The Nanny's Secret Contract

CHAPTER THREE- THREE SECONDS

Emelia's heart beat so loudly, she was sure he could hear it. The envelope was burning her like fire on her fingertips due to fear. Its seal is already broken- What's hidden inside is exposed. And Nathan Douglas- utterly, downcast, standing at the doorway, his voice thundering through the silence.

“Three seconds,” he uttered.

Every breath in the nursery suffocated her. Every single part of her body yelled at her to return the envelope immediately.

Her heart skipped and her breath shortened. His tone was low. He didn't have to raise his voice for reasons best known to him. He was looking so terrifying, as if to strangle her, but he didn't.

“Mr. Douglas, I–”

“Two.”

He stood still where he was, with tensions rising across the room as if the walls would open and she would disappear. His dark eyes were glued on her like a lion about to unleash terror. Daring her to deny opening and reading the content of the letter.

“I didn't–”

“One.”

He moved forward.

It wasn't aggressive– it was bad. Immediate, intentional, and specific. And in one stride, he crossed the distance between them, his presence closing like a heavy cloud. He collected the storybook, angrily clasping her fingers beneath the covers. She shivered as their skins slightly touched each other, his violent heat against her shaky hands.

The slight touch was unintentional. Or maybe it was. She couldn't explain it.

She couldn't contain the silence that followed. His breath was normal, but his chest rose faster than usual. His closeness was suffocating. He smelled of alcohol and cigarettes, and for a moment, she wished she could fall on his broad masculine chest instead of moving away.

But his eyes were red–looking so merciless– banished the feeling out of her.

“I gave you one instruction,” he said, his voice vibrating through her skin. “Do not overstep your boundaries.”

She gulped down hard. Her lips separated, but she was silent.

“I didn't–” she finally uttered.

The weight of his gaze silenced her.

“Are you here to play inquisitive nanny?” faking a humorless smile. In your wildest imagination, do you think I don't know when people pry where they don't belong?

Her throat dried up. The cleverest thing to do then was to apologise. To be in total submission, to let him see how remorseful she was. But something defiant within her stopped her.

“I didn't open it,” she said, her voice bolder than she felt. “ It fell out of the book. I didn't even try to open it.”

His expression was fierce. Anger? Attraction? Shock? She couldn't fathom. But the muscle in his face tightened as if she had unwrapped an unhealed wound.

“ You should have returned it immediately when you noticed it fell off.”

“I was about to.”

“When you are done reading it.”

The truth got to her piercing through her like a knife. She was silent. Her silence ridiculed her.

He was breathing so hard, she could feel how angry he was even from the little distance he kept between them.

“You don't know the magnitude of what you are getting yourself into, Miss James.”

Her heart was beating profusely. She didn't know what to do; she shut her eyes and sought forgiveness. But she confidently refused despite being scared internally.

“Then speak.”

Even though she wanted to speak out, Emelia was speechless before the words just hung in the air like she was in a dungeon.

For a moment. Something caught Nathan's attention. His eyes became suddenly calm and gentle, which she sensed. A shadow of tiredness. A wounded soul hidden within.

But all of a sudden, that look disappeared.

He quickly adjusted, aggressively grasping the book away from her grip.

“You are meant to work for me,” he said in an unfriendly tone. “Not work with me. And not against me. Don't forget your place here.”

He immediately turned, moving towards the doorway.

“Nathan–”

The name was inadvertently uttered. Not Mr. Douglas.

But Nathan.

He paused. Surprised. His shoulders froze, and the atmosphere between them both thickened with unspoken words. Then he stepped out, closing the door behind him intentionally.

The silence he left was choking.

Emelia placed her shaking hands on her face. Her whole body was trembling, not just from what transpired but from what she couldn't place. She felt every encounter with that man was torn between desire and danger.

She should leave. She should pack her things and never look back.

But when she suddenly turned her gaze, it landed on Lily–wrapped in her small bed, deeply asleep hugging her stuffed bunny.

Goose hairs rose on Emelia's skin. Not when she had promised the little girl she'd stay with her. She can't leave the innocent girl who's in dire need of love, care, and warmth.

She became weak, sighed, and sank into the armchair by the corner of the bed. Her knees pulled to her chest, filled with indecision.

She would stay for Lily, she told herself. Only for Lily.

But a recap of what ensued between her and Nathan kept repeating in her brain like a warning.

The house was unusually quiet that night.

Shadows extended long across the walls of the doorway. Steady and slow, the clock ticked. Sneering at her heartbeat.

Emelia tried to sleep, but she couldn't. Nathan's face, eyes, and the manner he spoke made her feel forbidden to his lips, like she was worthless.

She leaned her face on the pillow, whining softly. She has to stop thinking about Nathan. He is her boss. He was perilous. He was–

A noise.

She suddenly raised her head up.

At first, she thought they were her imagination. Sound, murmurs, creeping down the hallway beside her room.

