Chapter 4

It was 9 am. Nanny Mai had just finished preparing Kristen's breakfast. She placed another empty pot on the cooker. Kristen and Kiara might be related but they both had a different preferences when it came to breakfast. Kristen preferred eating something light while Kiara enjoyed anything that would make her stomach full. She was one of those lucky kids that could eat 7times a day but not add weight. She opened the kitchen window for fresh air and then turned to look at Kristen who was almost done with her cookies.

"No nanny. I'm telling you, this guy is up to no good." Kristen whined over a mouth full of cookies. "How can a guy just walk into a woman's house and decide to stay without getting approval from the owner." She put the last cookie in her mouth then dropped her dish in the sink and washed her hands. She poured the jar of orange juice into her glass.

Nanny Mai walked to the sink and washed out the plate. She dried her hands and returned to what she was cooking. "He's a nice guy." She replied softly. "If he was indeed a bad person, he won't have returned our Kiara. Kristen, not all men are the same." She tried to change her perception of men but Kristen wasn't willing to listen and she didn't blame her.

"You are so naive. Nanny, you think everyone's nice like you. I know guys like him. They pretend to be nice and when you finally get to trust them, they reveal their true intentions." She washed out the frying pan used in the preparation of her fried egg, dropped it in its usual spot, and grabbed her phone.

Then she walked back into the sitting room and dusted her sofa. It was something she had always done since when she was a child. Whenever she got angry and she knew somehow she couldn't vent her anger on the person, she would pick up a brush and begin to clean the house.

Nanny Mai arranged the dining room. She placed the plates neatly on the table. She didn't want to agree with Kristen that the man in their house was a bad person. I mean, bad people don't do good things. If he was bad, he would have kidnapped Kiara and asked for ransom, but he didn't. Kristen was only sad. She was judging people based on her past experiences. Her heart had become cold and void of emotion. Her daughter, siblings, and Nanny Mai were the only people she related nicely with.

"Good morning, Old lady." The man walked past nanny Mai in his underwear. He wasn't wearing a shirt. He opened the fridge, brought out a jar of orange juice, and poured it into Kristen's cup. When Nanny Mai noticed it, she signaled to him to change the cup. She knew exactly how much Kristen hated it when people touched her things.

The man smiled at Nanny Mai and waved back at her. He didn't understand what she was trying to tell him. He picked up the glass, took 3 cookies from Kristen's lunch bag, and walked out of the kitchen.

He entered the sitting room and sat on Kristen's sofa.

"This is one comfy sofa." He smiled and put one of the cookies in his mouth.

"Sir, please get up. If ma'am sees you, there would be trouble." One of her servants whispered.

He wiggled his legs excitedly. "Don't worry. I'm not afraid of your ma'am. And, it's my duty from now on to make sure nothing ever happens to your bossy ma'am and her beautiful daughter or I'll die."

The young servant boy tried to pull him up. "Why are you doing this? If she gets angry because of you, she will transfer the anger to us." He panicked.

"Transfer of aggression. Your boss has so many dirty qualities."

"Oh my God! Nanny Mai! Everybody! Where's everybody!" Kristen screamed. She had just finished cleaning the garden. When she walked in she saw the man sitting on her sofa with her special glass. "Who let this man sit on my chair and use my glass." She stared at the servant standing behind the man and brought out a check, she searched around for a pen. When she found one, she signed it and threw it at him. "That's your salary for this month. You are fired." She tossed the cleaning brush at the other servant glaring at her in fear.

The young servant prostrated in front of her and begged. He asked for her forgiveness and even insisted that he didn't do anything. He tried to make her understand that he warned the guy to leave but he refused instead he said he wasn't scared of Kristen or anyone. Please don't do this to me. I have nowhere to go. "My mum is sick" he continued. "and she needs treatments and my dad...."

"You don't have to tell me your family tragedy. I said leave. And as for you, Mister." She walked up to the man and stood still with her right hand on her waist and the other gesturing. "It's morning and it's very bright outside. I'm sure you can find your way home."

He folded a paper close to him in a shape of a volleyball and tossed it in the air. "Ma'am, anger isn't good for your health. You could die and I'll be blamed for it. You see ma'am," he yawned loudly. "I ain't going nowhere. This is my home now. Thanks to you, your dad, and the police."

