Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
AMELIE
Stefan and I broke from our embrace at the sound of small feet thundering against the stairs.
The children burst into view with Mrs. Bea trailing behind them, her hand skimming the banister.
They looked adorable in their new uniforms—white polo shirts, scarlet ties, and mauve-colored sweater vests with the school logo—a Bengal tiger with orange and black stripes.
Each of them carried a suitcase full of their belongings.
The dorms were fully furnished, with all other essentials provided.
“Amelie!!”
“Stefan, you’re home. Finally!”
“Amelie, did you see my new lunchbox?”
The kids dragged us back to the dining table, where everyone else had settled in, bombarding us with greetings and questions. Stefan’s friends gushed over the children, especially Bella. She was too darn cute in her signature fez.
Mrs. Bea placed the children’s luggage by the front door before loading their plates with fruits and eggs. Brain food, she called it. As soon as they finished eating, Bella ran up to Stefan, like she normally did after breakfast.
“Stefan, give me a piggyback ride,” she whined, impatiently tugging at the material of his pants.
“Bella,” he chided gently. “You’re supposed to wash your hands after you eat.”
She looked down at her palm, which was sticky from the watermelon slice she had gobbled down. A mischievous giggle slipped from her lips, making Stefan smile as well.
Mrs. Bea was quick to whisk her away. “Bella, this is the second time you forgot to wash your hands after a meal. I’m afraid that’s a time-out, young lady.”
My nanny used to usher me away from my father the same way. Stefan was nowhere near as cold, but Bella still seemed deflated by Mrs. Bea’s stern disciplining.
I beckoned Mrs. Bea over after she helped Bella wash her hands. “Do we really need a time-out on the first day of school? It’s just fruit juice.”
“Bella must learn the consequences of her actions. Sir’s pants are ruined.”
I glanced at Stefan’s pants and the smudges Bella had left behind. Our home had always been a bit untidy, as were our clothes. So what? Life was messy.
“It’s fine, Mrs. Bea,” Stefan told her, brushing off the stain.
“With all due respect, I must insist on the time-out. She neglected to wash her hands for the second time. She won’t respect my authority if this goes unpunished.”
“We shouldn’t put her in a bad mood on her first day at a new school,” I argued. “Bella’s nervous enough about sleeping away from home. I don’t want her morale to be low, too.”
Her nose went up in the air. “Ma’am, I must ask you to allow me to do my job as I see fit. I know what’s expected of students at Evercrest. Bella’s current behavior won’t be well received.”
Kai made a substantial donation to secure the children’s admission to Evercrest Academy, as it was the most exclusive boarding school in the state.
However, Stefan was worried about them fitting in.
He had hoped Mrs. Bea would ease the transition with their wealthy classmates through her guidance.
She came highly recommended by affluent families who also sent their kids to the fancy boarding school.
Mrs. Bea remained unconvinced that the kids were Evercrest material.
“Discipline takes time, and Bella’s already behind,” she continued.
“This morning, she wore a hat that wasn’t a part of the school uniform, and then she broke my rule for table manners.
What type of message are we sending her if this behavior goes unpunished?
If we don’t correct her, she won’t fit in with her better-adjusted peers. Is that what you want?”
“No. But—”
“There’s a reason misbehaved children struggle at the academy.”
My chin lifted indignantly. Misbehaved? Bella was spirited at most. Were kids not allowed to be themselves after a certain tax bracket?
“Wait a minute—”
“Can I talk to you?” Stefan interrupted, dragging me to the other side of the room. “I think we should let Mrs. Bea take the lead on this one,” he whispered.
“Seriously?” There was no easy solution for an energetic child, but it shouldn’t result in punishment at every turn. Not when her crime was expressing love for her brother and asking for a piggyback ride.
“She has experience raising children from this circle. We don’t. We’re not doing Bella any favors if the other kids don’t eat lunch with her because they’re not used to someone like her.”
The picture he painted was hard to refute.
Mean girls didn’t just pop up in high school.
They existed in first grade, too. But still…
“Bella’s just an excitable kid. She doesn’t mean any harm.
Mrs. Bea might know how to get kids to fit in, but it shouldn’t come at the cost of crushing Bella’s spirit. ”
“Bella’s spirit will be crushed either way when she doesn’t get invited to any birthday parties because the parents don’t like her… liveliness.”
