Chapter 3 - THE DAUGHTER NO ONE KNEWMaris changed in a private guest suite upstairs.
Someone from the estate staff brought her a simple black evening dress in her size.
She did not ask how they found it so quickly.
In August Ellington’s world, problems were solved before ordinary people finished describing them.
That had once impressed her.
Eventually it suffocated her.
Eden sat on the bed chewing a fabric ribbon while Maris cleaned the remaining wine from her arms.
A knock came.
Maris knew who it was.
She did not answer.
Another knock.
“Maris.”
August.
She closed her eyes.
Eight years.
No Christmas dinners.
No birthdays.
No phone calls.
He knew where she lived.
She knew that because every few years something impossible would happen.
A medical bill would disappear.
An application fee would somehow already be paid.
A landlord would suddenly offer her extra time.
August never admitted involvement.
Maris never asked.
“Go away.”
Silence.
Then:
“I will.”
She looked toward the door.
“But I need to know Eden is all right.”
Maris almost refused.
Instead she opened it three inches.
“She’s fine.”
August stood alone.
No assistant.
No security.
No billionaire entourage.
His eyes moved past her to Eden.
“That’s her?”
Maris’s expression hardened.
“You know that’s her.”
He did not deny it.
“Yes.”
“You have pictures.”
August looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Too many for a man who has never met her.”
That was unexpectedly honest.
Maris opened the door another inch.
Not enough for him to enter.
August asked:
“Did you know I invited you?”
“No.”
“I thought you might refuse if you knew.”
“You were right.”
“I know.”
“Manipulation is still manipulation if the motive is sentimental.”
He accepted that.
“I know.”
Maris stared.
He kept saying that.
Eight years ago August never said I know when she accused him of something.
He said you’re young.
You don’t understand.
I’m protecting you.
“Why now?”
He looked toward Eden.
“I’m seventy-two.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It is part of one.”
Maris folded her arms.
August sighed.
“I found out Caleb left.”
“That was two years ago.”
“I know.”
“You did nothing.”
“You asked me not to.”
“I asked you eight years ago.”
“Yes.”
“And you decided silence was respect?”
“No.”
His eyes lowered.
“I decided I was a coward.”
Maris stared at him.
That word sounded wrong in August Ellington’s mouth.
“I thought if I waited until you needed me, I could return without admitting what I had done.”
“And then?”
“You didn’t need me.”
Maris felt something twist inside her.
“No.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying that.”
He nodded.
“Fine.”
They stood there.
Then Eden made a small sound.
August looked past Maris again.
Eden stared at him.
Maris hated the softness that entered her father’s face.
It made him human.
Human was harder to hate.
“Her name is Eden?”
“You know her name.”
“Yes.”
August swallowed.
“May I say hello?”
Maris almost laughed.
“You’re asking permission?”
“Yes.”
“That’s new.”
“I’m practicing.”
She looked back at her daughter.
Then opened the door.
“Five minutes.”
August entered as though stepping into a church.
He stopped several feet from the bed.
“Hello, Eden.”
Eden stared.
Then smiled.
Babies had terrible judgment.
August’s eyes filled instantly.
Maris looked away.
Downstairs, the ballroom had become a rumor factory.
Genevieve sat in a private lounge with her parents.
Harrison Rothwell was furious.
“What were you thinking?”
“I didn’t know who she was.”
Her mother, Celeste, snapped:
“You humiliated a woman holding a baby in front of one hundred fifty people.”
“That isn’t the point.”
Harrison stared.
Genevieve corrected:
“I mean—it is, but—”
“The Ellington deal is dead.”
“No.”
“It’s dead.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know August Ellington.”
Genevieve gripped her glass.
“Julian can fix this.”
Her father laughed.
“Julian?”
“Yes.”
Genevieve’s eyes hardened.
“He needs me too.”
Harrison looked at her.
“What exactly have you been doing with Julian?”
Genevieve said nothing.
And elsewhere in the estate, Julian stood in August’s study looking at an old photograph of twenty-one-year-old Maris.
The daughter everyone thought had disappeared from the family.
May you like
The daughter whose return could change every assumption about Ellington Holdings.
Including his future.
Related Stories
