"You know your boy is a smart kid," the butler, an elderly looking man with so many wrinkles you would think he would collapse in the next minute, spoke.
"Smarter than all of you?" Jake turned to him and asked. The butler scoffed.
"Let's face it, Andy is smarter than all of us combined together and you know it. Even you can't stop him when he really wants to do something," the butler said and Jake just glared at him.
Just then a young man in a tuxedo, who seemed to be in his late twenties, stepped in.
"So?" Jake immediately walked towards him.
"There is a CCTV camera that captured him being abducted by a brunette, here it is," the man spoke in a hoarse voice as he handed a tablet to Jake. A video was playing on the tablet. A video of a brunette carrying his son and walking away with him into a narrow street.
"Why the hell are you still here Steve?" Jake turned to the man and asked as he was done watching the video.
"Umm, I," Steve stuttered.
"Find out where the lady took my boy and go get my son for heaven's sake!" he yelled.
"Well the police are already on their way there," the man said in a voice that shook.
Jake let out a soft sigh as he turned to the butler. "I want all the current staff in this household fired, understand? I want it done before I get back! Get a new staff hired and they better be competent this time"
Turning to Steve, Jake said, "Let's go," and together, the both of them made their way out of the house, which was literally a mansion.
***
Maddie couldn't stop smiling as she watched the blonde kid eating from the bowl of cereals she had made for him. It was all she had in the house and thankfully he had not seemed to mind eating it.
It was a good thing that she still had Mathew's old clothes from when he was a kid. That was what she had helped the blonde kid put on after giving him a warm bath. He was no longer shivering. She was now finally breathing.
"Sweetie, what were you doing out in the rain?" she asked as she reached out to ruffle his blonde curls. She just couldn't resist the temptation. The boy didn't seem to mind her messing with his hair so she kept at it.
He had been looking at her before but he lowered his gaze to his bowl on hearing her question. That had been the reaction he gave each time she asked him that question or about his parents. She smiled. Maybe he didn't want to talk about it at the moment. She should at least let him eat in peace.
"So, do you want something to drink, Sweetie? Milk? Juice? Water?" she asked, taking her hand off his hair after patting it twice. On hearing her question he raised his head to look at her.
"Water would do just fine," he said, his tone slightly commanding yet his voice so soft.
"Alright mister, water coming right up!" she said, adding a dramatic tone to the miz and his soft chuckle sounded. She almost missed his chuckle. It was so soft. Like his voice. Almost inaudible. She smiled, and then left the dinning room to get him the glass of water.
It was just as she stepped back into the dining room with the glass of water that she heard the police siren, preceded by loud knocks on her door.
"Open up Miss Stewart, it is the police," was what she heard in the next second. She halted in her tracks, and then turned to look at the blonde kid who was now right behind her giving her an expression she couldn't quite explain.
***
*A few minutes later*
"I am telling you, I didn't kidnap the child. I saw a child out in the rain and all I did was help!" Maddie defended but it seemed like the man in front of her wasn't even listening to her.
"Do you know that the boy you kidnapped is Andrew Conat the son of the billionaire Jake Conat. You really messed with the wrong person this time, Miss!" the uniformed policeman went on.
"Conat?" the words echoed in Maddie's head. The boy she had taken to her home was Andrew Conat? How could that even be?
Everyone knew the Conats. They were by far the richest family in the entire country and even among the top five in the whole globe. So the boy she had helped out was Andrew Conat, the only son of Jake Conat? Maddie suddenly started to have a hard time breathing.
The door of the Investigation Room suddenly opened and closed, jerking her out of her thoughts. She turned her head to the door to see the blonde kid stepping in. She looked at him. No wonder the kid's eyes had looked familiar. Of course she knew those eyes. Jake Conat's eyes were far too familiar. Especially as she had been crushing on him since the earth cooled. Well, that was until a year ago. Before she met Lucas Jacob, her current boyfriend whom she no doubt loved.
