"It's okay, pumpkin. You're safe."
She buried her face in his shoulder, small body shaking. His eyes met mine over her head, no doubt in them, only shared fury and deep, weary gratitude.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
"I didn't do anything."
"You did everything."
I wasn't just Millie's tutor anymore; it was clear I had become something else.
Millie's ally. Nathaniel's... something.
And Victoria's enemy.
Two out of three of those felt right. The third terrified me.
Because I'd just declared war on a woman who fought dirty, and I was standing in her house with nothing but a teaching degree and a stubbornness problem.
What could possibly go wrong?
11.Nathaniel
James's words had been circling my brain for two days like a shark that smelled blood.
"I haven't seen you look at anyone except Michaela that way. Are you sure nothing's going on?"
I'd told him it was professional. He'd given me that look, the one that said he'd known me too long to believe my bullshit. The problem was, I was starting to not believe it either.
Saturday afternoon. My home office. I was supposed to be reviewing quarterly reports, but instead I was replaying every interaction with Claire through a new, terrifying lens. The kitchen conversations. The almost-touch. The way my chest had gone tight when Victoria cornered her in Millie's room.
I couldn't afford these feelings. They were a liability Victoria would exploit without hesitation.
The doors to my study burst open without a knock.
Victoria stood there, backlit by the hall light, dressed in a sharp cream suit. The pleasant mask she wore for the outside world was absent. This was the raw, ambitious core of her.
"We need to talk."
"I have nothing to say that isn't being said by my attorneys."
She strode to my desk, planting her palms on the polished wood. "Cut the crap, Nathaniel. I know what's going on."
I leaned back, keeping my expression neutral. "Enlighten me."
"You and the teacher. It's not just tutoring, is it?" Her eyes glittered with vindictive triumph. "The way you look at her. Running to her defense like a knight in shining armor."
"Claire is an employee who has been instrumental in Millie's well-being. My interactions with her are appropriate."
"Appropriate?" She laughed, brittle and sharp. "I have evidence, Nathaniel."
"Evidence of what? A shared meal? A conversation in my own kitchen?"
"More than that."
"Then show me." I spread my hands. "Right now. Show me this evidence."
Her tongue clicked. She had nothing.
