Piper McDowell

The hospital smelled like antiseptic and despair as it wafted through the air around Piper's breath.

It clung to everything—her clothes, her hair, the inside of her lungs—like it wanted to follow her home and remind her that no matter how hard she pretended, this wasn’t something she could escape.

She stood outside Nana’s ward with her arms folded tightly across her chest, nails biting into her skin through the thin cotton of her long-sleeved blouse. She hadn’t realized that she was shaking until the nurse paused in front of her, with eyes soft in that way medical professionals perfected. The kind of softness that meant bad news wrapped in gentle delivery.

“You can go in now,” the nurse said.

Piper nodded, though her feet didn’t move immediately. It felt like if she delayed long enough, the words she’d just heard wouldn’t settle into permanence.

Late-stage chronic kidney failure.

Nana had been diagnosed with late-stage kidney failure. The surgery and treatment required to save her life was excruciatingly expensive. Even if Piper fought tooth and nail, she couldn't afford it. And without the surgery, Nana had limited time.

Limited time.

The words left a heavy feeling on her chest, like it carried a load of bricks.

Piper couldn't let her stepmother die.

She stepped into the room anyway.

Nana lay propped up against white pillows that swallowed her frail body. Her skin looked thinner than it had yesterday, stretched like paper over bones that had worked too hard for too long. Tubes trailed from her arms, machines beeping softly beside her, as if the room itself was breathing for her.

She smiled when she saw Piper.

That smile nearly broke her.

“Why do you look like you’re about to cry, my strong girl?” she asked, voice raspy but warm.

Piper forced one back. Then another. Then a laugh that came out wrong. “Because hospitals make me dramatic,” she said lightly, moving closer and adjusting Nana's blanket. “You’ll be home before you know it. Complaining about my cooking.”

She chuckled. “That’s not hard to complain about.”

Piper smiled. Really smiled. But her chest remained loaded, like it was caving in.

Piper sat beside Nana and held her hand. It felt smaller than she remembered. Lighter. Like something precious slipping through her fingers.

“Nana,” she said quietly.

Nana watched her carefully. “You spoke to the doctor.”

Piper nodded.

“And?”

Piper swallowed. Hard. “We’ll figure it out.”

The frail woman squeezed her fingers. “Piper.”

She hated when Nana said her name like that. Like she already knew the cost.

“I don’t want you selling your soul for me,” she said gently.

Piper's breath hitched. “You didn’t sell yours for me when you took me in. Loved me.”

That shut her up.

Piper leaned forward, resting her forehead against Nana's knuckles. “You don’t get to die,” she whispered. “Not now. Not when I finally—” her voice cracked. “Not when you’re all I have.”

Nana's hand trembled as it moved to Piper's hair. “You were always too soft-hearted.”

“And you were always too stubborn,” she replied, blinking rapidly.

Piper stayed with her until visiting hours ended, until the machines kept beeping without her watching them, until she had nothing left to say without falling apart completely.

When she finally stepped outside, the sun was too bright, sadly normal, like her world wasn't gradually ripping apart.

The world didn’t know Nana was dying.

She sat on the hospital steps and stared at her phone, the numbers swimming before her eyes.

The amount the doctor had mentioned replayed in her head.

She laughed under my breath.

It wasn’t funny. But it was absurd.

She didn’t have that kind of money. Not even close.

She had paintings that didn’t sell. A studio that barely paid for itself. Dreams that had never learned how to translate into survival.

Her phone buzzed.

Unknown Number.

She almost ignored it.

Almost.

“Hello?” Her voice sounded tired even to her.

“Piper McDowell?” a woman asked.

“Yes.”

“This is Maria from Beverly Hills Private Domestic Solutions Agency.”

Piper's back straightened instinctively.

“We spoke weeks ago,” she continued. “You applied for long-term domestic placement.”

Piper remembered. Of course she did. She'd applied out of desperation, embarrassment curling in her stomach as she filled out forms she never imagined touching.

