Chapter 2 – A Gift No One Expected
The room remained silent.
Not because of what had happened.
Because everyone suddenly realized someone was watching.
Ethan slowly stood from the sofa, the watercolor butterfly still resting on his forehead.
Maria looked horrified.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Cole. I'll clean it immediately."
Sophia's smile disappeared.
She lowered her little paintbrush.
"I wasn't bad," she whispered. "You looked lonely."
No one spoke.
Ethan walked to the large mirror beside the fireplace.
A yellow sun decorated one cheek.
A blue butterfly rested above his eyebrow.
A rainbow stretched across the bridge of his nose.
For several seconds he simply stared.
Then...
He laughed.
Not the polite laugh he used during business dinners.
A real one.
The sound startled Maria.
It startled Sophia even more.
"You..."
Sophia blinked.
"You're not mad?"
Ethan knelt until they were eye level.
"No."
He smiled gently.
"I think this is the first honest portrait anyone has ever made of me."
Sophia tilted her head.
"It still needs more flowers."
Maria covered her face, embarrassed.
"I'm terribly sorry."
"You don't owe me an apology."
Ethan reached for a clean towel but stopped.
Instead of wiping away the paint, he picked up his phone.
"Smile."
Click.
Sophia giggled.
Maria looked confused.
"You... want to keep it?"
"I think I do."
That afternoon Ethan canceled three meetings.
Instead, he sat on the floor while Sophia proudly explained that butterflies meant people should never stay sad forever.
He listened to every word.
No investor had ever taught him something that valuable.
When Maria and Sophia left that evening, the mansion felt unusually quiet.
May you like
For the first time...
He missed the noise.