"You can let her go now! How dare you do this to the lady that literally saved my life!" Andrew spoke in a voice that was too commanding for his age.
The policeman immediately stood up and bowed apologetically to Maddie just as the door opened again and Jake Conat stepped in.
Maddie stood up, stunned by Jake's presence. It was the first time ever that she was seeing him in person. She instantly knew that she had been so wrong about not having a crush on him anymore. Standing there in his expensive tuxedo that highlighted his perfect masculine features with his hair held back and his eyes locked in hers, Maddie forgot how to breathe as she just gaped at him.
Jake Conat was a foot taller than most men she knew, even taller than her younger brother who was quite tall. He was blonde, like his son, with ocean-blue eyes that were so transparent it made one feel like he was looking right into their soul when those eyes stared at them.
"Miss…" he paused, waiting for her to say her name.
"She is Miss Maddie Stewart," Andrew said and Maddie jerked out of her thoughts in surprise. Her eyes moved from father to son. Andrew knew her name? She didn't remember telling him her name though.
"Don't even ask how he knows," Jake said with a sheepish smile. His rich baritone voice caressing her ears.
"About the misunderstanding, it was all a mistake. I didn't know," Jake added. She nodded although she had so much to say but she figured the police station was not the right place for that conversation.
"Dad, I like her. Let's all have dinner together," Andrew blurted out in the next minute and the duo turned to look at him.
The restaurant's decor was exquisite and their dishes extravagant. Maddie had gone over the menu tablet three times already, still she couldn't quite make up her mind about what she wanted. It wasn't like she didn't like the dishes being displayed on the menu tablet, she loved almost all of them, it was just that all the dishes were just so damn expensive, even the simplest of them all."I think I will just help you order," Andrew said after watching her for a while, and then he reached out to take the menu tablet from her. She smiled, grateful, and he returned her smile before raising his hand to signal a waiter to their table.When the waiter came, Andrew muttered a few words to him, and then Jake also placed his order before the waiter left, with the menu tablets.The trio were sitting in a round table of three so they were all facing one another."So Miss Stewart, what do you do?" Jake initiated a conversation. Maddie turned to look at him, the smile on her face being replaced wit
"But that's a lot of money," Maddie blurted out, wide-eyed. Her voice came out as a quite whisper."Not for my dad, it isn't. And you are totally worth it," Andrew was the one who responded this time. Maddie turned her gaze to him. Was this some of trap? She couldn't help but wonder… Who pays an inexperienced nanny a hundred dollars monthly?"I am sorry but I cannot do this," Maddie said shaking her head as her gaze returned to Jake and he couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows together at her in confusion. Even Andrew pulled his hands away from her thumb, looking at her with hurt playing in her eyes."I cannot accept such a huge amount of money," she added."But you were the one who said you wanted that amount," Jake reminded."I clearly wasn't thinking when I said that," Maddie bit on her lower lip, and then turned to Andrew, this time reaching out to take both of his hands in hers."I am not saying that I wouldn't be your nanny Sweetie," Maddie said to Andrew and the hurt in his eye
The next day Maddie decided to pay her boyfriend Lucas a visit, to tell him the good news about her new job. His condo was just a few streets away so she walked, humming one of her favourite tunes on the way. Arriving at the gate of the 12-storey building apartment where Lucas's condo was situated, she paused to greet the gateman. She even offered him an apple pie from the basket she was holding, which contained a fresh batch of the apple pies she had just made before leaving the house. Lucas loved her homemade apple pie recipe so she had made them for him. It was the early hours of the evening. Lucas was a grade 3 teacher so he was usually home around that time of the day. It was slightly cold, a little below 50 degrees Fahrenheit so Maddie was wearing a coat and even had a scarf wrapped around her neck. Using the elevator, she reached the door of Lucas condo in no time. Opening the little box just by the door, Maddie typed in the combination code and opened the door. The first
