Filed to story: The Alpha and His Nanny Luna (Tiffany & Asher) Book PDF Free
WereCorp employees and his cold attitude toward the children that tried to give him their thank-you cards outside the WereCorp headquarters. I stopped reading before I got to that point, not wanting Ella to hear those things being said about her father.
“Will you bring me next time?” Ella asked. “I want to see the orphanage.”
I nodded. “If your daddy says it’s okay, I’ll take you sometime,” I said. “I’m sure the other children would love to make friends with you.”
Satisfied with that response, Ella jumped off my lap and ran off to play. As I stood and began to tidy up, however, I couldn’t stop thinking about the article; the reporter was right about the fact that the visit to the orphanage was originally meant to be a publicity stunt, and although it ultimately turned out to be far more than that, it still made me feel a bit guilty for suggesting it to begin with. In a way, I felt as though I had helped Asher take advantage of Sophia and the children by getting those nice pictures. He hadn’t mentioned the trip at all for the past few days, which made me wonder if it truly made him more compassionate or if it was all just an act to get some positive press. Was he even still planning on starting a foundation for human orphanages?
Suddenly, I heard the elevator ding and looked up to see the doors slide open, revealing Asher; he had come home much earlier than expected.
“What are you doing here so early?” I asked, looking up at the clock to see that it was only a little past one o’clock.
Asher shrugged and tossed his briefcase down by the coat rack in the foyer. “No reason,” he replied. “Just taking an extra hour for lunch to get some work done here.”
He started to walk toward his study, but I called after him.
“Asher,” I said, watching him stop in his tracks and look over his shoulder. “There’s an article about you in the paper.”
“Oh?” he said, turning around now fully as I scooped the paper up and handed it to him. I watched his steely gray eyes scan the article, and then with a hmph, he tossed it back down on the coffee table.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Sophia said some really nice things about you.”
He shrugged. “I was just hoping they would have reported on the pay raises by now,” he said.
“The pay raises?” I cocked my head, intrigued.
“Yes. I gave the human workers the pay raises they wanted. A certain percentage, anyway.”
I was taken aback by Asher’s sudden choice to do the right thing. Maybe the visit to the orphanage really did change a small part of the Alpha’s heart, after all.
“That’s… great,” I said, feeling a smile spread across my face. “I’m happy that you did that.”
Now, it was Asher who appeared a bit taken aback. He almost appeared as though he didn’t know how to respond to someone being happy for his decisions.
“Well, it’s all for the productivity of my factories,” he said, his face returning to its usual cold and stony appearance. “And besides, I wouldn’t have made this decision if it wasn’t part of a negotiation to get my employees back to work.”
“He’s lying…” Mina suddenly said. “I think… he wanted to do the right thing.”
I watched as Asher turned to go back to his study. Before he disappeared inside, I called after him one last time: “Still. Thank you for doing the right thing.”
Asher paused, his hand on the doorknob. Then, without a word, he closed the study door behind him and left me alone.
Just then, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket, breaking me from my trance over Asher’s sudden change of heart. I pulled it out and felt my heart skip as I saw Ethan’s name on the screen, then I glanced up at the study door to make sure that Asher wasn’t watching before I answered, walking further away. After how Asher had always reacted before over Ethan, I felt like I should hide this phone call from him.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Tiffany, hi,” Ethan’s soft voice said on the other line. “Are you free tonight?”
“Um– Why do you ask?”
“How cruel of you to have forgotten,” Ethan said. There was a bit of humor in his voice, and suddenly, I remembered that the exhibit was tonight.
“Oh!” I said, feeling my face get hot with embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I completely forgot.”
“It’s alright,” Ethan said with a chuckle. “Well, if you wanna come, it starts at eight. Afterwards, there’ll be an afterparty.”
I bit my lip, glancing over my shoulder at the study door — it was still closed.
“I’ll try my best,” I said.
After we hung up, I slipped my phone back into my pocket as I continued to look at the study door. Would it be a bad idea to lie in order to go to Ethan’s exhibit?
Tiffany
I couldn’t bring myself to avoid Ethan’s exhibit after he had asked me to go so many times. So, after putting Ella to bed, I went to Selina with my hand on my stomach and a frown on my face.
“I’m afraid I might have contracted food poisoning,” I said, feigning illness. “Can you keep an eye on things if Ella wakes up? I’m going to go to urgent care.”
Selina frowned, looking at her watch. “Do you need a driver?” she asked.
I vehemently shook my head. “No. It’s okay. I’ll call a cab.”
“Well… Alright,” she said, pursing her lips. “Be careful.”
After that, I put on a simple dress that could pass for urgent care attire if anyone were to question me, and flagged down a cab outside of the penthouse.
Just as I suspected, the art gallery was packed to the brim when I arrived. As I got out of the cab, I felt a lump rise in my throat; all of the other patrons seemed to be dressed lavishly, which made me feel incredibly out of place.
There was a line with a bouncer to get in. I stood in line, patiently waiting my turn.
“Name?” the bouncer said, eyeing me up and down suspiciously as I walked up to him.