“Yes,” she said carefully.

“There’s an offer,” Maria said. “Immediate placement, and high priority.”

She closed her eyes.

“Where?”

“Our office. Today.”

Something about Maria's tone made her stomach twist. “What kind of placement?”

There was a brief pause. “You’ll understand better in person.”

Piper stood.

Everything about the agency building screamed what Nana would’ve scoffed at. Glass walls, marble floors, and the kind of silence that seemed to wait for someone worthy before it opened doors.

Maria greeted Piper herself. Her outfit was a sharp suit that seemed tailor-made, her eyes carried the calmness of someone in control of things. She pulled her hair back like she didn’t allow mess to exist near her.

She didn’t waste time in laying the contract on the table.

Piper flipped through it slowly.

Then slower.

Then her fingers froze.

“No physical contact,” she read aloud. “No emotional involvement. Primary responsibility is the care of two children. Public performance of marriage. Confidentiality clause. Duration: two years.”

She looked up. “This is a joke.”

“It’s not,” Maria said calmly.

“You’re asking me to marry a stranger.”

“Yes.”

Piper laughed. Loud. Disbelieving. “Absolutely not.”

Maria slid another paper toward her.

The contract amount.

Her breath left her body.

She stared at the number.

Her throat went dry.

“This is…” Her voice failed her. “Who is he?”

Maria hesitated. “Thomas Anderson.”

Piper stiffened.

The name carried weight.

Billionaire CEO. Obsessive germaphobe. Cold and untouchable, a man who seemed to float above the world. Whose cold stare kept even the closest at arm’s length, and he could make anyone disappear in the snap of a finger. Blogs painted him as a legend, gossip thrived, and yet no one could pierce the careful walls he built around himself.

The man whose wife died about a year ago.

Whose children were always photographed with nannies.

The man everyone said was incapable of love. Some even think he might be dangerous.

“No,” she said immediately, pushing the papers away. “No. I won’t survive that.”

“You don’t have to love him,” Maria said gently. “You won’t even touch him.”

“I’ve seen the articles,” she snapped. “He’s cruel, mean, I even hear he's hostile.”

Maria met her gaze. “He’s desperate.”

Piper stood abruptly. “Find someone else.”

Maria didn’t stop her.

She just said softly, “Your stepmother’s name is Nana, correct?”

Piper froze.

“You mentioned in the application interview that she's ill,” Maria continued. “Her treatment costs are… expensive.”

Piper's heart skipped. The reality of the situation slammed into her chest.

She swallowed.

“Piper,” Maria continued, kindly. “You don’t need to be near him. You just need to resolve to live through it.”

Piper turned slowly.

The contract lay there.

Waiting.

She thought of Nana’s smile. Her hand in hers. Her quiet fear masked by courage.

She sat back down.

Her hands shook as she picked up the pen.

“I want boundaries,” she said hoarsely.

“They’re already written.”

“And the children?”

“They need you.”

Piper swallowed.

She signed.

After she stopped by her studio apartment and packed a couple of things.

She took a taxi to his house, it felt unreal.

Like she’d stepped into someone else’s life and forgotten how to step back out.

When the gates opened, her heart hammered against her ribs.

This wasn’t a house.

It was a fortress.

The mansion rose clean and proud against the Beverly Hills hillside, all smooth concrete and glass. Wide panels of glass stretched from floor to ceiling, reflecting the city lights below. It had a driveway that led straight to tall double doors, broad and unapologetic. The size spoke for itself. Cameras were easy to miss unless you looked twice.

When the door opened, and she stepped inside

And saw Thomas Anderson for the first time

Her heart skipped

Her knees nearly buckled.

The cameras captured his looks poorly

The man looked better than a fine glass of wine on summer vacation.

Everything from his hair to the shoes he wore spoke of perfection.

He wore a scowl that refused to dampen his outrageously handsome face.

But when his eyes swept over her with unmistakable displeasure, she knew...

That she was about to enter the biggest mistake of her life