Chapter 3 Present

**Five years later**

**New York**

The 22-year-old college graduate Kelly was really excited about her new job.

One of the richest families in New York, the Lanton family was looking for a full-time nanny for their five-year-old only heir, Charlie. And it took Kelly two months to pass all sorts of investigations and interviews to finally get the job.

In the morning, Kelly got up at 7 a.m. She quickly dressed up and packed the last piece of her luggage and checked around her apartment for the last time. After making sure everything was well-prepared, she went downstairs with her suitcases and saw the luxurious limo already waiting at the front door.

The driver took the suitcases and opened the car door for her very politely.

Kelly sat in the backseat of the limo, feeling her heart pounding violently.

The Lanton family was not only exaggeratedly wealthy but also full of mysteries. There were rumors that they were actually vampires who immigrated from Europe. That was why every single male in the family was abnormally handsome and they didn’t seem to age.

Kelly had been a huge fan of urban fantasy since middle school. She was really looking forward to meeting those “vampires” in person.

The car drove all the way to the east at a fast but very steady speed. Soon, it took Kelly to an area she didn’t even know existed before today.

It was like a national park that wasn’t on the map, with serried intimidating old-growth trees all over the place. While the limo speeding along the well-paved asphalt road, Kelly saw a white-tailed deer running in the woods hurriedly being chased by a huge gray wolf. But the car moved really fast. They both disappeared before Kelly could get a good look at them.

And then, after another half an hour’s soundless driving, the limo finally stopped in front of a huge three-storied white villa.

There weren't any gates or walls around the building. The limo stopped right at the front door. A uniformed young male servant had already been waiting there. He opened the car door for Kelly and took her suitcase. Kelly then followed him and went inside the house.

It was the end of September, the very beginning of the cool autumn. The sun outside was bright, but somehow inside the house was abnormally cold. Kelly couldn’t help but hug her shoulders to keep warm. The decoration inside the house was elegant, neat, and modern. The ceiling was extremely tall; the space was huge. Weirdly, Kelly still felt the air inside it suffocating.

It indeed felt like a vampire’s house!

Kelly felt the hairs on her back stand up, but mainly out of excitement instead of fear.

She waited alone at the guest hall beside the stairs at the servant’s guidance, and then heard vague arguments coming from upstairs.

Some woman yelling, “Fuck you! Vincent Lanton, you impotent wretch! Go fuck yourself!”

No voice replied to that, just an enormous slam on the door and then a string of scary noises of glass broken.

Kelly widened her eyes. She had never heard vampires could be impotent, and she certainly shouldn’t have heard that argument!

There were angry footsteps from upstairs coming closer. Kelly panicked and tried to find a place to hide, but there wasn’t any.

Soon, a tall black-haired woman showed up at the top of the stairs. She seemed to be a beautiful woman with that customized clothes and expensive necklace she was wearing, but the furious look on her face made her look like a ferocious predator, very scary.

Seeing Kelly standing downstairs, she stopped at the top of the stairs and stared at this strange girl with uncovered venom in her dark eyes.

Kelly shivered under that gaze, but she wasn’t going to back off because of it.

She stretched her lips into a big, shining smile, and then waved her hand to that woman.

“Hi, I am Kelly,” she introduced herself with zealousness in her voice, “The new nanny.”

The woman replied with nothing but hate in her eyes to the enthusiasm of the new nanny. She stared at Kelly for over one minute, and then thumped down the stairs with her exaggerated high heels and stormed out the front door.

Kelly couldn’t help but make a silly face to ease the embarrassment here. She certainly didn’t expect to walk into such a huge family drama on her first day of work.

She waited downstairs alone for two more minutes, and then heard footsteps coming from behind the door at the right side of the guest hall. She turned her head curiously, and then saw a middle-aged tall woman walking out of it.

She had a black uniform similar to the male servant, but had a very stern face and a pair of cold eyes. Kelly then knew she must be the housekeeper in this family.

“Hi,” The young girl waved her hand to the housekeeper too, and introduced herself again, “I am the new nanny, Kelly.”

