Welcome to my life for the past 6 months. Everything Marcus does is perfect on surface while being manipulative underneath. I'm just trying to be actually perfect instead of performatively perfect. Ethan turned to look at her properly. When was the last time you slept properly?
About 6 months ago, before Marcus started his campaign. Victoria managed tired smile. But I'll sleep when the meridian contracts are signed and my company is secure. That's not sustainable. Neither is working three jobs to survive.
But here we both are functioning despite sustainability concerns. She had a point. They stood in the doorway watching Lily arrange books in order of preference. and Ethan realized that whatever had started as desperate deception two nights ago was already becoming something more complicated than either of them had intended. Living with Victoria Sterling turned out to be an exercise in contradictions that Ethan couldn't quite reconcile. The penthouse was a museum of wealth.
Original artwork on walls, furniture arranged by professionals who understood negative space. kitchen with appliances that probably required engineering degrees to operate. But Victoria herself moved through these spaces like someone who'd forgotten how to feel at home. Eating takeout at the counter because the formal dining room felt too empty. Working from the couch because her home office reminded her of meetings she'd rather avoid. Lily adapted faster than Ethan expected.
Four-year-old resilience making luxury feel normal within days. She loved the bathtub with jets, the view of the lake from her purple bedroom, the way Victoria would sit on the floor and build block towers without checking her phone every 30 seconds. On their third night, Lily asked the question Ethan had been dreading. "Is Miss Victoria going to be my new mommy?" They were sitting at the breakfast counter.
Victoria had insisted on calling it breakfast, even though they were eating dinner because the formal dining table felt performative. The question landed in the middle of conversation about what movies Lily liked. Victoria's fork paused halfway to her mouth, expression carefully neutral, clearly monitoring Ethan's reaction before formulating her own. Ethan sat down his water glass and chose honesty because lying to Lily about important things never worked. Miss Victoria and I are friends helping each other right now.
We're not. He searched for age appropriate phrasing. We're not making permanent plans yet. We're just figuring things out day by day. Lily absorbed this with the seriousness she brought to important topics.
But you like her, right? You smile different when she's here. The observation was accurate and uncomfortable. Ethan had noticed it himself. The way tension he'd been carrying for 3 years eased slightly when Victoria was present. like having an ally in survival made survival feel less impossible, but acknowledging that felt dangerous when their arrangement was supposed to be temporary fiction.
Victoria spoke before Ethan could deflect. I like your dad, too, Lily. He's one of the kindest people I've ever met. But being kind to each other doesn't automatically mean we're going to get married for real. Sometimes people are just good friends who help each other through hard times.
Daddy said mommy was his best friend before she became my mommy. Lily's voice went quieter. Do you think mommy would be mad if daddy had a new best friend? Ethan felt his throat close. Sarah had been dead for 3 years, but Lily still processed her absence in waves.