Everything between them froze the moment Megan walked in. Lily tensed, Grace slipped away, and silence spread across the room.
That night, Megan confronted Ethan. “That maid is forming an unhealthy bond with Lily. She’s staff, Ethan. She shouldn’t be raising her.”
“Grace isn’t raising her,” he said. “She’s helping her. And Lily lights up around her.”
“That’s exactly the problem,” Megan replied. “She’s getting attached. If we let this continue, it’ll hurt Lily later.”
“I’m not pushing Grace out,” he said quietly.
The conversation left the house tense. Ethan lay awake wondering when he’d stopped really seeing his daughter—and how Grace had seen what he hadn’t.
A week later, he shocked Megan by canceling a major business trip.
“You can’t!” she protested.
“I already did,” he said, pouring Lily’s juice. “I’m staying home this week.”
Grace arrived early the next morning and nearly dropped her bag when she saw Ethan still there.
“Good morning, Mr. Walker. I didn’t expect—um—breakfast?”
“I’m fine. But sit. Let’s talk.”
Grace slowly sat at the table—something she never did when Megan was around—and told him about her family, the small farm they lost, and coming to L.A. simply needing work.