Chapter 36
Chapter 36
Nanny and the Alpha Daddy
#Chapter 36: Afterparty
Moana
I felt a hand on my arm in the crowd and turned around, expecting to see Ethan or one of his friends
standing there.
But it wasn’t any of them.
It was Edrick.
Without speaking, he kept his grip firmly on my arm and pulled me away from the crowd, into a private
room.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, although I was certain that he had already seen me with Ethan
and his friends. “I thought you were sick and had to go to urgent care.”
I felt my heart rate quicken. “I…”
Before I could answer, he raised his hand to indicate for me to stop speaking and then rubbed the
bridge of his nose exasperatedly. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that you’re making a
mistake by hanging around Ethan. And now you lie about your health so you can sneak out and
galavant all over town with him?”
“I wouldn’t feel it necessary to lie and sneak if it wasn’t for the fact that you seem to have boundless
enmity for your own brother.”
Edrick’s face darkened. “He is not my brother,” he snarled. “Besides… Do you have some fantasy of
being with him? Because I’ll be the first to tell you that he would never be interested in someone like
you.”
“Someone like me?” I asked with a scoff. I folded my arms across my chest and took a step back, but
Edrick closed the distance again by taking a step toward me. He towered over me, even when I wore
high heels. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean, look at you,” Edrick said, gesturing toward my appearance. “You’re just an ordinary human
nanny. And you’re pretty enough, sure, but you don’t do yourself any favors by dressing so plainly and
homely. Don’t I pay you enough to create a nice image for yourself?”
I felt my face get hot at Edrick’s words. I glanced down at my plain black dress, thinking about how
Ethan had told me that I looked perfectly fine.
“Ethan might seem like a nice person on the outside,” Edrick continued, “but you can rest assured that
he’s not interested in someone with a social status as low as that of a human nanny who couldn’t find a
job until someone felt pity on her.”
It was then that I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes, but I wasn’t about to let Edrick make me cry on
a night that was supposed to be fun and lighthearted. I turned on my heel and took a few steps toward
the door.
“I’m sorry for lying about my health,” I said, reaching for the doorknob, “but you and I only have an
employer-employee relationship. Nothing more, nothing less. And if I wanted to be deceived by Ethan,
then it’s none of your concern in the end.”
Without another word, I left Edrick standing speechless in the private room. A few moments after I
walked out and continued to make my way to the restroom as I had originally intended, he stormed out
after me, brushing past me. I watched over the crowd as he stormed straight out of the bar.
“Good riddance,” I whispered to myself, pushing through the bathroom door. I walked up to the row of
marble sinks and set my purse down on the counter, sighing deeply as I tried to calm my nerves — but
as soon as I looked up at my reflection in the mirror, the tears that were welled up in my eyes began to
spill over, smudging my mascara and causing it to run down my cheeks in two long, black lines.
Was that truly how Edrick thought about me? During my time that I’d worked for him so far, I had
thought that I had begun to earn a bit of respect from him. I thought back to the day we went to the
orphanage, and how he had opened up to the children, and even me. Was I correct in assuming that it
was all just an act for positive publicity? Was I really just nothing but a lowly human nanny to him?
Just then, the door swung open. I scrambled to wipe the black tears from my face, but it was too late;
the woman who had come through the door was Ethan’s friend, Haley, and she noticed me crying
immediately. She came over to me with a concerned look on her face and pulled a handkerchief out of
her pocket, beginning to dab at my cheek with it as she looked at me in the mirror.
“Ethan asked me to check to make sure you didn’t get lost,” she said as she wiped the black tears
away. “I didn’t expect to find you crying in here. Were we really all that bad?”
I shook my head vehemently. “Not at all,” I assured her. “It’s something completely unrelated.” Belongs to NôvelDrama.Org - All rights reserved.
“Do you need to talk about it?”
Again, I shook my head. “No. It’s okay. It’s nothing.”
Haley didn’t seem convinced, but she nodded and stepped away once the black streaks were cleaned
off of my cheeks. “I’ll meet you out there in a minute,” I said, to which she nodded again and quietly left
the bathroom.
A couple of minutes later, once I’d taken a few more deep breaths and calmed my nerves, I walked
back out to the table. Ethan jerked his head up as I approached, and jumped up to meet me.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
I shrugged, causing him to furrow his brow. “What is it?”
“Edrick found me,” I replied. “He’s furious with me for coming to see you. I think I should just go home
now.”
Ethan frowned, a look of worry wrought across his handsome face. “Are you sure?” he asked. “Do you
want me to take you home?”
I paused, wondering if it would be a horrible idea to show up outside the penthouse with Ethan, but at
the same time, I needed the friendly support, so I nodded in agreement. “Yes, please,” I said. “If you
don’t mind.”
Ethan nodded in response, still looking worried, and turned to say something to his friends before
guiding me out of the bar with his hand on my back.
…
Ethan dropped me off outside the penthouse and, after a word of encouragement and a gentle squeeze
of my arm, he drove away. I swallowed the lump in my throat and made my way back upstairs, steeling
myself in case Edrick was home and waiting to argue with me even more — but he wasn’t. In fact, only
Ella was sitting in the dark living room by herself.
“Moana!” she said, jumping up from the couch and running over to me. “Are you okay? Selina said
you’re sick.”
I bit my lip, suddenly feeling horrible for lying and worrying the little girl just so I could go out.
“Yes,” I replied, scooping her up to take her back to bed. “I’m okay now.”
After I put her to bed, I decided it was best to at least attempt to fulfill my contractual obligation with
Edrick by waiting in his room in case he should come home soon, but as the hours ticked on, he never
showed up. Feeling somewhat relieved, I returned to my own room and crawled into bed.
However, I was only in my room for hardly even half an hour before I heard a knock on my door.
And when I opened it, all I could smell was alcohol.