Kristen shut her eyes in anger. There were a lot of things she wanted to do but very few she could do. Me? She screamed in her head. How am I the reason he's in my house when I don't even want to see his face? "What do you mean by my dad?" She asked as soon as she remembered she wasn't the only one he mentioned. "I don't even wanna talk about that man right now. Just leave." She instructed with her eyebrows up.

"Awkward relationship. I didn't see that one coming." Mr. Carter asked me to come here despite having a complicated relationship with his annoying daughter. Does this mean Kristen doesn't know? No. He shook his head. She's lying. I'm sure she knows what her dad did. It's no coincidence that we met that day and today I'm in her place.

"Let's not talk about it. I want you to..."

"Leave?" He flipped his hair back. "It's all because of you that I'm here. I've never felt so grateful to anyone in my life before. Just so you know, I was just bluffing."

"Why do you keep repeating that." She sighed.

"Do you remember the first time we met?"

"Why wouldn't I? It's because of that day I don't like you." She blurted out without knowing when she said it.

The young man clapped his hands in slow motion feeling satisfied at her honesty. "And the truth came out. Right before I forced it out."

"What are you talking about?" She asked confused.

"You could have just yelled at me or slapped me or even sent goons to beat me up but no. You choose to use your best friends again. The cops. You issued a restraining order and your scary dad came to my house. Do you want to know what he did?"

"I do not." She paused. She suddenly remembered that a restraining order was supposed to keep you away not closer so how could he be in her house if that was the case? "Why are you here?" Her first question didn't rhyme with the one in her head nevertheless it had already come out. "If that's the case, you should be grateful. I mean, you should be grateful that you wouldn't have any reason to come close to me. A restraining order is supposed to keep you away not closer, dimwit!"

"I'm aware that you have a limited brain so you're unable to process everything said at the same time." He smirked. "I told you earlier that your scary dad came to my house. He beat me up and threatened to kill me and my family if anything should ever happen to you and his granddaughter, Kiara. All because of that restraining order I'm in this situation."

"I never issued any restraining order against you. Why would I even do that?" She opened her arms in a demonstration. "I did not know you then and I don't know you now. There must have been a mistake somewhere."

"Nah. There was no mistake. Officer Bamako said,"

"Wait. Officer Bamako?" Holy shit! Did that lousy officer...no..it can't be. She paced around the room confused. She wanted a restraining order against her husband but here this man was telling her that instead of her husband, he was given the restraining order. "That's not possible." She replied. "My husband's name is Adrian Grande and the cops wouldn't make such a mistake."

"Funny. You see, ma'am, my name is Adrian Grande."

"What?" Kristen and Nanny Mai chorused. He was answering the same name and surname as her ex-husband.

Kristen felt her heart beating very fast and her hands shaking. Memories of her past kept flooding in. For the past 9months, no one dared to mention that name. Everything that reminded her of him was burnt. The pain she felt for the past 17yrs. She hadn't seen him for 9 months but today a man pops up and tells her that he is answering the same name as the man who ruined her life.

She moved back slowly till Nanny Mai stopped her and patted her gently. "It's just a random name. Anyone could answer it." Nanny Mai whispered.

"No. It can't just be a coincidence. How can one answer the same name and surname?" She shivered. "You!" She grabbed him by the shirt. "He sent you. That's why you were at the police station that day and that's why you are here today. He has sent you to psychologically ruin me! I won't let you win."

"Hey, let me go." He removed her hands and adjusted his shirt. "Do I look like a kid? I do not know who you are referring to." She's not just mean, she's abnormal. He sighed.

"Liar. Kiara...Kiara!" She looked up at Kiara's room. "I know you can hear me. Get down here now! If I come upstairs,"

"Calm down, Kristen," Adrian said softly. "It's not good for your health."

"Don't tell me what to do. I know very well what is good for me and what isn't. Kiara!"

"Yes, mum?" She ran downstairs. When she approached her mum, she scanned the room. So many people. I wonder what's going on. She murmured.

"Why did you go to the club yesterday?" Kristen asked. She didn't wait for Kiara to greet her as usual.

"Mum, I...."

"Don't lie to me. I already know what the truth is."

