Chapter Twenty-One:DIANA’S ARRIVAL
1551 Words
Xenia
I always knew when Mr. Winslie left for military assignments.
The house changed.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
The estate felt quieter.
The staff walked softer.
The nights felt longer.
And Kira missed him terribly, even when she tried pretending she didn’t.
It had been three days since he left.
Only two weeks this time.
Compared to his usual deployments, it wasn’t long.
But for Kira, two weeks might as well have been two years.
“Nanny!”
I looked up from the kitchen counter.
Kira was sitting on a stool, swinging her legs.
Aggressively.
A dangerous amount of energy for eight in the morning.
“Yes, baby?”
“When is Daddy coming home?”
“Two weeks.”
She frowned.
“That is forever.”
I laughed softly.
“No, it isn’t.”
“It is.”
“No.”
“It is.”
I pointed my spoon at her.
She pointed a spoon back.
A standoff.
A very mature standoff.
Before either of us could continue arguing, the doorbell rang.
Kira immediately brightened.
“Daddy!”
“No.”
“Maybe Daddy.”
“He is in another country.”
“Maybe he came back.”
I sighed.
The optimism was impressive.
I walked toward the front door.
The bell rang again.
Whoever it was seemed impatient.
I opened the door.
And froze.
The woman standing outside looked like she belonged on the cover of a luxury magazine.
Long brown hair.
Perfect posture.
Perfect makeup.
Perfect clothes.
Everything about her screamed elegance.
Even her heels looked expensive.
Her eyes immediately swept over me.
From head to toe.
Assessing.
Judging.
Dismissing.
I suddenly became aware that I was wearing an oversized sweater and fuzzy socks.
Wonderful.
The woman spoke first.
“Where is Eli?”
Not hello.
Not good morning.
Straight to business.
“Oh.”
I blinked.
“Mr. Winslie is not here.”
Her expression darkened slightly.
“When will he return?”
“Two weeks.”
For a moment she said nothing.
Just stared.
The silence felt uncomfortable.
Very uncomfortable.
Then she stepped past me without invitation.
I nearly stumbled backward.
“Oh—”
The woman ignored me completely.
“Kira?”
Immediately tiny footsteps thundered down the hallway.
Kira appeared.
Then stopped.
Her face lit up.
“Aunt Diana!”
The woman smiled instantly.
The transformation startled me.
Warm.
Affectionate.
Loving.
Completely different from the expression she’d given me.
She crouched and hugged Kira.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
Now I understood.
Family.
Stephanie’s family.
Mr. Winslie had mentioned them before.
Very briefly.
I watched as Kira happily chatted away.
Meanwhile Diana’s eyes occasionally drifted toward me.
Every glance made me feel strangely uneasy.
Like I was being evaluated.
Measured.
Found lacking.
Eventually I cleared my throat.
“If you need to speak with Mr. Winslie, I can call him.”
Diana slowly looked at me.
The smile vanished.
Instantly.
“If I wanted to speak with Eli on the phone, I would’ve called him myself.”
The words weren’t loud.
They weren’t even particularly rude.
Yet somehow they landed like a slap.
Heat crawled up my neck.
“Oh.”
A small pause.
“I was only trying to help.”
“Then don’t.”
Silence.
Something uncomfortable settled in my chest.
I looked away first.
Diana’s attention returned to Kira.
But the feeling remained.
The entire afternoon felt strange.
Diana stayed.
Kira seemed happy.
I tried telling myself that was all that mattered.
Yet every time I entered a room, I felt those eyes on me.
Watching.
Observing.
Judging.
By evening Kira had gone upstairs to shower.
Leaving Diana and me alone in the living room.
A mistake.
A terrible mistake.
The silence stretched.
Then Diana spoke.
“So.”
I looked up.
“So?”
“You’re the nanny.”
I smiled politely.
“Yes.”
The smile wasn’t returned.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Instead Diana crossed one elegant leg over the other.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty.”
One eyebrow lifted.
Twenty.
Apparently I had just confirmed some terrible suspicion.
“You look younger.”
I wasn’t sure whether that was an insult.
It felt like one.
“Oh.”
Another silence.
Then:
“And you’re living here?”
“I stay when Mr. Winslie is deployed.”
Her gaze sharpened.
I suddenly felt like an insect under a microscope.
“And he trusts you with Kira?”
The question confused me.
“Yes.”