That shut me up. Nothing could break a little girl’s heart more than being excluded.
Stefan cleared his throat as we reconvened with Mrs. Bea.
He asked Bella to hand over the fez as it didn’t go with her school uniform and informed her there would be consequences for disobeying the nanny’s instructions.
With a heavy heart, Bella handed over her beloved hat to Mrs. Bea, who then led her to the wall for her time-out.
The last thing I saw before Bella turned her little face toward the wall was her disheartened eyes.
My heart twisted in my chest. Out of the three kids, I had the softest spot for Bella.
The boys leaned on each other throughout their grief after their parents passed away.
The twins also had more memories with them because they were older.
As the youngest, Bella often felt like the odd one out.
She acted out because her biological parents had been ripped away too soon, and try as we might, Stefan and I weren’t good enough substitutes.
She wanted her mom. On top of that, Mrs. Bea took away her prized hat—the closest thing Bella had to a security blanket.
“Mrs. Bea’s approach will be good for Bella,” Stefan reminded me, noticing my distraught face.
I wanted to argue that Mrs. Bea lacked human sentiments, but Stefan had made logical points. What if the other girls excluded Bella because they found her unruly? I didn’t want to be the reason she was bullied at school.
“She has years of experience and knows things we don’t,” he added. “Isn’t that why we hired her?”
But I never hired Mrs. Bea, I wanted to shout. She had worked for influential families, which was good enough for Stefan. He hired her based on her prestigious résumé. Whether the children responded to her parenting style didn’t matter to him.
I didn’t bother pointing that out. I realized there was no point in mentioning last night with Kai, either.
Stefan was too far gone, entirely under the spell of his new glamorous life.
I could see it in every choice he made and heard it in the justifications for his decisions.
Money had seduced him to the dark side, and I worried he would never return to the light.
I started clearing out the table while Stefan returned to his new friends. The sound of their chatter collided with the thudding in my heart as our previous lives slipped through my fingers.
The twins ambushed us just as I was wrapping up. Jamie grabbed Stefan’s hand while August took mine.
“You aren’t dressed yet,” August grumbled, taking in Stefan’s haggard clothes from last night. The all-nighter had done a number on his handsome face. “Stefan! We don’t want to be late on the first day of school.”
Stefan tried to let them down gently. “Guys, I’m exhausted. Mrs. Bea can take you today. I’ll take you guys to school next week. What do you say?”
They glanced at Mrs. Bea, who had pulled up a chair beside the wall to oversee Bella’s punishment. They exchanged a horrified look and turned to face Stefan. “No, we want you to take us.”
Did we need more proof that the kids didn’t like their new nanny?
“It’s their first day of boarding school,” I tried to advocate for their cause. “They’ve never lived away from home.”
“The school’s less than thirty minutes away, and we can visit them as much as we want throughout the week. That’s barely considered boarding school.” Stefan ran his fingers through his hair. “Guys, if you let Mrs. Bea take you to school today, I’ll take you to Coastline Kingdom this weekend.”
Coastline Kingdom was the biggest amusement park near us. It was a great bribe, so I was shocked when the boys turned it down.
“No. No. No,” they protested. “We want you to take us.”
“Come on, Stefan,” I chimed in. “We should drop them off on the first day of school. It’ll be five days before they’re home again. I’d like to meet their teachers and their dorm mom.”
Stefan stumbled slightly, then leaned over to whisper, “To be honest, I’m still a little drunk. I’m in no shape to meet their teachers.”
Just what you wanted to hear from the future father of your children at eight thirty in the morning.
I opened my mouth but closed it when Kai waltzed through the double doors. Despite the roomful of people, his heavy gaze fell on me. Unapologetic and steadfast like always. My stomach clenched. He had a way of staring at me in an indescribable manner that made me feel sucker punched.
Luckily, other people in the room were vying for his attention.
“Kai!” Ruby was the first to greet him, though Will, Matt, and Marcus were on their feet, too.
He knew how to make an entrance. The guys stood beside Ruby—a real-life rock star—yet seemed more interested in Kai.
They introduced themselves, determined to leave an impression on the elusive man who had taken this town by storm.
They weren’t his only fans.