Drugs

Then since you caused this, you would repay me. For the next six months, you are mine, Ms. Lancaster. Eva felt her world crashing. "What do you mean, Mr. Wade?" Was that supposed to mean a possession?

"You would be my personal nurse, catering to all my needs," he added, finally explaining what he had meant, and Eva was suddenly confused as to how a man who was yet to trust her would take her as his nurse.

"I am not an ophthalmic nurse, Mr. Wade."

"I am fucking shameless to say this. Never in my life would I think I would one day say this." He pulled his glasses off his face, pursing his lips before he continued. "Then be my nanny."

I had kids. I couldn't tell him about that. "You'd stay with me in my house and be at my call anytime I need you."

"I have a family."

"You would not just go through your punishment alone. I would pay you $500 per hour if you work with me." She gulped down the lump in her throat. "You would stay in my house and handle everything I would be needing. I feel I am still kind, wanting to give you shelter. You did me dirty, but here I am wanting to do you a favor. It's a contract, so be rest assured I won't press charges against you even if you were the cause of this."

"You do not trust me. I think it would be better if you let me go."

"Would you do something worse if I did not?" he asked, a scoff breaking from his lips, making him look breathtaking. If he had not been blind, she wondered if she would have still stared at him for this long.

"I would leave your life and never come back. I am really sorry. You would never see me in California again."

"The police are watching you. That bitch would do all it takes to make you the victim, which I know you are guilty as charged."

---

Evangeline got to the hotel she had asked Vivian to book for them so they could spend the night until they found another solution. Instead of a solution, Eva was not sure what to call this… her world was spiraling in just one day. Tagged for what she hadn't done. Though she was in it, she was also the victim. "The kids are asleep," Vivian pouted, coming to stand in front of Evangeline, who had just walked in. "You resigned."

"They made me." Eva held her hair up tightly as her shoulders began trembling, sobbing sounds escaping her lips. "But I got another job just immediately." She bit her lips as she tried to be sarcastic, cleaning her tears, a weak smile climbing her face. "I know you have done a whole lot for me, but it was bad being secretive with you. I would be working for Lucas."

"Lucas! The one you had a scandal with today and yesterday? The one eight years ago?" Vivian was yelling before she realized she was going to alert the kids.

"Yes… Lucas. He said he won't press charges against me if I worked as his kind of sitter."

"And you accepted?"

"What do I do? Dying a prisoner is the last thing I would ever think of. It hurts me a lot knowing I would be leaving my kids. I am doing the same staying with him, but it feels different. I would still be able to talk with them over the phone…"

"In prison, you'd do the same. Why didn't you tell him that bitch made you do it? I saw the way she lied on the screen."

"I took the money. It's not her fault. I just feel fucked up."

"So you would be staying with Lucas?"

"Yes, I will. I will be starting the job at his place tomorrow. I asked if he could give me more days, but he said he has fired the other lady who works for him."

"Did he know you have, uhmm…" She paused, not wanting to annoy Eva. "The kids. He doesn't know about them?" She raised a brow, and Eva shook her head.

"I would love to take a break." Eva got up from the couch, going to join her kids on the bed, cradling Sabrina, who snored lightly.

***

"Can you take us with you, Mom?" Sabrina asked, pouting lightly.

"Why don't we go to an ice cream shop, all of us, and candies too and an amusement park!" Sebastian yelled, jumping on the bed like it was some kind of playground in his comic-filled pajamas.

"No, I can't take any of you with me, neither are we going to a park. I need to be somewhere. You might not see Mommy till the end of today, babies." She pulled them close as she tried to be strong. Sure, being with Mr. Wade would be better for people calling her kids the children of a prisoner. "Once I get back, I promise to buy you cookies. Then we can go to a park and get ice cream, candies, and whatever you want."

"Are you leaving us, Mom!" they both asked in unison, trying to understand what their mom meant; Sabrina, the crybaby, was already turning red. And when she looked back at Sebastian, it was the man Lucas standing right in front of her. Seeing that man again after eight years, she had just realized her Sebastian was growing to look the same as him.

She was confused, not knowing if she should lie or tell the truth—that she would barely be at her best as a mom for six months. Vivian, who usually helped her talk to them, had her mouth shut because she had a brain freeze just like Eva.