Diana looked away.
A small laugh escaped her.
Not a happy laugh.
The opposite.
I didn’t understand.
“What is funny?”
Her eyes returned to mine.
“You.”
The answer stunned me.
For several seconds I couldn’t respond.
“I don’t understand.”
“No.”
She nodded slowly.
“I don’t think you do.”
A knot formed in my stomach.
Something was wrong.
I didn’t know what.
But something was very wrong.
Diana leaned back.
Studying me.
The way a lawyer studies evidence.
Or a hunter studies prey.
“Tell me something.”
I swallowed.
“Okay.”
“Why are you here?”
The question caught me off guard.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean exactly what I asked.”
Her voice remained calm.
Controlled.
Almost pleasant.
Which somehow made everything worse.
“Why are you here?”
I frowned.
“Because I’m Kira’s nanny.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I mean really.”
I stared.
Completely confused.
Diana sighed.
“As expected.”
My chest tightened.
Then she finally said it.
The first cut.
The first wound.
The first thing that would stay with Xenia long after Diana left.
“You know what I think?”
I said nothing.
“I think you’re young.”
A pause.
“Naive.”
Another pause.
“Far too attached.”
I felt my face warm.
“I love Kira.”
“I know.”
The answer came instantly.
“And that’s exactly the problem.”
My heart dropped.
“What?”
Diana leaned forward slightly.
Not aggressive.
Not angry.
Simply certain.
“You’ve forgotten your place.”
The words struck harder than they should have.
I opened my mouth.
Then closed it.
Then opened it again.
“I haven’t.”
“Haven’t you?”
Diana’s eyes never left mine.
“Kira adores you.”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
“You live in Eli’s house.”
I nodded again.
“You travel with them.”
Another nod.
“You spend holidays with them.”
I suddenly didn’t like where this conversation was going.
Not one bit.
Diana continued.
“And somehow you’ve convinced yourself you’re part of their family.”
My breath caught.
Because I had never thought that.
Had I?
No.
Of course not.
Yet hearing the accusation hurt anyway.
“That’s not true.”
Diana smiled.
A small one.
Cold.
Dangerous.
“Then good.”
Silence.
A terrible silence.
“Because you never will be.”
The words settled like ice.
For the first time all day, Diana looked genuinely emotional.
Protective.
Defensive.
Almost angry.
“For five years I’ve watched people try to replace my sister.”
My stomach sank.
Stephanie.
This was about Stephanie.
“Nobody replaces Stephanie.”
Her voice sharpened.
“Nobody.”
“I wasn’t trying to—”
“I know exactly what you’re trying to do.”
“No.”
I shook my head quickly.
“No, you don’t.”
Diana stood.
So did I.
Instinctively.
The room suddenly felt much smaller.
Much colder.
“My sister was Kira’s mother.”
Her eyes glistened briefly.
“My sister was Eli’s wife.”
A pause.
“And you are a nanny.”
Each word landed carefully.
Precisely.
Like stones being placed one by one.
“I know that.”
“Do you?”
I swallowed hard.
Diana looked toward the staircase.
Toward where Kira had disappeared.
Then back at me.
And for the first time, genuine sadness crossed her face.
Not anger.
Sadness.
“Be careful, Xenia.”
My name sounded strange coming from her.
Soft.
Yet somehow crueler than before.
“You’ll get your heart broken.”
I stared.
Unable to answer.
Unable to move.
Unable to understand why her words hurt so much.
Diana picked up her handbag.
Walked toward the door.
Then paused.
One final glance.
One final wound.
“Eli still loves my sister.”
The words hung in the air.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
“And he always will.”
Then she left.
The door closed behind her.
Silence.
Complete silence.
I stood alone in the living room.
Unable to move.
Unable to breathe properly.
Unable to understand why my chest suddenly felt so tight.
Because Diana was wrong.
Wasn’t she?
I wasn’t trying to replace Stephanie.
I wasn’t trying to become family.
I wasn’t trying to become anything.
I was just Kira’s nanny.
Just Xenia.
Just me.
So why did it hurt so much?
Upstairs, Kira laughed at something.
The familiar sound echoed through the house.
Normally it would’ve made me smile.
Today it didn’t.
Because for the first time since I met the Winslies, a small seed of doubt had been planted.
And though I didn’t know it yet…
One day that seed would grow into something capable of breaking my heart.
- Writer
