The CEO's Summer Contract

Move In

[Olivia’s POV]

I shift my gaze to the stubborn Devin as he glares at his sister for, in his eyes, betraying his trust, and I make sure to note the information that I was just given.

Maybe if I suggested we play the piano together he would warm up to me a bit. If not, well, I had time, I would figure something out.

“Do you also play the piano?” I ask Delilah. “Or do you play another instrument?”

“I’m not very good with instruments.” She admits. “Mom says that Devin inherited all the talent, and I…”

I wait while she trails off, and when a look of sadness appears in her eyes, I can’t help but wonder what exactly it was that their mother must have said.

It couldn’t be anything bad, right? A parent was meant to stand beside their children and build them up, not knock them down.

“I’m only a bit good at drawing.”

Delilah’s voice is soft, but I can hear the sorrow that drips from it as she speaks, and my heart squeezes.

“That’s something,” I tell her with a smile. “May I see your drawings?”

Growing quiet, I wait while Delilah watches me, her gaze uncertain, but when she gives a slight nod, I wait until she moves to the corner she was in when I first arrived, and once she retrieves a book, she comes back to me.

“These are mine.”

Nodding, I take her offering, and then open it, and when I do, I feel a wave of shock rush through me. On the pages are not simple drawings that child her age would normally draw, instead, they’re on the level of someone with much more experience.

“This isn’t just drawing,” I murmur, continuing to flip. “These could most certainly sit in a gallery.”

“Really?” Delilah asks, her face lighting up. “Do you really…”

“Idiot.”

Devin’s voice rings out, and when I turn my gaze to where he still sits, I can see the anger that he is feeling.

“Don’t think that just because you butter her up, we will accept you.” He growls. “In the end, you’ll end up just like the others.”

We’ll see, I respond silently while simply giving him a smile.

For the rest of the day, I focus on interacting with Delilah, letting her grow a bit more accustomed to me, and in the process of doing so, I test Devin who determinedly continues to ignore me or try to belittle me.

Once our time together ends, I am greeted by Mr. Branson who seems to be done with his work for the day.

“Time to go,” he announces, shifting his gaze to his children. “I hope that you were both on your best behavior.”

At his words, Delilah simply nods, while Devin huffs and begins collecting his things.

“They weren’t too much trouble?” He asks me after the children don’t respond. “I know that my son can be a bit much, but…”

“It’s fine,” I tell him with a smile. “Some children are simply leery of new individuals. I’m certain with time he will come around.”

At least, that was what I was hoping.

However, when I arrive at Mr. Branson’s estate the next morning, bag in hand, I am met by a pale of water dumping on me as I walk through the door after using the code that Mr. Branson provided me with.

As I do, the servants who are nearby stop what they are doing and turn their gazes to me, but from the looks on their faces it is clear that this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.

A welcome from Devin, I was certain, but even then, I don’t let it get to me. I couldn’t. Not when I had so much riding on this job.

“Miss Banks,” a deep, gravelly voice calls out, drawing my gaze to the main stairs where an older gentleman dressed in a a suit heads toward me. “You’ve arrived.”

“I have,” I confirm as he closes the distance between us, and when he reaches, he lets his gaze slowly travel over me, but doesn’t say anything about my current condition. “Would you mind showing me to my room so that I can dry off and change?”

Even though I insisted it wasn’t necessary for me to be a live-in nanny, Mr. Branson made it part of the condition for me taking the job, and after a bit of negotiation, I only stay during the week while staying in the hospital with my adoptive father on the weekends, I finally agreed to live under the same roof as the children and the man who hired me.

“Of course,” the old man says now, motioning for me to follow him as he moves. “It’s just over here.”

Nodding, I begin to follow as he leads me to the left of the stairwell and down a long hall that I realize must be where the servants sleep as a few are heading out for the morning dressed in their attire.

When we manage to reach the second door to the last, the man stops and then opens the door for me.

“I hope you don’t mind that it is a bit small.” He says as I peek inside. “The room the nanny’s usually stay in hasn’t been renovated since Miss Elsa left, but once it is finished you will be moving there.”

“No need,” I tell him, entering the simple room with a twin size bed, dresser, chest of drawers, and a door that I am certain leads to a private bath. “This is more than enough.”

“No,” the man counters. “Master insists that you are treated with the utmost respect for helping him so suddenly after Miss Elsa’s quitting.”

“It really isn’t necessary.” I repeat, giving a smile. “This room is more than enough.”

I didn’t need much since I didn’t grow up with much. As long as I had my own space, that would be more than enough.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to get changed.”

“Of course,” the man smiles. “Once you finish, I’ll show you to the dining hall where master and the children are waiting.”