"No, why would I leave my little angels…" She showered them with kisses. "Mommy just got into a busy position at the hospital, and if she doesn't put in hard work, Mommy would be scolded greatly."

"Who dares scol Mom!" Sebastian's brows furrowed greatly, Sabrina already a crying mess beside him.

"Promise me you'd take care of your sister, Seb?" Eva held out her pinky finger.

"I have always done that. I would not let bad boys and girls touch her. I reported Briana to the teachers when she took Sab's dollars and called it hers." Eva pulled them into a tight hug, not wanting to answer any questions from them again because it would only break her, and she might have to take running away with them as an option. But she felt she was done running. She needed to face this shit all at once. It's just six months, and her kids would be hers again.

"I wish I could break that bitch's plastic face," Vivian whispered lightly before she pulled Eva in a tight hug. "I found a school on the web for the kids. I would go check it out today, and I know how you want to keep them away from Lucas, so you can easily say they are mine if anyone finds out."

"Thank you, Vivi."

"Since you kept secrets from me, I was going to do mine too, but I can't…" Vivian said, having both of them burst into light chuckles. "I got a job just beside the hotel, a well-paying one. It's a restaurant two buildings from here."

"That's so fast."

"I was lucky to find the fliers when I took the kids out for a light walk to calm my burning head."

She helped Eva pull her suitcase out. "Within a month, we should be getting a house soon." She shrieked like a kid before giving Eva a peck on the cheek. "Good luck, sweetheart. Tell me when he does shit to you, and that bitch too… and make sure to call me to keep the kids' minds at rest."

Vivian smiled before walking back into the room.

Eva got down from the cab showing Wade's card to the security who stayed in front of his villa like ants. Maybe if she had worked harder, she would have had this too and wouldn't be going through so much stress.

She pulled her suitcase on the neat floor, getting into the foyer and finally the large living room, which looked like King Midas had touched every part of it. Fine golden walls, beautiful chandeliers with gold spikes hanging from the large ceiling. "Welcome, Ms. Lancaster." She almost freaked out when a middle-aged man popped out from a certain corridor in the room.

"Hi… h… thanks."

"The master is taking his bath. He will be here with you shortly. You should start by preparing us breakfast." It felt weird to her why someone who thought she was about killing him would ask her to make his breakfast. She asked what he would like, directing her to the kitchen, and wondered how a place this big did not have a maid.

Lucas sat back in his library, dark shades covering his eyes. "She is cute when she cooks. I knew how you are. You are a fucker for hotties being your maid. You fucked Annie, the maid, that bitch who said she had your babies too, the one wanting to become Cinderella." Claude chattered beside him, with Lucas getting more irritated with every second they spent together. Claude, wanting to provoke Lucas, munched loudly on his chips like a kid, playing with the cover and making rumbling sounds. "ASMR boy." He chuckled wildly before concentrating back on Eva through the screen.

"You know it's good that you have me. That's why I am telling Father not to get me a wife because I have a wife already, my blind wife Lucas Wade. Now if she spiked that food, I would see it, but you won't. I am a gem."

"I would put a call to that old man that he bore nothing but shame if you won't stop being gayish with me."

"I won't fuck your ass. I'd prefer ass cheeks which bounce like hers. My bad, you can't see it and you can't react to it." Not only was Claude watching Eva through the screen, right in the next room close to the library, there were great chefs watching her, all to gain trust that she wouldn't do something crazy later on.

"Oh… there is this something white in a jar. Fuck, she is adding… What's that? Cocaine?" Claude was overly serious for the first time, his eyes on the screen trying to figure out what Eva was adding into the pot that had her so concentrated she didn't care if she got caught.

"How does it look?"

"That bitch had guts to bring it in a large jar… she is putting it over the meats too." He half-yelled, ready to get up from his seat. Lucas frowned before realizing the nonsense Claude was spouting. "That's fucking salt." Claude had never gone into the kitchen. He was never allowed to as the heir of the Reid family.

"Get one of those chefs watching her," Lucas said, knowing one of the maids should be around because there were two different scents.

"Yes, sir."

"What did she just add into the pot?" The old chef stared back at the screen. "Oh, that's tomato sauce, sir."

"No, before that. That white stuff in a jar… that's no tomatoes. I know tomato sauce."

"Oh, that should be salt."

"That looks like drugs."