Chapter 2: A New Beginning

My footsteps felt unbearably heavy as I walked along the cold, deserted sidewalks of New York. The pouring rain had finally subsided, leaving puddles that reflected the dim glow of the streetlights. My thin dress was completely soaked, clinging to my skin and making my entire body shiver uncontrollably.

I reached into my pocket, pulled out my phone with its cracked screen, and opened my banking app. The number displayed on the screen made my chest tighten even more.

$40.00.

Forty dollars.

That was all I had left in this world. Not even enough to rent the cheapest motel room in the city for a single night. A crushing sense of helplessness hit me so hard that it became difficult to breathe.

With nowhere to go, I sank onto a long wooden bench by the roadside. Pulling my knees close to my chest, I buried my face against them. The urge to give up was overwhelming, but the thought of Emma's, Sheina's, and Gavin's satisfied smiles kept the tiny flame inside my heart from dying out.

When I finally lifted my head, my eyes accidentally landed on an old newspaper lying beside the bench. Its edges were damp from the rain, but the back page was still readable.

Out of curiosity, I picked it up and flipped through the pages. A bold advertisement at the bottom of one page immediately caught my attention.

[URGENTLY HIRING]

Private Live-in Nanny for a Five-Year-Old Boy

Requirements: Patient, loves children, and willing to live on-site.

Benefits: Luxurious accommodation, excellent salary, and guaranteed security.

Contact the number below (Available 24 Hours).

My heart began pounding.

Live-in?

That meant I could have a place to stay tonight.

Without wasting another second, I dialed the number printed in the advertisement. My fingers trembled as I held the phone to my ear. The ringing lasted only a few seconds before a deep, formal voice answered.

"Vance Residence. How may I assist you?"

"A-Are you really looking for a nanny?" I asked softly, trying to stop my teeth from chattering in the cold.

"Yes, that's correct. Our employer needs one immediately," the man replied without any unnecessary pleasantries.

"I'm willing to take the job," I blurted out, terrified of losing this precious opportunity. "I can start tonight. But... could you please pick me up? I don't have a car."

Silence filled the other end of the line for a brief moment, as though the man were considering my request.

"Where are you?"

I quickly gave him the name of the street and the nearby bus stop where I was sitting.

"Stay where you are. A car will be there shortly."

The call ended immediately.

I leaned my head against the iron pole beside the bench, wrapping my arms tightly around myself. At that moment, I could think of only one thing—to find shelter from the cruelty of another freezing New York night.

Fifteen minutes later, a jet-black Rolls-Royce Phantom pulled up directly in front of me. Its dark-tinted windows gave off an icy, untouchable aura.

My heart nearly leaped out of my chest.

A Rolls-Royce?

An elderly man dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit stepped out from the driver's seat and politely opened the rear door for me.

"Miss Cyara Elitacon? Please, get in," he said courteously, though his tone remained formal.

For a moment, I hesitated.

My future employer was obviously someone unimaginably wealthy.

But realizing I had no other choice, I didn't let the opportunity slip away. I climbed into the luxurious leather seat, where the scent of expensive leather immediately filled my senses.

The luxury car glided through the darkness, carrying us away from downtown New York toward an isolated hillside district. Eventually, it came to a stop before a pair of enormous wrought-iron gates decorated with intricate carvings.

The gates opened automatically, allowing the car to continue along a gravel driveway toward a magnificent Gothic-style mansion that stood proudly amid the darkness.

As soon as the car stopped, the elderly gentleman opened my door once again.

"Welcome to Vance Manor, Miss Cyara. My name is Harrison, the head butler of this estate."

"Thank you, Mr. Harrison," I whispered nervously.

"This way, please. We'll use the back entrance. Young Master is asleep upstairs, and we mustn't disturb him," Harrison instructed as he led me through a side corridor bordering the mansion's inner garden.

The night wind blew fiercely, carrying with it the scent of damp earth and...

...the strange metallic smell of blood.

BANG!

A deafening gunshot suddenly shattered the silence of the night.

"Ah!"

I gasped in terror. My feet froze where they were, and panic sent my heartbeat racing.

Almost instinctively, I turned toward the source of the sound in the dimly lit corner of the garden.

What I saw made every drop of blood in my body turn to ice.

Beneath the faint glow of the garden lights stood a tall, broad-shouldered man. His powerful hand gripped a suppressed pistol that was still releasing a thin trail of smoke. His black dress shirt was left partially unbuttoned, exposing a sculpted chest and the massive tattoo of a serpent that coiled across his torso before slithering up the side of his neck.

At his feet lay a man in a pool of blood, completely motionless.

The man in black slowly turned his head.

His sharp, icy eyes—filled with an overwhelming aura of authority and intimidation—locked directly onto mine.

There was no remorse.

No fear.

Only terrifying, absolute dominance.

My heart nearly stopped beating.

The air caught in my throat.

Without saying a single word, he lowered his hand, slipped the pistol beneath his suit jacket, and calmly walked away into the darkness as though my presence meant absolutely nothing.

I remained frozen in place. My knees shook so violently that I could barely stay standing.

With a trembling voice, disguising my curiosity beneath forced politeness, I turned to Harrison.

"W-Who... was that man, Mr. Harrison?" I asked quietly.

Harrison didn't even glance toward the garden.

His aged face remained perfectly expressionless, as though the bloody scene we had just witnessed was nothing out of the ordinary.

"That was Mr. Gabriel Vance," Harrison replied calmly, his composed tone sending chills down my spine. "The most feared Mafia boss in all of New York—and the owner of this estate. It seems he still had some business to take care of."

Harrison then turned to face me, his eyes carrying a clear warning.

"One piece of advice, Miss Elitacon. Never look at him the way you just did again. Mr. Vance dislikes being watched."

The old butler's words made my legs suddenly go weak.

Reality struck me like a crushing blow to the chest.

I had run away from the cruel Wilson family...

...only for fate to throw me into a place far more dangerous.

I never imagined that the nanny position I had found in an old newspaper tonight would lead me to become the personal nanny of one of New York's most powerful Mafia bosses.

But when I looked down at my small suitcase and remembered the freezing streets I had just left behind, I slowly clenched my fists.

I had nowhere else to go.

Gathering every last ounce of courage I had left, I forced my trembling legs to carry me forward and stepped inside the home of the Mafia king.