## Lilian’s Secret

Lilian had spent weeks planning how she would explain.

Every version sounded terrible.

She had practiced sentences while washing dishes.

While hanging laundry.

While lying awake in the small staff room behind the kitchen.

But standing in front of Josephine, every prepared word disappeared.

“Ma’am…”

Josephine waited.

“How many months?”

“Almost five.”

Josephine leaned back.

“Five?”

Lilian nodded.

“And you thought nobody would notice?”

“I was going to tell you.”

“When?”

Lilian’s fingers twisted nervously together.

“I didn’t know how.”

Josephine stood.

“You were hired to work.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Not to become another problem in this house.”

Lilian lowered her eyes.

“I’m still doing my work.”

“For how long?”

Josephine pointed toward her stomach.

“You cannot carry laundry properly. You cannot lift boxes. Yesterday you sat down twice before noon.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry does not do the work.”

Lilian swallowed.

“I need the job.”

Josephine gave a short laugh.

“Everybody needs something.”

The sentence sounded disturbingly familiar.

Edward could have been standing behind her.

Victoria could have been sitting in the room again.

Margaret could have been dripping rainwater across the floor.

But Josephine heard none of them.

“Who is the father?”

Lilian froze.

Josephine noticed.

“Answer me.”

The young woman looked toward the hallway.

Nobody was there.

Josephine stepped closer.

“Lilian.”

Tears began forming in the maid’s eyes.

“Please, ma’am.”

“Please what?”

“I don’t want trouble.”

Josephine’s patience disappeared.

“You arrived in my house with a pregnancy that is now interfering with your duties, and you’re asking me not to ask questions?”

Lilian shook her head.

“I wasn’t pregnant when I came here.”

The sentence stopped Josephine.

“What did you say?”

Lilian’s breathing became shallow.

“I wasn’t pregnant when you hired me.”

Josephine stared at her.

“Then who?”

Lilian remained silent.

Josephine moved closer.

“Who is responsible?”

The young woman’s eyes darted once more toward the hallway.

That tiny movement changed everything.

Josephine followed her gaze.

Her first thought was one of the gardeners.

Then perhaps the driver.

One of the guards.

A delivery worker.

But something about Lilian’s fear felt different.

This was not embarrassment.

She seemed afraid of someone inside the house.

“Lilian.”

Josephine lowered her voice.

“Look at me.”

The girl slowly raised her eyes.

“Who is the father?”

Footsteps sounded from the staircase.

Daniel appeared.

Now fifteen, he had grown rapidly in the last two years.

He wore headphones around his neck and was looking at his phone.

He entered the sitting room, glanced casually at the two women and stopped.

For less than one second, nobody moved.

Then Lilian immediately looked down.

Daniel’s face changed.

It was almost invisible.

But Josephine saw it.

He recovered quickly.

“What’s going on?”

Josephine looked at him.

Then at Lilian.

“Nothing.”

Daniel glanced at the maid.

“Okay.”

He began walking away.

Josephine watched him.

“Daniel.”

He stopped.

“Yes?”

“When was the last time you spoke to Lilian?”

For the first time, he looked genuinely confused.

“What?”

“It’s a simple question.”

Daniel shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

Lilian’s hands were shaking.

Josephine saw that too.

“Go upstairs,” she told her son.

Daniel looked from his mother to Lilian.

“Why?”

“Now.”

His expression tightened.

But he obeyed.

Josephine waited until his footsteps disappeared.

Then she turned back toward Lilian.

“Was it somebody who works here?”

Silence.

“Was it somebody who visits this house?”

Lilian’s lips trembled.

Josephine suddenly felt cold.

“No.”

The word came from Lilian so quietly Josephine almost missed it.

“No what?”

“It wasn’t somebody who visits.”

Josephine stared at her.

The house felt different now.

Every room suddenly seemed full of unanswered questions.

Edward’s photograph sat on a table near the window.

Margaret’s warning, forgotten for two years, returned with terrifying clarity.

**He is watching you.**

**He is learning from you.**

Josephine looked toward the staircase.

“Lilian.”

The maid began crying.

Josephine’s voice weakened.

“Who?”

Lilian opened her mouth.

But before she could answer, Daniel came back down the stairs.

And this time, he was no longer pretending to be confused.

—