The mate of his nanny

Chapter 88: Broken Promises

Moana

"To have a one night stand like that, not only right after you came onto me, but also on the night before you're supposed to have a wholesome day with your daughter... It makes me sick."

Edrick's eyes widened at my words.
"Moana, I think you've got the wrong idea," he said abruptly, taking a few steps toward me and folding his arms across his chest with a huff. "I didn't sleep with anyone last night."

I scoffed and shook my head. "I can smell the cheap perfume all over you," I replied. "It stinks."

Now, it was Edrick who scoffed. "It's not like that... But honestly, Moana, you and I are not together. It's not really up to you who I see in my free time."

As Edrick spoke, I felt my eyes begin to well up with tears - but I had to stay strong for Ella, just like I told myself earlier. I couldn't let Edrick or Ella see me cry today. Blinking rapidly to dispel the tears, I quickly turned on my heel and headed for the door.

"Well, I'm taking Ella to the orphanage just like I promised," I said coldly. "Whether or not you want to go is up to you, but we'll go without you if we have to."

Edrick let out a sound that came across as disbelieving as I walked away from him. "I won't be going, then," Edrick called after me, running over to the kitchen doorway, as I stormed off. "Really, Moana, I'm tired of your insolence."

I didn't answer. Blinking back more tears, I retreated to my room.

...

Later, just as I promised, I took Ella to the orphanage. We got dressed and headed down to the lobby; Edrick was nowhere to be found, just as I expected. As I put Ella into her car seat, she swung her legs and looked at me with a confused expression on her little face.

"Moana, where's daddy?" she asked.

"He's... Busy," I lied as I imagined him sulking in his study more than anything. I secretly hoped that he felt badly for what he did, but I also was beginning to doubt that the Alpha billionaire felt much of anything at this point.

"But..." Ella pushed out her lower lip in a pout. "He promised we would go together. As a family."

"I know, sweetheart," I said softly as I got into the car with her. "We'll go as a family another time. You like just going with me, right?"

Ella paused, sniffling as tears began to well up in her eyes, but she nodded nonetheless and held my hand for the entire car ride.

Thankfully, by the time we arrived at the orphanage, Ella was too excited about seeing her friends to pout anymore about her father's broken promise. Almost as soon as we stepped through the front doors, she ran off to play with her friends. I grinned as I heard a chorus of other children yelling Ella's name excitedly as she disappeared into the recreation room, and made my way over to the kitchen to find Sophia.

Sophia wasn't in the kitchen, so I made my way upstairs to her office and found her rifling through her filing cabinets and muttering to herself. I quietly knocked on the door as I entered.

"Hm... Just a moment," she said absentmindedly. Her back was turned to me, so I figured that she thought I was one of the children.

"Busy?" I asked.

Sophia immediately perked up and spun around to face me. A smile spread across her tired face and she scurried over to me, pulling me into a tight hug. "Moana!" she said. "I'm so glad to see you."

Thankfully, I was wearing a loose outfit, so she didn't notice my slightly protruding belly as she hugged me; I was relieved because I didn't feel like addressing it today. Not after what happened with Edrick. Once again, I wondered to myself if I should save my money and try to start a new life with my baby at the first opportunity... But Ella was quickly becoming like a daughter to me, and I wasn't sure if I could leave her behind.

"I'm glad to see you as well," I said, managing a smile. "What are you doing? You seem busy."
Sophia turned back to look at her filing cabinets and let out a deep sigh.

"I'm afraid I'm stretched a little thin right now," she said. "I really need a secretary, but it's just so darn expensive these days and I want to make sure that I can pay someone well for the job... I couldn't live with myself if I didn't give someone the pay they deserve."

I nodded, smiling at the older woman's kindhearted nature. Although the foundation for the orphanage seemed to be doing well at the gala, I was certain that a lot of the money went toward repairing the orphanage, purchasing supplies and clothing for the children, and putting money away in savings for the children when they grew up, so it made sense that Sophia wouldn't have the extra cash to pay a receptionist. Now, more than ever, she was probably neck deep in paperwork because of the foundation.

"You know, I can always help you on my days off," I said. "I'll volunteer. Want me to help you today?"

Sophia's shoulders drooped a little and she shook her head. "No, I couldn't possibly let you do paperwork on your day off," she said. "But maybe... Would you mind watching the children for a little while?"

"Sure," I said. "I'll give them an art lesson."

With a smile, Sophia hugged me again. "Thank you so much," she said warmly. "You have no idea how much that helps."

If I was being honest, I was really only glad to just have a good distraction for the day. I let Sophia return to her paperwork and headed back downstairs, where I found the kids still playing in the recreation room. At the mention of an art lesson, they all jumped up from their game excitedly.

I couldn't help but smile at the children, and as I put on mine and the children's smocks and prepared the painting supplies, I was already feeling better. Maybe this was exactly what I needed - and maybe volunteering regularly on my days off would be helpful with everything going on at home.

"Okay, everyone," I said, clapping my hands to get the excited children's attention. "We're going to paint flowers today."

I started the lesson by painting a simple demonstration for the kids, then walked around the room and guided them as they sloppily painted their flowers. Eventually, the lesson devolved into finger painting and making a mess and the children seemed to be intent on painting anything but flowers, from pictures of dogs to stick figures, but I didn't mind; the children's happiness was all I needed to feel better and forget about Edrick.

However, halfway through the lesson, I heard the floorboard creak from the doorway. Thinking it was Sophia, I looked up with a smile - but that smile faded as I saw that Edrick was standing there.