The Billionaire's Nanny のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 11 - チャプター 16

★NINA★The silence that followed Malachi’s demand was heavy, thick with the scent of his expensive cologne and the lingering, sharp smell of the vinegar that had soaked into my dress. I couldn't tell him. Not all of it. How could I explain that a simple black car could turn me back into a terrified thirteen-year-old girl hiding in a closet while her world ended?"I... I just thought I saw someone," I whispered, my voice cracking. I pulled back slightly, and to my surprise, he let me go, though his eyes remained fixed on mine like he was trying to read the thoughts I was working so hard to hide. "It was nothing, Mr. Malachi. I’m just tired. The sun... and the groceries..."He didn't look like he believed a single word, but he didn't push. Not yet. He stood up, smoothing out his ruined trousers, his expression unreadable. "Go wash up, Nina. We’ll talk later."I didn't wait for a second command. I practically scrambled off the couch and bolted for the stairs. But I didn't go to my room.

★NINA★The morning after the gym incident felt like a lesson in suffocation. I expected a pink slip; instead, I got a ghost. Malachi moved through the house like a specter of his former self—rigid, silent, avoiding my gaze. Whenever our eyes nearly met, he would pivot away, his jaw tightening so hard I could almost hear bone grinding against bone.I sat in the dining room, idly picking at a piece of toast while Lila explained the complicated politics of her stuffed-animal kingdom, when a shadow fell across the table.Malachi stood there, fully dressed in a charcoal suit that probably cost more than my entire life. He didn’t sit. Instead, he slid a thin, matte-black card across the table. It landed beside my plate with a soft clack.I glanced at the card, then back at him, confused. “What is this?”“A credit card, Nina. I believe the concept is universal,” he said. His voice was cold—sharp and stinging, like dry ice.Heat flared in my chest, and it had nothing to do with attraction and

★NINA★I woke up with a headache that felt like someone had taken a hammer to the inside of my skull.The room was still dark, the kind of dark that comes right before dawn when the house hasn’t decided whether it’s night or morning yet. My mouth tasted like sour wine and regret. I groaned and rolled over, burying my face in the pillow.Last night came back in pieces.The candles. The food that tasted like money. Malachi’s hand covering mine when I almost cried. The way his eyes softened when I laughed too loud at my own stupid joke. The quick kiss I’d pressed to his cheek—like I was someone who did things like that.I’d kissed my boss on the cheek.And then run upstairs like a teenager who’d just committed a crime.Heat flooded my face even though no one was watching. I pulled the covers over my head and tried to disappear.It didn’t work.The digital clock on the nightstand glowed 6:14 a.m. Too early to be awake, too late to pretend last night hadn’t happened. I forced myself to sit