Chapter 2

Whatever little warmth and extravagant hopes I'd had in the beginning had long since vanished into thin air.

Desmond's voice now carried a hint of anger. "Carson is just a child!"

"You've been by his side for ten years, acting as his... nanny. It's your failure that he wasn't taught better. I haven't held you accountable, which means I'm already letting you off the hook. What right do you have to throw a tantrum?"

A nanny? I laughed at myself mockingly.

Back then, the woman Desmond fell in love with at first sight was Caroline, the daughter of the Calder family.

Defying his family's objections, he insisted on marrying her. Riding on his coattails, the Calder family soared to success.

They leaped from being an ordinary family in a remote, small town to a prominent household in these elite circles.

After they married, the two were inseparable. Their deep love was obvious to everyone.

It was just a pity that God didn't intend for them to have a happy ending; she couldn't be saved.

The Calder family was terrified of severing this connection.

I had just come of age that year. Student loans and household bills were suffocating me. The live-in position offered by the Hastings family was the only lifeline I could grasp—I signed my name and accepted my role as Caroline's stand-in.

Desmond loved Caroline deeply and refused to remarry, yet his heart ached that young Carson had no one to look after him.

Thus, the two families negotiated a ten-year agreement: I would stay as a live-in assistant, managing Carson's daily life and helping out with the household accounts.

They called me an assistant, but I never even signed a proper employment contract. All I had was a stack of papers filled with non-disclosure clauses. If something actually went wrong, not a single line would protect me.

Based solely on that piece of paper, my life was locked down for the next ten years.

It was laughable that I had cared for Carson for ten years.

Strictly speaking, I was still single.

I pulled my thoughts back and said calmly, "I'm not throwing a tantrum. The agreement has expired."

Everyone on the outside knew exactly what it meant for me to live here like this. If word got out, it wouldn't do the Hastings family's reputation any favors.

Desmond's tightly furrowed brows relaxed a fraction.

His gaze held a mix of probing and interrogation, but his tone grew a bit softer.

"If you can give this family a child, I'll put both of your names into the trust. You'll have the position you deserve..."

"No need." Nobody would willingly degrade themselves.

I had endured enough of being a fatherless child in this life. How could I bear to put my own child through that again?

I straightened my clothes and brought out the household ledgers and a stack of property documents from the bedroom.

I had already balanced the family's accounts a few days ago. The person taking over was from the Calder family's side, and she would take over everything I handled.

Carson was growing up, and it was time to hire a proper tutor. I wasn't highly educated, so I couldn't teach him well.

Desmond waved his hand dismissively.

Those highly valuable property deeds and that agreement scattered across the floor like garbage.

He stepped right on them without hesitation.

"Maren, I let you stay here, gave you a place, and protected you—I didn't do it so you could use it to negotiate with me."

"For the sake of your birthday, I won't hold this against you."

"Just stay in your room for the next few days and reflect on what you've done!"

With a loud bang, the heavy solid wood door slammed shut, separating us into two different worlds.

I looked up at the night sky. A speck of firelight slowly rose, drifting further and further away until it completely disappeared. I couldn't help but smile.

Those were the fireworks set off to celebrate my birthday.

But today wasn't my birthday.

It was the day Desmond had first met Caroline.

The night before I moved into the Hastings household, Deborah, who had raised me, came to see me.

She told me to memorize everything about Caroline—to learn how she talked, how she walked.

"Maren, you have to make him depend on you so much that he can't leave you. That's the only way you'll survive in this house."

Deborah stared at me intently, her tone leaving absolutely no room for negotiation.

She was right. Desmond, who didn't care about anything, remembered my "birthday" of all things.

This was the only day of the year I looked forward to.

It was only on this day that I could feel a sliver of the warmth of a family and feel like I mattered to him—even if it was just for one day.

But... things that are stolen must eventually be returned.

Right as I sighed, a sharp pain shot across my forehead.

Carson stood on top of the wall, smugly raising his slingshot.

"If you keep freeloading in this house and refuse to leave, one day, it won't be a pebble hitting your head. It'll be a bullet!" He was incredibly proud of his accurate shot.

He had completely forgotten that I was the one who had taught him step by step how to shoot an air rifle and drive a go-kart.

But ten years had passed.

Between this father and son, one treated me like I was invisible, and the other wished I would disappear immediately.