The housekeeper eyed her from head to toe carefully. After making sure Kelly was indeed the selected girl, she turned back to the door, gesturing for Kelly to follow her.

“You understand you have signed the confidentiality agreement, right? Everything you see and hear in this house will be confidential. You can’t release it to anyone, or you will be sued by the family’s legal team,” The housekeeper asked in her unsurprisingly harsh, cold voice while leading Kelly to walk through the hallway.

Kelly quickly nodded her head.

“Yes, of course, I understand!” she replied with excitement in her voice, deeply convinced that she was now inside the vampire’s nest. “I will keep my mouth zipped tight! I swear!” she stressed.

The housekeeper cast a cold glance at Kelly. She really hated the playful attitude of this crazy young gal, but the pack’s doctor said that was what the Alpha’s son needed- someone who was extraverted and actually happy.

She led the young girl to the little boy’s bedroom on the first floor.

Before they went inside, she asked Kelly again, “You remember the most important rule to be around Charlie?”

Kelly quickly nodded her head. It was a strange rule, but she had already carved it into her brain.

“I can’t for/ce him to talk or show upset if he doesn't answer my question or speak to me!” she said, still with excitement in her voice.

She actually didn’t have much experience as a nanny. But children loved to play with her. Taking care of a five-year-old boy wouldn’t be a problem for her.

She grinned at the stern housekeeper after giving out her answer like a big dog waiting for its praise.

The housekeeper frowned at that optimistic spirit. She reminded the young girl, “Just remember he only needs company, not a teacher or anything like that. Also, be patient. Don’t push him to do anything.”

That confused Kelly a little, but she nodded her head very smoothly.

The housekeeper then knocked on the door and informed the little boy inside, “Charlie, your new nanny is here. I will send her in.”

Nobody answered her. Not even any sound came from inside the room. The housekeeper then slowly pushed the door open.

Kelly saw a blue children’s bedroom which was about the size of her own, and then a black-haired little body in a black T-shirt, sitting on the carpet beside the bed, playing with a pile of toy blocks.

After Kelly went inside, the door closed behind her. It made some audible noise, but the boy didn’t raise his head, just kept playing with those blocks as if he hadn’t heard anything.

Kelly knew the boy was a healthy boy-at least, the file she got said so.

She walked beside the boy and carefully knelt on the carpet.

After getting herself to the eye level of the little boy, she gently introduced herself.

“Hi, there,” she spoke with a big smile, bending her neck a little so she could see the little boy’s face.

“My name is Kelly. I am your new nanny. What’s your name?” she asked.

The boy didn’t stop what he was doing until after a while. After Kelly waited for like two minutes, he finally raised his head and looked at Kelly.

Kelly saw a very cute little boy with a pair of big brown eyes, but there were scares hiding inside them.

He stared at Kelly for about 30 seconds, as if trying to figure out who she was. After he finally made the judgment, he lowered his head again and then dropped all the toys in his hands.

Kelly saw tears running down the little boy’s cheeks. She was surprised.

“Are you alright?” she widened her eyes, leaning forward from the carpet, and asked the little boy, “Why are you crying? Did I do something wrong?”

The boy didn’t reply. He dried the tears with the back of his little hands, and then turned and crawled under the bed.

Kelly lowered herself down to the floor and looked under the bed with confusion. She saw the little boy crawling towards the corner of it and then hid himself under an old yellow blanket placed there…

***

On another side of the city, at the international airport, Doctor Gary was waiting anxiously for the arrival of his future colleague, Lena Evans.

Three years ago, they met at an academic seminar in Germany. Lena shared her insightful opinions about the prospect of psychology. Ever since then, Doctor Gary had been thinking about her. He heard Lena chose to specialize in child therapy later and became a successful child psychologist.

About one year ago, when Doctor Gary decided to open his own clinic, he invited Lena to be his partner. He had never thought Lena would agree to come to America, but she did. After a whole year of all sorts of preparations and applications, Lena finally got the license from the state’s government.

Today was the day she officially moved to America with her daughter, Angela. Doctor Gary was excited and nervous about it.

