Victor laughed it off, but Ethan stood, his voice calm and firm.
“She works harder than anyone here. Show some respect—or leave.”
Victor left humiliated.
In the kitchen, Carla had heard everything. Something inside her shifted.
“No one’s ever stood up for me like that,” she said later.
“I just did what was right.”
From then on, fear remained—but it was no longer alone.
Even Ethan’s brother, Daniel, warned him about appearances, judgment, consequences.
Ethan simply said, “I want to be happy again. And they gave me that.”
Eventually, he asked Carla out. A real date.
She arrived in a simple dress, nervous but radiant. They talked for hours—about her past, his loss, the emptiness they had both carried.
When she gently touched his hand, something began.
Months passed, filled with presence rather than promises. He visited her small apartment, shared simple meals, became part of her world. She began to believe love didn’t have to mean losing herself.
Almost a year later, July came again.
That day, Carla and Lily arrived at the mansion to find the garden transformed—flowers, candles, people waiting.
“What’s happening?” she whispered.
“Go,” someone said. “He’s waiting.”