Chapter 3 - The Intruders
The peace of the household was shattered two days later.
I was in my study,
reviewing the accounts of the shipping firm,
when my head of security,
Cassian,
walked in without knocking.
His face was tense,
his hand resting on his belt.
"Sir,
your mother is at the gate,"
he said,
his voice tight.
"She says she’s here to take the girls for the weekend."
I felt a cold rage blossom in my chest.
My mother,
Lady Beatrice Caruso,
was a woman of ice and etiquette,
who had never approved of Elena and had treated my daughters like inconveniences since the day they were born.
She wanted them only so she could shape them into the cold,
hollow socialites she admired.
"Let her in,"
I said,
closing my laptop.
"But tell her she stays in the parlor."
I walked down the grand staircase,
my boots clicking sharply on the marble.
My mother was standing by the fireplace,
wrapped in a coat of silver fox fur,
looking at my home as if it were a slum.
"Marcus,"
she said,
offering her cheek for a kiss I didn't give.
"You look terrible."
"This house is a mess,
and I hear you’ve hired some... girl... to look after the heirs."
"Her name is Elise,"
I said,
my voice a warning.
"And she is doing an excellent job."
"Nonsense,"
my mother waved a gloved hand.
"I’ve brought a team from the city."
"Proper nannies,
women with pedigrees and training."
"I’m taking the twins to the estate in Connecticut."
"They need to be around people of their own stature,
not some peasant playing at motherhood."
Before I could respond,
I heard the sound of the girls laughing from the hallway.
Elise appeared,
holding Rosie by the hand while Maisie toddled beside her.
They were messy,
their hair windblown from the garden,
and they were both clutching handfuls of wildflowers.
My mother’s face twisted in disgust.
"Is this what you’ve allowed?"
she hissed.
"They look like orphans."
Elise stopped,
noticing the tension in the room.
She pulled the girls closer to her,
her eyes moving from me to the woman in the fur coat.
"Who is this,
Mr. Caruso?"
she asked,
her voice polite but firm.
"I am their grandmother,"
my mother snapped,
stepping forward.
"And I am here to take them away from this... environment."
"You are dismissed,
child."
"Pack your bags and leave the severance to my lawyers."
I saw the color drain from Elise’s face,
but she didn't move.
She looked at me,
searching for the man who had let her stay.
"Mr. Caruso?"
she whispered.
I looked at my mother,
the woman who had raised me to be a machine,
and then I looked at Elise,
the woman who was teaching me to be a father.
"She’s not going anywhere,
Mother,"
I said,
my voice like iron.
"And neither are the girls."
"You will leave this house,
now,
and you will not return without an invitation."
My mother gasped,
her eyes wide with shock.
"You would choose this... servant... over your own flesh and blood?"
"She is more family to them than you have ever been,"
I replied,
walking toward her until she was forced to step back.
"Cassian,
show her out."
My mother sputtered,
her face turning a mottled red as she was escorted to the door.
When the grand entrance slammed shut,
the room fell into a heavy silence.
Elise let out a long,
shaky breath,
collapsing onto a velvet chair.
The girls,
sensing the conflict was over,
ran to me,
their small hands clutching at my trousers.
I knelt down,
ignoring the ruin of my suit,
and pulled them both into my arms.
They didn't flinch.
They didn't hide.
They pressed their faces against my neck,
the scent of the garden filling my senses.
I looked over at Elise,
who was watching us with tears in her eyes.
"Thank you,"
she whispered.
"Don't thank me,"
I said,
looking at her with a clarity I hadn't felt in years.
"I’m just protecting what’s mine."
"And that includes you."
The realization hit me then,
sharp and undeniable.
May you like
I wasn't just keeping a nanny.
I was building a life.