She came down from her bed quietly, tiptoed to the door, and gently opened a part of it, just enough to hear.

Nathan's voice.

Low. Hard. Tensed.

“--She shouldn't know. Do you understand?”

Immediately she sensed the discussion was definitely centered around her.

Her blood froze.

Another voice replied. Male. Unknown.

Deeper. “You're endangering yourself by keeping her here. What if she already knows too much?”

Her hand stiffened on the door handle. Her breath shortened. She's sure the discussion was about her.

“I’ll deal with her,” Nathan said, with a stone-cold voice.

“She's not alone in this.”

A pause. Tensed. Long.

Then Nathan's response, gentle, almost shaken: “I can't afford to lose her again.”

Her pulse stammered. Her? Who was he talking about? Lily? Or…Someone else?

Faint footsteps sounded in the hallway.

Agitated, Emelia shut her door gently and quietly tiptoed back into her room. Her heart beating fast she could hear them in her ears.

But before she could control her breath, the door suddenly opened.

And there he was.

Nathan Douglas.

His personality filled the doorway, backlit by the shiny glow of the hall. His stare went round the entire room before stopping on hers where she stood.

For a little while, no one spoke to each other.

Then slowly, perilously, he closed the door behind him after stepping into the room.

And then in a dangerously low voice, he spoke to Emelia in a voice she couldn't comprehend.

“ I cautioned you once, Miss James,” Nathan stated.

His hands stiffened on the door lock, intentionally, unbothered.

“Now I have no other choice.”

But then Emelia, looking all confused, but trying to hold herself together, said, Mr Douglas, I didn't mean to pry into your affairs, it just fell out of the storybook and you got in while I was trying to return it.

Honestly, I didn't open it nor did I even read it. Trust me please, Mr. Douglas

Mr. Douglas, she continued, I really need this job, and as such, I can't overstep my boundaries. I can assure you that, but he looked at her reluctantly, uncomfortably replying to her with no trust or emotion. You had better stay in your lane except the job is actually not important to you. “My eyes are on you, Miss. Emelia.”

Emelia, looking so downcast, quietly stepped aside, feeling so ashamed to have allowed the letter to be found with her by her employer. A lot of questions are creeping through her mind, “Do you really need this job”? Then if you really do, then obey your master's rules and regulations, remember you have a lot of bills to settle, she thought to herself.

Then, Nathan made a huge sign, signalling some sort of acceptance from the way she spoke, but he still maintained his gaze, You don't belong here, Miss. James. Just take care of my daughter, nothing more. I won't hesitate to throw you out the next time I see or find you where you are not supposed to be. I hope that is clear, “Yes sir”, she replied.

He left the room, closing the door tightly behind him. Then, she took a long breath, with questions rolling through her mind, What have I gotten myself into? Hope I am not making a mistake? But who could that be? Different questions all at the same time and all unanswered.

Again, she started hearing some noise from the doorway. Have you asked her what she was doing with the envelope in her hand, and she heard Nathan replying with nothing much. Then the warning from the unknown voice came back again, this time it was stern, remember she's your staff, don't allow your emotions to ruin what you have been protecting all along.

Emelia, deeply in thought, was eager to know the owner of the voice and how connected he was to her boss for him to be so curious and also give such stern warnings. She wondered about the connection and the reason behind the threat being given to her boss. However, she decided to pretend to go get a cup of warm water to ascertain with whom Nathan was having discussions.

But to her amazement, immediately she stepped outside the room, the voice was escorted out of the mansion by Nathan, so she couldn't see who the person was, but she was sure it was somebody very dear to Nathan and whom he strongly believed in.

Later that night, Nathan retired back into his room, thinking of all he had been through, the loss of his wife, Vanessa, his ex, and also the crisis he was facing from his rival billionaires who wanted him ruined at all costs. But then, he remembered his little princess and gave a relieved sigh of hope and assurance that she would never leave his sight, no matter what.

He thought to himself, Emelia might actually be right, “she didn't read what was in the envelope, did she?” and what if she does, she might want to use it to blackmail him, then what happens afterwards, his career and everything had ever worked for will be completely ruined just by a silly mistake which could have been completely avoided.

Why did he drop the letter in the storybook?

As Emelia returned to the room, she met Lily holding the envelope, with her face looking so pale and sad. “What's in this envelope, Miss. James?” she asked softly. The little girl's face was filled with questions she expected Emelia to answer.

Emelia replied to her gently, Sweetheart, I don't know either. Then, before she could continue, she heard footsteps moving close to the door again.

She was sure it was Nathan's.

She knew it would be more trouble for her if Nathan saw the envelope in Lily's hands. It won't just be about her job; it's definitely going to go beyond that.

First, he saw the envelope in her hand, then now it's in the hands of his innocent little girl. A girl he is ready to protect with his life without any hesitation, why should such a le

tter find its way to her?

It could destroy everything. Her mom's bills. Her promise to the little girl. Her million-dollar job and what she had planned to achieve in her life with it.