me."
"I know."
He picked up his phone again.
"I'm calling another meeting."
"What good will that do?"
"I'm the majority shareholder."
I stared at him.
"They ignored my instruction once."
His expression hardened.
"They won't do it twice."
Two hours later, I found myself sitting in the back seat of Ethan's SUV.
I still couldn't believe I'd agreed to visit his home.
Not because I'd accepted his job.
I hadn't.
Not yet.
I'd only promised to meet the girls one more time.
"They've barely slept," he admitted as the city drifted past the windows.
"They keep asking whether you were angry with them."
My heart sank.
"They think this is their fault?"
"They heard people yelling."
Children always blamed themselves.
Always.
The SUV turned through enormous wrought-iron gates.
Beyond them stood the largest private home I'd ever seen in my life.
It wasn't just a mansion.
It looked like something pulled from the pages of an architecture magazine.
Stone columns.
Perfect gardens.
Fountains.
Windows taller than my apartment building.
I couldn't help whispering,
"This is one house?"
Ethan smiled faintly.
"It feels much bigger when it's empty."
The front door opened before we reached it.
A woman in her sixties hurried down the steps.
Silver hair.
Kind eyes.
Perfect posture.
The twins spotted me through the windshield.
"MISS VICTORIA!"
Before the driver had fully stopped, both girls burst through the front door.
They raced across the driveway so fast that every security guard visibly panicked.
I barely had time to open my door before two tiny bodies crashed into me.
"You came!"
"I told Abby you would!"
"We missed you!"
I laughed as they nearly knocked me backward.
"I missed you too."
The silver-haired woman approached with tears already shining in her eyes.
"So you're Victoria."
"I am."
She smiled warmly.
"I'm Margaret."
She lowered her voice.
"I've been their housekeeper for twenty-three years."
Housekeeper.
The word surprised me.
She noticed.
"I practically raised Ethan."
I blinked.
"You did?"
She nodded.
"His parents were very busy."
There was a quiet sadness in her smile.
"I was the one who tucked him into bed most nights."
I glanced toward Ethan.
He looked away.
Some things didn't need explaining.
Margaret squeezed my hands.
"I've never seen those girls smile after a nightmare."
She looked toward the twins.
"They smiled the moment they saw your face."
Before I could respond, Vanessa tugged on my sleeve.
"Come see Mommy."
I froze.
Ethan looked at me apologetically.
"They visit her every morning."
The twins led me through the enormous house.
Despite its beauty, it felt...
Silent.
Too silent.
The walls were covered with priceless paintings.
Crystal chandeliers sparkled overhead.
Fresh flowers filled every room.
Yet somehow it didn't feel alive.
No toys scattered across the floor.
No family photos covering shelves.
Everything was immaculate.
Everything echoed.
Finally, the girls stopped before a sunlit room overlooking the gardens.
Inside stood a grand piano.
Bookshelves.
Children's drawings framed on the walls.
And one large portrait.
A beautiful woman with warm brown eyes smiled down at us.
She looked exactly like the woman in the hospital photograph.
Only healthier.
Happier.
"Hi, Mommy," Abigail said.
"We brought Miss Victoria."
Vanessa walked to the portrait and placed a single daisy in the vase beneath it.
"We found a nice lady yesterday."
I felt tears prick my eyes.
"She bought us popcorn."
Abigail nodded seriously.
"And she wasn't scared when Daddy yelled."
Vanessa smiled up at the portrait.
"We think you'd like her."
The room became unbearably quiet.
I didn't know where to look.
Didn't know whether I even belonged there.
Behind me, Ethan spoke so softly I almost missed it.
"Emma..."
His eyes never left the portrait.
"I wish you could tell me what to do."
The vulnerability in his voice was almost painful.
A man who could command thousands of employees...
Reduced to a grieving husband asking advice from a photograph.
Then something unexpected happened.
Vanessa walked over, took my hand...
...and placed it in her father's.
Neither of us moved.
She smiled with complete innocence.
"There."
Abigail nodded in approval.
"Now Daddy won't be lonely."
Ethan and I looked at each other in stunned silence.
Before either of us could gently untangle the misunderstanding, Margaret suddenly appeared in the doorway.
Her normally calm face had turned pale.
"Mr. Blackwood..."
"What is it?"
She swallowed hard.
"Someone is here to see the girls."
Ethan frowned.
"I don't have any appointments."
"I know."
Margaret hesitated.
Then she spoke the words that made everyone in the room go still.
"She says she's their grandmother."
Ethan's expression changed instantly.
Cold.
Hard.
Dangerously controlled.
After a long silence, he said only four words.
"Tell her to leave."
Margaret didn't move.
"I'm afraid..."
May you like
She looked nervously toward the front entrance.
"...she's already inside."