"Yes, mum. I went to the club. But I promise I didn't know Nate was gonna take me there."

"And when you found out, why didn't you inform me? Why did you go to your dad after all my warnings?"

"He's my dad. He might have hurt you but it doesn't change the fact that he's still my father." She jabbed with her eyes wide open waiting to pounce on her mum. 9 months and she still wasn't able to forget her dad. She tried to understand her mum's side of the story but she didn't approve of her dad being in jail.

"Kiara, that man is not your father. He's a monster. He's taking advantage of your innocence. You do not know what that man is capable of."

"I do." She walked up to the table, opened her book, brought out a picture of her and her dad, and walked back to her mum. "This man here means the world to me. You don't even care about how I felt for those 9months I had to stay away from him and how I feel now not being with him. My dad is locked up in jail all because he made one small mistake." She sobbed.

"Small mistake? He tried to kill my sister!"

"How do we know if your sister wasn't the one who falsely accused him? For all I know she's never liked him."

"Kiara do not speak about your aunt that way." Kristen tried to fight back the tears in her eyes.

"Why? You can't stand hearing anything bad about her but you force me to hear all the bad things you have to say about my dad."

"Kiara you do not know your dad as I do. I know him. If for a second, just for a second, he had done something good, I would have told you."

"You never loved him. You were only with him because of his money and me."

"Kiara!" Before Nanny Mai could say anything, Kristen had already slapped Kiara. Kiara broke down in tears and hugged Nanny Mai.

"Nanny Mai, please take me away from here. This woman is terrible." She sobbed.

"Kiara, I didn't mean to.."

"Don't talk to me!" She cleaned her eyes and pointed at her mum. "You never loved me. You deceived me. If I had known, 9months ago I would have told the court that you were the worst mum ever and I wanted to be with my dad. You said dad never did any good thing for you. This just proves that you hate me. You do not love me. You're only trying to get revenge on dad. I hate you!" She ran back upstairs, entered her room, and shut the door.

Kristen sat on the sofa and stared at her shaky hands. It was the first time she had ever laid her hand on her daughter. They already had an awkward relationship and she was trying to rebuild it but now everything was over.

"She's only a child. She's just upset." Nanny Mai tried to comfort her. "Ignore everything she said. She didn't mean it."

"I raised my hand at my daughter. I'm not a good mum." She tried to suppress her tears but it was getting difficult. Kiara was her only daughter and she loved her dearly.

"Oh please." Adrian sighed. He had been observing the drama from the side of the room quietly. "If you are not a good mum then my mum must be a witch. You just slapped her. My mum would have set my buttocks on fire, cut my hair and seize my phone. You are the best mum. Kiara just needs to realize that."

"Why are you still here? I thought I told you to leave?" She sobbed.

"Go to the office, I'll talk to Kiara. I'm good at talking to people."

"He's not leaving. Why isn't he leaving?" She increased her voice and cried louder...

"Get up. You can yell at me all you want later but right now, you need to go to the office. How else are you going to provide food for me and your family if you don't work?" He deadpanned.

"You?" She jumped up and cleaned her trousers. "Why should I take responsibility for you? I don't even know you." The tears suddenly disappeared from her eyes.

"I think we've discussed that already. To the law, I'm your aggressive husband that tried to kill you. Until you resolve this issue, I'll be a Guardian Angel to you and your daughter." He spread his arms out and smiled. "Let's be honest here. You need me."

"You need him, Kristen." Nanny Mai whispered. "You'll be at the office. What about Kiara? Who's gonna take care of her while you are away? I mean, you saw what happened yesterday."

"You are right. Until I resolve this issue, you'll look after my daughter."

"I'm here to look after you and your daughter. You should be grateful you found a strong man." He bragged.

"I'm not a child. I can look after myself. Anyway, if you don't want the job, I..."

"I'll take it. Only because you need me." He chuckled and tapped his feet on the ground.

"Here's my number." She wrote her phone number on paper. "Call me if you have any issues with Kiara. Just so you know, she has anger issues."

"Thanks," He took the paper. "But I won't make use of it. I know how to take care of Kiara. Plus, I think I know who she took after."

"Nanny,"

"Don't worry. I'll talk to him." Nanny Mai assured.

