Chương 5
He looked at the floor.
The lie was so weak it did not deserve argument.
“Okay,” she said.
She left.
The next morning, Adrian changed the childcare schedule.
His assistant emailed Evelyn at seven fifteen.
All nanny-related communication would now go through the household manager.
Direct discussions with Adrian should be limited to urgent matters involving safety or health.
Evelyn read the message twice.
Then laughed.
Marisol looked up from cereal.
“What?”
“He put himself behind a bureaucratic wall.”
“Rich people have walls for everything.”
“He doesn’t even have a household manager.”
“He’ll hire one.”
By noon, he had.
Her name was Margaret Bell, forty-six, efficient, polite, and apparently immune to nonsense.
“My understanding,” Margaret said during their introduction, “is that Mr. Cole prefers a formal communication structure.”
Evelyn smiled.
“My understanding is that Mr. Cole prefers avoiding conversations he doesn’t like.”
Margaret considered this.
“I suspect both understandings can coexist.”
Evelyn liked her immediately.
For four days, Adrian barely spoke to her.
She did not chase him.
Denise’s warning remained useful.
The babies continued developing.
Emma learned to say “up.”
Lucy learned to throw food.
Claire discovered that dropping objects from her high chair caused adults to return them, creating the first scientific experiment of her life.
Sophie developed an obsession with Evelyn’s hair.
Ordinary days accumulated.
Bottles.
Laundry.
Music.
Walks.
Doctors.
Naps.
Evelyn began taking one girl at a time into the kitchen while preparing snacks, partly because individual attention changed them.
Emma became serious without her sisters.
Lucy became quieter.
Claire talked constantly in nonsense syllables.
Sophie wanted to touch everything.
Their similarities were mostly visible from a distance.
Their differences required time.
Adrian slowly began appearing again.
At first during meals.
Then during playtime.
He remained standing.
Evelyn never asked him to sit.
One evening, Emma crawled toward him carrying the plush rabbit.
The same rabbit from the night everything changed.
She held it up.
Adrian looked at Evelyn.
Evelyn deliberately turned away.
Behind her, she heard him say, “What am I supposed to do with this?”
Emma babbled.
“That isn’t helpful.”
More babbling.
A pause.
Then Adrian said, “Absolutely not.”
Evelyn glanced over.
The rabbit was balanced on his head.
Emma screamed with delight.
Adrian saw Evelyn looking.
His expression became immediately dignified.
“This is apparently necessary.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were about to.”
“No.”
“You have a face.”
Evelyn smiled.
“So people keep telling me.”
It became easier after that.
Not easy.
Adrian still retreated without warning.
Some evenings he stayed in the nursery for an hour.
Others he passed the door without entering.
Once, Sophie fell while trying to stand and struck her lip on the crib rail.
The injury was tiny.
The blood was not.
Adrian entered as Evelyn was pressing gauze against Sophie’s mouth.
He saw the blood and stopped breathing.
“Adrian.”
It was the first time she had used his first name.
He did not seem to notice.
“What happened?”
“She bumped her lip.”
“Do we need the hospital?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Denise taught me what requires emergency care.”
“There’s blood.”
“Mouths bleed.”
“She could have—”
“Adrian.”
He looked at her.
Evelyn lowered her voice.
“She’s okay.”
Sophie was already trying to steal the gauze.
Adrian remained pale.
Evelyn handed the baby to him.
He nearly refused.
Then Sophie reached.
He took her.
She immediately buried her face against his shoulder and transferred a small streak of blood to his black shirt.
Adrian stared at it.
Evelyn saw the memory arrive.
Not as thought.
As physical collapse.
His knees seemed to lose strength.
He sat in the rocking chair.
Sophie touched his jaw.
Adrian closed his eyes.
Evelyn stayed nearby but said nothing.
A minute passed.
Then another.
Sophie became bored with grief before either adult did and started pulling his buttons.
Adrian opened his eyes.
“Stop destroying my shirt.”
Sophie ignored him.
He looked at Evelyn.
“She listens to you.”
“No, she doesn’t.”
“She seems to.”
“That’s branding.”
He laughed.
A real laugh this time.
Short.
Surprised.
Sophie stared at him.
Then laughed too.
Adrian’s face changed.
The laughter vanished.
But he did not hand her back.
The first serious conflict came a month later.
It began with a photograph.
Margaret called Evelyn into the kitchen during nap time and showed her a phone.
A social media post displayed Evelyn pushing the quadruplet stroller through Central Park.
The girls’ faces were visible.
So was Evelyn’s.
The caption identified Adrian.
Evelyn’s stomach tightened.
“I didn’t know anyone took this.”
“I believe you.”
“Does he?”
Margaret hesitated.
That answered the question.
Adrian was in his office.
Evelyn went there without waiting to be invited.
He looked up from his desk.
“You should knock.”
“You think I leaked pictures of your daughters?”
His expression hardened.
“I did not say that.”
“You asked Margaret whether I had.”
“I asked how the photograph was taken.”
“From across the path, apparently.”
“Only staff knew where you were.”
“Central Park isn’t classified information.”
“You changed the normal route.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“What are you implying?”
“Nothing yet.”
“That’s worse.”
Adrian stood.
“Someone knew exactly where you would be.”
“You think that someone was me.”
“I think I need to understand what happened.”
“Then ask me.”
“I am.”
“No, you’re investigating me while pretending you aren’t.”
His voice cooled.
“My children have been targeted by photographers before.”
“I know.”
“Then you understand why I take this seriously.”
“I understand why you’re afraid. I don’t understand why fear automatically makes me suspicious.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Your former roommate has public social media accounts.”
Evelyn went still.
“Marisol?”
“She follows you.”
“Most friends do.”
“She has posted from outside this house.”
Evelyn felt anger rise.
“One picture. Months ago. Of a coffee cup.”
“The location was tagged.”
“She didn’t photograph the children.”
“No. But it establishes where you work.”
“So now my friends are suspects?”
“I’m establishing facts.”
“You had someone look into her.”
May you like
“I had security review the exposure.”
Evelyn stared at him.
