Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Afterparty

Moana

I felt a hand on my arm in the crowd and turned around, expecting to see Ethan or one of his friends

standing there. But it wasn’t any of them.

It was Edrick. Without speaking, he kept his grip firmly on my arm and pulled me away from the crowd,

into a private room.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, although I was certain that he had already seen me with Ethan

and his friends. “I thought you were sick and had to go to urgent care.” I felt my heart rate quicken. “I…”

Before I could answer, he raised his hand to indicate for me to stop speaking and then rubbed the

bridge of his nose exasperatedly. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that you’re making a

mistake by hanging around Ethan. And now you lie about your health so you can sneak out and

galavant all over town with him?”

“I wouldn’t feel it necessary to lie and sneak if it wasn’t for the fact that you seem to have boundless

enmity for your own brother.”

Edrick’s face darkened. “He is not my brother,” he snarled. “Besides… Do you have some fantasy of

being with him? Because I’ll be the first to tell you that he would never be interested in someone like

you.”

“Someone like me?” I asked with a scoff. I folded my arms across my chest and took a step back, but

Edrick closed the distance again by taking a step toward me. He towered over me, even when I wore

high heels. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean, look at you,” Edrick said, gesturing toward my appearance. “You’re just an ordinary human

nanny. And you’re pretty enough, sure, but you don’t do yourself any favors by dressing so plainly and

homely. Don’t I pay you enough to create a nice image for yourself?”

I felt my face get hot at Edrick’s words. I glanced down at my plain black dress, thinking about how

Ethan had told me that I looked perfectly fine.

“Ethan might seem like a nice person on the outside,” Edrick continued, “but you can rest assured that

he’s not interested in someone with a social status as low as that of a human nanny who couldn’t find a

job until someone felt pity on her.”

It was then that I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes, but I wasn’t about to let Edrick make me cry on

a night that was supposed to be fun and lighthearted. I turned on my heel and took a few steps toward

the door.

“I’m sorry for lying about my health,” I said, reaching for the doorknob, “but you and I only have an

employer-employee relationship. Nothing more, nothing less. And if I wanted to be deceived by Ethan,

then it’s none of your concern in the end.”

Without another word, I left Edrick standing speechless in the private room. A few moments after I

walked out and continued to make my way to the restroom as I had originally intended, he stormed out

after me, brushing past me. I watched over the crowd as he stormed straight out of the bar.

“Good riddance,” I whispered to myself, pushing through the bathroom door. I walked up to the row of

marble sinks and set my purse down on the counter, sighing deeply as I tried to calm my nerves — but

as soon as I looked up at my reflection in the mirror, the tears that were welled up in my eyes began to

spill over, smudging my mascara and causing it to run down my cheeks in two long, black lines.

Was that truly how Edrick thought about me? During my time that I’d worked for him so far, I had

thought that I had begun to earn a bit of respect from him. I thought back to the day we went to the

orphanage, and how he had opened up to the children, and even me. Was I correct in assuming that it

was all just an act for positive publicity? Was I really just nothing but a lowly human nanny to him?

Just then, the door swung open. I scrambled to wipe the black tears from my face, but it was too late;

the woman who had come through the door was Ethan’s friend, Haley, and she noticed me crying

immediately. She came over to me with a concerned look on her face and pulled a handkerchief out of

her pocket, beginning to dab at my cheek with it as she looked at me in the mirror.

“Ethan asked me to check to make sure you didn’t get lost,” she said as she wiped the black tears

away. “I didn’t expect to find you crying in here. Were we really all that bad?”

I shook my head vehemently. “Not at all,” I assured her. “It’s something completely unrelated.”

“Do you need to talk about it?”

Again, I shook my head. “No. It’s okay. It’s nothing.”

Haley didn’t seem convinced, but she nodded and stepped away once the black streaks were cleaned

off of my cheeks. “I’ll meet you out there in a minute,” I said, to which she nodded again and quietly left

the bathroom.

A couple of minutes later, once I’d taken a few more deep breaths and calmed my nerves, I walked

back out to the table. Ethan jerked his head up as I approached, and jumped up to meet me.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

I shrugged, causing him to furrow his brow. “What is it?”

“Edrick found me,” I replied. “He’s furious with me for coming to see you. I think I should just go home

now.”

Ethan frowned, a look of worry wrought across his handsome face. “Are you sure?” he asked. “Do you

want me to take you home?”

I paused, wondering if it would be a horrible idea to show up outside the penthouse with Ethan, but at

the same time, I needed the friendly support, so I nodded in agreement. “Yes, please,” I said. “If you

don’t mind.”

Ethan nodded in response, still looking worried, and turned to say something to his friends before

guiding me out of the bar with his hand on my back.

…

Ethan dropped me off outside the penthouse and, after a word of encouragement and a gentle squeeze

of my arm, he drove away. I swallowed the lump in my throat and made my way back upstairs, steeling

myself in case Edrick was home and waiting to argue with me even more — but he wasn’t. In fact, only

Ella was sitting in the dark living room by herself.

“Moana!” she said, jumping up from the couch and running over to me. “Are you okay? Selina said

you’re sick.”

I bit my lip, suddenly feeling horrible for lying and worrying the little girl just so I could go out.

“Yes,” I replied, scooping her up to take her back to bed. “I’m okay now.”

After I put her to bed, I decided it was best to at least attempt to fulfill my contractual obligation with

Edrick by waiting in his room in case he should come home soon, but as the hours ticked on, he never

showed up. Feeling somewhat relieved, I returned to my own room and crawled into bed.

However, I was only in my room for hardly even half an hour before I heard a knock on my door. And

when I opened it, all I could smell was alcohol.