"Bye, Nanny. And," she looked at Adrian. "Don't go to my daughter's room looking like that. Go put on a dress. Here's my credit card. I know you didn't come with your clothes. Go shopping."

"Today you are nice and tomorrow you are a monster." He murmured.

"What did you say?"

"I'm grateful." He took the credit card and climbed the stairs.

Kristen sat down and applied her makeup. When she was done, she combed her hair, picked up her handbag and phone, and kissed Nanny Mai on the cheek.

"Take care of Kiara."

"You don't need to ask me. She's like my grandchild."

She walked out of the house and entered her car.

"Adrian Grande." She echoed the name in disbelief. She gave out a frustrated laugh and started the car.

"I know what you did there." Nanny Mai said softly after Kristen had left for the office. She touched Adrian gently on the cheek and smiled. "You didn't want her to feel sad. That's why you forced her to go to the office."

"Nanny Mai," he narrowed his eyes. "I don't understand what you're saying. I'm only doing my job. I love my life. I don't want to die. I'll take good care of Kristen and Kiara till everything is resolved."

"I don't believe in coincidence. Your coming into her life was planned by destiny. For the past 17yrs and 9 months, I haven't seen her smile." She cleaned the fresh tears that rolled down her eyes. "I carried Kristen when she was a baby. Right from birth, her life has been miserable. There has never been any joy in her life."

"Why are you telling me this?" He scratched his head. "I don't care about Kristen."

"The moment I saw you, I immediately knew joy had come into this house. My son, I'm sure there's a reason destiny brought you here."

"No. It's not destiny. It's her dad and the law. Kristen's life is messed up and I do not want to get involved. She has an aggressive ex-husband, a criminal dad, and a sassy daughter. I'm sorry if you think I'm the joy giver." He knocked on Kiara's door repeatedly.

"I'll be downstairs if you need anything, call me."

"I'm sorry, Nanny if I was rude." He apologized.

"It's my fault. Anyone would have reacted the same way. But I still believe you are the one." She turned and walked down slowly to avoid falling.

"Kiara open up!" He yelled. "I know you are in there and you can hear me!"

"Go away. I can't hear you!"

"If you can't, how did you know what I said? I've brought your favorite cookies."

"How do you know I love cookies?"

"Everyone loves it. I also have brownies." She opened the door quickly and walked back in. She sat at the side of the bed and glared at Adrian. "So you love brownies?"

"You lied to me. You don't have any. You are just like mum." She frowned. "Liar."

"You wanna talk about Kristen?"

"No. I don't want to hear anything about her. She hates me."

"Can I tell you something?" He sat on the bed close to her. "My mum used to be like your mum. She was very strict. Sometimes I thought she hated me but that wasn't the case. You know what I've come to learn over the years?" He brought out some cookies from his pocket and offered some to her. "It's only someone who loves you that will correct you. Someone who doesn't love you, will not say a word when you make a mistake. They make you feel like you are right."

"But she's mean to me."

"She's strict. And the reason she's being strict is that she doesn't want to lose you. She's gone through a lot and she doesn't want you to go through the same. Your mom loves you. I wish my mum were here. I would have told her how much I love her and how sorry I am for all those years I misunderstood her."

"Oh no. Is she dead?" She touched his hand and comforted him.

"What? No, she isn't." He jerked back. "She's out of town."

"But you talked about her as if she were dead. And you even said used to."

"Used to. That's because she's much nicer and more friendly now. She used to be strict, but not anymore. I hope you learned one or two things here?"

"Yes." She smiled. "I'll try to understand her from henceforth. Well, as long as you are by my side."

"I'll always be here." He tucked her hair behind her ear. "For you and your mum."

"I'll call you Uncle AD from now on."

"AD?"

"As in, Adrian. If you want to continue staying here you will have to go by this name or change your name. My mum hates my dad and everything that reminds her of him." She sighed.

"AD is okay. Hey, you wanna come shopping with me? I don't know my way around here." He said.

"Sure. My mum gave you her credit card!" She exclaimed. "I can't believe she would trust someone with her card."

"She has no other option."

"Hey, I wonder who told my mum I was out in the club with Nate." She asked while on their way out. Adrian increased his pace so she wouldn't ask him.