LOGINHe vanished the night our child was born. A year later, he came back to take her from me. I never planned to be a mother. I only wanted to help Anthony Powell, a grieving widower desperate to hold onto a piece of his late wife. I agreed to carry his child with no strings. But when I went into labor, he never showed. Not a call. Not a word. Forty-eight hours passed. The hospital couldn’t reach him. And I was forced to make a choice that would change everything—I took that baby home and raised her as my own. For one perfect year, Nori was mine. Then he returned... Soaked in rain and regret, Anthony stood at my door with a story about a car crash and a coma. He said he never abandoned us. And then he demanded custody of the daughter I’d loved every day since her first breath. I lost everything when the courts sided with him and demanded I hand my baby over. But then...his lawyer came to me with an unthinkable offer: move into his home... and become Nori’s nanny. I said yes, but on my terms. If this “arrangement” fell apart, I wanted joint custody written in stone. Now I’m living under his roof, seeing glimpses of the man he used to be—the kind, broken soul who once only wanted a chance at fatherhood. But I can’t forget his cruelty and what he took from me. And the worst part? I think I’m falling for him all over again.
View More**Kierra**I listened carefully to Jonathan’s recollection of his tumultuous relationship with Eliza from the time their marriage started to break down, her cheating, their divorce, and everything that followed.“To your extensive and intimate knowledge of Mrs. Baker, did you suspect she suffered from mental health issues?”Jonathan sighed and rubbed his forehead before answering. “I…it’s hard to say.”“How so?” Detective Prescott queried.“I don’t know how to say this delicately, and I don’t wish to speak ill of the dead, but Eliza was…spoiled. She had a way of getting what she wanted, and I’ll hold myself accountable and say that I enabled her 100%. I think she reacted poorly when she realized she couldn’t get what she wanted from me any longer. She became verbally and physically abusive—she busted the windows out of my truck and physically attacked me outside of my residence—there are corroborating police reports to prove that.”“Yes, I’ve read them. Mrs. Baker was also placed on a
**Kierra**“What do you think?” Jonathan asked, holding up a dress for me.“Nah. I’m not feeling it.”“What’s wrong with it?” he asked incredulously, running his fingers over the soft fabric. I cringed at the ruffles.“How do I say this kindly? It’s giving…I sing enchanting songs that attract woodland creatures while baking bread from scratch.”Jonathan gawked at the dress. “I think it’d look lovely on you.”“Lovely or not, I’d prefer the Slasher crop top and sweats.”“But,” he said, slowly approaching me with the dress, “my mother, who saved your life, I might add, purchased this for you,” he said softly, trying to guilt the hell out of me.It’s working, but he can’t play the ‘you’d be dead if it weren’t for my mother’ card for much longer.I grinned. “You’re an asshole.”“I’ll take that as long as you still love me,” he expressed before caressing my lips with his. That was enough to make me forget about my injuries. I cupped him through his jeans with my free hand and groaned when h
**Jonathan**Kierra woke, and everyone kept the welfare check hushed under my instructions. I’d speak with her when she was alert. She woke from her nap and went straight to bed after the kids showed her their Christmas stockings.“How are you feeling?” I asked softly, stroking her bruised cheek.“I’m comfortable but exhausted,” she said, punctuating her statement with a yawn.“Thanks for joining us for dinner. I know it took a lot out of you, but we were happy to celebrate the day with you.”“I was barely there. I was in and out,” she laughed.“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that we need to discuss the Christmas wish lists that these children wrote.”“Oh no. What was the most outrageous request?”“A dog. This led to an hour-long debate about what kind of dog to get, but I’m not truly keen on the idea. The thought of having dog hair stuck to my suits is enough to make me crawl out of my skin.”“I get it,” Kierra sympathized. “Whose idea was it to get a dog?”“Kiyah.”“Of course,
**Jonathan**“Yes! That’s what I’m talking about!” Anthony shouted when his favorite football team scored a touchdown.“They’re still losing,” I chuckled, helping Daisy decorate her Christmas stocking while my mother and Simone decorated the tree.“You’re a hater, Jon. They have time to catch up.”“I might be a hater, but you’re delusional. They’re down by twenty-one and a two-point conversion with seven minutes to go in the last quarter and two time-outs. Sit down before you hurt yourself.”“I don’t need to sit,” he grumbled as he fell to the couch. A few seconds later, he was massaging his leg and wincing.“Uh oh,” Casey mumbled from beside me. I held back my sigh at the sight of the red glitter he spilled all over the coffee table.“It’s okay, Case. I think we have some more red glitter,” I reassured, rummaging around in the art box.“I’m running out of glue,” Kiyah whined as she squeezed the tube with her tongue sticking out.“There’s plenty of glue left. You just have to squeeze






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