“Mr.
Vance,” she said, “I truly apologize.
If I had known who you were—”
Ethan’s eyes lifted to hers.
“That’s the problem.”
She stopped speaking.
He adjusted Lily carefully.
“You shouldn’t have needed to know who I was.”
The words landed harder than shouting would have.
Patricia looked away.
Ethan continued, still calm.
“If I were a mechanic, a teacher, a delivery driver, or a father who had saved for two years to spend one night here, would your behavior have been acceptable?”
“No, sir.”
“But you believed it was acceptable five minutes ago.”
Patricia’s eyes filled with panic.
“I made a mistake.”
“You made several decisions.”
That distinction silenced her.
Daniel stepped closer to Ethan.
“Would you like me to handle this now?”
Ethan glanced at Lily.
“No.
First, I want my daughter in bed.”
Lupita immediately reached for the luggage cart.
“I can take the bag, sir.”
Ethan handed her the backpack but kept the roses.
“Thank you.”
Patricia hurried to prepare the key cards.
Her hands were visibly shaking now.
When she extended them across the desk, Ethan did not take them.
He looked at Daniel.
“Who inspected suite 904?”
Daniel checked the system.
“Housekeeping shows it was prepared by Lupita’s team this afternoon.”
“Then Lupita can take us up.”
Lupita looked surprised.
“Of course.”
Ethan followed her toward the elevators.
As they walked away, Lily woke just enough to lift her head.
“Daddy?” she whispered.
“I’m here.”
“Are we at Mommy’s hotel?”
Ethan stopped for half a second.
Sarah had never owned the Grand Regent legally.
The company had always been Ethan’s.
But Lily knew the Chicago property as Mommy’s hotel because Sarah had chosen so many of its details during construction.
“Yes,” Ethan whispered.
“We’re here.”
Lily noticed the flowers in his hand.
“You got the roses.”
“I did.”
She smiled sleepily and put her head back on his shoulder.
Behind Ethan, Patricia heard every word.
The elevator doors closed.
Upstairs, Lupita opened suite 904 and turned on only the bedside lamps so the light wouldn’t wake Lily fully.
The room was quiet, warm, and immaculate.
