Chapter 5: The Intimidating Black Room

I knocked softly twice on the massive wooden door, nearly three meters tall, announcing my presence before finally gathering the courage to push it open.

The door creaked quietly on its hinges.

The first thing that stole my attention was the room's overwhelming aesthetic, dominated entirely by deep black. From the textured walls and the desk crafted from rare wood to the luxurious leather sofa—everything was black, perfectly reflecting the mysterious and cold-hearted nature of its owner.

Gabriel sat behind an enormous desk, dressed in a black knit sweater that concealed the serpent tattoo on his chest. His eyes were fixed directly on me.

I stepped inside with my head slightly lowered, not daring to meet his gaze. Mr. Harrison's grim warning about the nanny who had been thrown out of the third-floor window kept replaying in my mind, reminding me to be careful, know my place, and never act recklessly.

"Why are you looking down?" Gabriel asked.

His deep baritone shattered the suffocating silence that filled the room.

"Do I look as frightening as a monster?"

It seemed Gabriel had already noticed how terrified I was.

"No, Mr. Gabriel. I'm fine," I answered softly, keeping my eyes fixed on the polished leather shoes he was wearing instead of looking at his face.

Gabriel leaned back in his chair.

"Have you finished reading the guidebook on how to be my contract wife?"

"Yes, sir," I replied briefly, still keeping my head lowered.

Silence settled between us.

I heard the sound of a drawer sliding open. A moment later, something thin was placed gently on the black marble desk in front of me.

"This is your first month's salary. Ten thousand dollars," Gabriel said as he slid a matte-black ATM card—a limitless Black Card—across the desk toward me.

Thud.

My head snapped up instinctively.

My eyes widened as I stared at the card before shifting my gaze to Gabriel's sharp, unreadable face, my breath caught in my throat.

Ten thousand dollars?

It was far more than the monthly allowance Gavin had ever given me while I was his wife. And here, I could earn that amount simply by taking care of one handsome, adorable little boy for a single month?!

My heart pounded wildly.

It felt as though a star had fallen from the heavens into the darkest night of my life.

After being abandoned, humiliated, and falsely accused of theft by Gavin and the Wilson family, who had brought me nothing but suffering, fate had suddenly turned my life upside down in the blink of an eye.

This kindness felt almost impossible to believe.

"Every month, your salary will be transferred to the account linked to that card," Gabriel continued with the same expressionless face, as though such a large sum of money meant nothing more than a pebble to him.

I swallowed hard before finally finding the courage to speak, my fingers nervously clutching the fabric of my dress.

"Mr. Gabriel... isn't my salary a little... too generous?"

Gabriel looked at me indifferently.

"I'm doing all of this for Luca. Money means nothing to me."

His firm words echoed in my ears.

A thought quietly crossed my mind.

Perhaps Gabriel was afraid I would grow tired of staying here and run away like the previous nannies had. That was why he was offering me such an unbelievable salary—to make sure I remained by Luca's side.

"Luca needs a mother beside him," Gabriel continued, leaning forward and resting his chin on his clasped hands.

"So do your job properly."

I nodded quickly, trying to steady my racing heartbeat.

"I-I'll make sure Luca always feels comfortable with me, Mr. Gabriel," I replied, my voice trembling slightly, terrified that I might say something wrong and offend him.

Gabriel fell silent.

His eyes, as dark as the night itself, carefully studied every inch of my face.

"Out of all the women who applied to be Luca's nanny and tried to get close to him, you're the only one who's managed to make him smile again," he said unexpectedly.

There was a quiet note of acknowledgment hidden beneath his calm voice.

Hearing praise directly from the master of this mansion made half the anxiety in my chest disappear.

I felt a small wave of relief wash over me.

At least my sincere efforts to care for Luca had not gone unnoticed.

But that relief lasted only two seconds.

"Don't let my praise go to your head..."

Gabriel's voice trailed off.

The atmosphere inside the all-black room instantly grew colder, so cold it felt as though the air itself had frozen. My heart began pounding violently again, squeezing my chest until breathing became difficult.

It felt as though I had just been strapped onto the world's most terrifying adrenaline ride.

Gabriel rose from his chair.

His calm yet heavy footsteps steadily closed the distance between us until he was standing directly in front of me. His towering height cast a dark shadow that completely enveloped my body.

He leaned down slightly, leaving only a few inches between his lips and my ear.

"We'll see how you perform over the next month," he whispered, his low voice laced with restrained menace. "If you do your job well, this marriage contract will be extended. But... if you cause any trouble, or if you dare hurt Luca, even in the slightest..."

He deliberately left the sentence unfinished, staring straight into my eyes with a gaze that carried unmistakable murderous intent.

"...I'll be the one to end your life."

Those words pierced straight through my chest like a dagger.

My entire body trembled uncontrollably.

I lowered my head once more, feeling impossibly small and utterly powerless beneath the overwhelming dominance of this man.

In a single moment, Gabriel had offered me a glimpse of heaven through unimaginable wealth and luxury.

Yet in that very same moment, he made it painfully clear that this place could become the most horrifying hell imaginable if I ever took a single step down the wrong path.

With trembling hands, I picked up the Black Card from the desk, fully aware that the price of this new life was no longer measured in money—

but in my own life.