His hands were rough on her body, as his mouth devoured her own mouth like a lion devouring his prey. There was nothing gentle or sweet about his kisses, only disgusting and nauseating. Maddie just lay helplessly under him. It wasn't like she had any strength in her to stop him. Even her screams only ended up coming out muffled. The tears wouldn't stop flowing freely out of her eyes and down her cheeks. "Please stop," she pleaded with him, but her voice was barely audible. She didn't know if he heard her pleas and she was certain that even if he had heard he he didn't care because the man didn't stop, instead what greeted her ears next was the sound of her dress being ripped to shreds. "Please stop… P… Pl… Please… God no! " With a gasp Maddie woke up. She sniffed, and then moved her palm to wipe the tears that had gathered in her eyes and then started rolling down her cheeks in her sleep. Tiny rays of the early morning sunlight were already seeping in through the slightly part
The sound of cutleries clinking against plates could be heard in the dining room as Maddie, Mathew and Audrey ate the hearty breakfast of spaghetti and meatballs, which Mathew had prepared. As they ate, Mathew's worried eyes would occasionally move to his sister. "Stop staring at me like that Matt!" Maddie warned Mathew when he did this a couple times. It was already getting on her nerves. Her eyes moved to glare at him as she spoke. He sighed, and then averted his gaze from her, a frown forming on his face. "You can't blame your kid brother for caring Maddie," Audrey intervened, offering Mathew a smile when he turned to look at her on hearing her words. He returned her smile with a full blown one. There was a certain light playing in his eyes as his gaze lingered on her for a while before he shyly looked away after she turned back to look at him and caught him staring. Maddie rolled her eyes at him while Audrey smiled in amusement. "Don't worry Matt, you can stare at me all you w
After breakfast, Maddie and Audrey had their movie marathon for the rest of Wednesday. Thursday was quite uneventful until the early hours of the evening. Maddie spent most of the day surfing the internet, stalking Jake Conat. She still couldn't believe she would be living in the same apartment with him starting the following week. Breathing the same air as a legend as him. Mathew too was indoors throughout the day, which was unlike him but Maddie was glad, at least he wasn't outdoors causing trouble like he used to. It was in the early hours of the evening that she got a call from an unknown caller. She hesitated but picked the call eventually. "I am Steve Wills, Mr Jake Conat's lawyer. Can we meet up so you can sign the employment contract? I will text you the address," the man on the other line was straight to the point and as soon as Maddie muttered an "Okay," he hung up. An hour later, Maddie was all set to go meet Jake's lawyer. He had sent her the address a few minutes afte
Maddie was confused but of course she had to keep her smile on as she kept her gaze on little Andrew. "We are going shopping?" she muttered, her tone questioning. Andrew didn't reply with words, he just gave her a full blown smile, sheer excitement dancing in his eyes. "Here," the butler's voice made Maddie avert her gaze from Andrew to him. His hand was stretching out a small envelope towards her. "Umm, what is this?" she asked, taking the envelope, unsealing it, and then slipping her mid-finger and index-finger into it. She took out a black card and the confusion playing on her face grew. "Mr Conat wants you to get new clothes," the butler offered her an explanation when she turned to look at him, her expression questioning. Maddie frowned, and then started to return the card into the envelope, stretching it out to him after sealing it back. "I don't need new clothes," she told the butler point-blankly. First it was buying her and her brother dinner and now he wanted get her
One look at the price tag and Maddie froze, literally. The butler hadn't exactly given her a say as to where they were going to be shopping but of course Maddie had an inkling before they got there that it would be one of those high end shopping malls and she had been damn right. Although she had changed her clothes before they had left her place to something less casual, Maddie still felt out of place at the very exquisite shopping mall they were at. Everything in the mall was so classy and expensive, ranging from the clothes to the shoes and then to the other accessories. And the people going in and out of the mall were too. Everyone except for her… "That would look great on you Miss Maddie. Go try it out," Andrew's excited voice rang out as he pointed at a red frilly strapless dress with a slit on one side. The dress was made of organza material. Maddie could tell because she had always had an interest in fashion and clothes, and having a friend like Audrey who was quite the fashio