“Sir… your mother dismissed me,” she said, her voice shaking. “She said I’m not doing my job properly… that I’m becoming a distraction. But I swear—I love Noah. I take care of him like he’s my own. I would never—”
Her voice cracked completely.
Adrian felt something sharp twist in his chest.
Anger.
Cold, immediate anger.
“Enough,” he said quietly, his tone firm but not unkind. “You don’t need to explain yourself.”
He glanced down at Noah, who had already wrapped his tiny arms around Emma’s neck again, clinging to her as if afraid she might disappear.
“Get in the car,” Adrian added. “Both of you. I’m going to handle this.”
Emma hesitated.
“Sir, I don’t want to cause—”
“You’re not,” he interrupted. “I promise you that.”
There was something in his voice—steady, unwavering—that made her nod.
The ride back to the mansion was silent, but not empty. Noah sat between them in the back seat, holding Emma’s hand tightly, as if anchoring her there.
The mansion loomed ahead, grand and imposing, its tall gates opening slowly as the car approached.
Inside, everything was polished perfection—marble floors, high ceilings, portraits of ancestors lining the walls.
And at the center of it all stood Eleanor Walker.
Elegant. Impeccable. Unyielding.
She was waiting.
The moment Adrian stepped inside, her sharp gaze landed on Emma.
Her lips tightened.
“Adrian,” she said coolly, setting her teacup down. “I thought I made myself clear.”
“Why did you fire her?” Adrian asked directly.
No greeting. No hesitation.
Eleanor’s expression hardened.
“Because she’s overstepping,” she replied. “She’s just a nanny, yet she behaves as if she belongs here. I won’t tolerate that. She has no background, no refinement, no place in this family.”
Emma lowered her eyes, her hands trembling slightly.
Noah clung to her leg.
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“You’re wrong,” he said.
Eleanor scoffed. “Am I? Look at her. Look at us. She doesn’t belong.”
The truth hung silently between them.
Two years ago, Adrian’s wife had died shortly after Noah was born. Complications. Sudden. Final.
Adrian had buried himself in work, unable to face the emptiness left behind.
And in that void, Emma had stepped in.
Not as a replacement.
But as a presence.
She had been the one who stayed up through the nights, soothing Noah when he cried. The one who kissed his scraped knees. The one who taught him to speak, to laugh, to feel safe again.
To Noah, she wasn’t an employee.