He arrived at the airport about two hours earlier and had been waiting at the Arrivals anxiously. When Lena’s beautiful figure finally showed up, he waved his hand to her excitedly.

“Doctor Lena, here!” He yelled.

Lena smiled at him first, and then lowered her head to check on her little daughter.

The five-year-old girl was excited to be in the United States. She was turning her head, checking around relentlessly with curiosity. Hadn’t Lena held her hand, she would have run after a strange couple who had colorful feathers on their heads.

It reminded Lena of her lost son, Lucas, who was somewhere in this strange country, being raised by the woman who stole him.

Tears struggled to run out of her eyes, but Lena successfully held them back. Except for herself, no one else knew she had another child. The doctor who did the ultrasound for her swore Lena only had one baby judging by the result. But Lena knew it wasn’t true. She gave birth to a lovely boy prior to Angela, and she was going to find him and… at least make sure he was having a happy life.

She took a deep breath to suppress the surging emotion in her chest and then walked towards Gary with Angela in her hand.

Gary had already opened his arms to her. “Welcome to New York!” He grinned.

It was unusual for a psychologist to have such an outgoing character as Gary, but Lena kind of liked it.

The darkness was too thick in her overburdened life, she needed every sunlight she could get.

“Thank you,” she whispered in gratitude and then hugged her future colleague shortly in politeness.

The little girl got upset.

“Me! Me! Me! Mommy! I want to hug Uncle Gary too!!! Don’t leave me alone!!” she raised her little mouth while jumping around her mum.

Gary laughed. He met the little girl a few times when he flew to Lena’s country to help her with paperwork. The little girl was the most vibrant child he had ever seen, always had all sorts of strange ideas in her little head, but in a very cute way.

He bent over and picked the girl up to let her give him a big hug with her little arms. Angela grinned at him.

“Thank you, Uncle Gary. You are the best uncle in the world!” she praised.

“And you are the cutest little angel in the world,” Gary laughed.

He let Angela sit on his arm, and started to walk towards the exit.

Lena walked behind them quietly. She tried to be cheerful, but every time she was in this city, her heart got flooded by the sorrow of losing her son. Being happy seemed to be a sin while her son might be suffering in someplace she couldn’t see.

She kept her head lowered, staring at the ground, struggling to keep all those sadness and pains in the depths of her heart.

Suddenly, she heard her angel call her, “Mommy!”

Lena raised her head and saw Angela looking at her from Gary’s shoulder with worries in her beautiful green eyes-she inherited that from Lena.

“Mommy!”

Feeling the sudden down mood of her mother, the little girl reached out her arms from Gary’s shoulder, asking for a hug.

Lena quickly walked up and got her from Gary. She held her little angel in front of her chest and hugged her tightly.

Angela was still a little girl, but she somehow was extremely sensitive to people’s emotions. She always knew it whenever her mother needed comfort.

She pressed her little cheek on Lena’s shoulder, and whispered, “I love you, Mommy. Please don’t be sad.”

Lena quickly nodded her head, using every strength of hers to prevent tears from running out. She didn’t want to explain it to Gary. She didn’t want anyone to know about her stupid, dark, painful past.

“It’s alright. Mommy is alright. Don’t worry,” she whispered to her little angel, and kissed her smooth blond hair.

Angela nodded her head. She put her little hand on Lena’s other shoulder and whispered again, “I love you, Mommy, very, very.”

Lena took a deep breath to calm herself down, and then told her little angel, “Mommy loves you too. Mommy loves you more than anything in the world.”

They cuddled each other for like one minute. Gary waited quietly beside them.

Lena never told him anything about her personal life, but he knew how difficult it was to be a single mom.

After Lena put Angela down, he took the suitcase for her and grinned at the mother and daughter, “Let’s go to your new apartment. I bet you will love the place.”

Lena nodded her head and said “Thank you” to Gary with a warm smile.

No matter how broken she actually was, right now she must put herself together and move on with her life. Even just for Angela’s sake, she needed to be a happy and normal mom.

She held Angela's little hand and smiled at her, “Let’s go to our new home!”

The little girl nodded her head with a big grin and then repeated, “I love you, Mommy! Very, very!”