Suspicions and Demands

Roman frowned, his gaze shifting from the open doorway down to the little girl held securely in his arms. He gently set Hazel on her feet, patting her shoulder. "Merrick, bring her to get some dessert."

Once the heavy wooden door clicked shut and the sound of Hazel's footsteps faded down the hall, Roman turned and stepped into the bathroom.

Even though he had told Hazel she could choose her own servant, she was just a child. A six-year-old’s ability to judge character was nowhere near reliable, and this woman was a stranger. He needed to see this new nanny for himself, to ensure she was not harboring any hidden motives.

Inside, the air hung thick with warm steam from Hazel’s bath. The scent of lavender soap still lingered in the enclosed space. Sienna stood by the marble washbasin, her slender back facing the doorway. She tidied the wet counter with practiced efficiency, then paused, noticing the stack of pristine white towels folded on the heated rack. Turning slightly, she opened the overhead wooden cupboard, pulled out a soft pink towel, and swapped it out.

Hazel loved pink.

Her slim figure moved through the fog with a fluid, haunting familiarity. The curve of her shoulders as she reached up, the way she tilted her head to inspect her work—it felt like stepping into a forgotten dream. His heart gave an unexpected jolt against his ribs.

"Sisi..." The two syllables slipped past Roman's lips, falling into the quiet room before he could stop them.

Sienna stiffened. The sponge in her hand halted on the wet marble. She stood frozen for a second, fighting the sudden spike in her pulse. Taking a slow, controlled breath, she arranged a polite, detached smile on her face and turned around.

"Hello, Mr. Knox," she greeted, keeping her voice even.

Roman blinked, shaking his head slightly. The unfamiliar features and her calm, measured tone snapped his mind back to reality. The phantom image of his dead wife vanished in an instant, replaced by a face he vividly recognized from the night before.

"It is you," his voice dropped, turning sharp and cold.

The woman from the department store.

Sienna offered a faint nod, her expression unreadable. "Hello. I am Sienna."

His dark brows drew together in a harsh line. Suspicion radiated from his tall frame, filling the small bathroom. "What is your name?"

"I am Sienna."

"What? Sienna?" He narrowed his eyes, tracking the subtle shifts in her posture.

A second later, he lunged forward.

His large hand clamped around her throat with ruthless force. He shoved her backward, pinning her hard against the ice-cold tiles of the bathroom wall. The breath knocked out of her lungs in a sharp gasp.

"Are you trying to say your family name is Croft?" he hissed, his face inches from hers. "You are Sienna Croft?"

He glared at her, his grip tightening around her windpipe, refusing to give her an inch. "You deliberately bumped into me yesterday just to spark a conversation. Today, you show up in my house as my daughter’s nanny. And you dare use my dead wife’s name? A woman like you?"

Sienna clawed at his thick wrist, her feet scrambling against the floorboards as she fought for air. She could not force a single word through her crushed throat. Deep down, despite the burning in her chest and the black spots dancing in her vision, she scoffed.

He actually remembered she used to be Sienna Croft. She had assumed he would have scrubbed her very existence from his memory after enjoying these past few years playing house with Blair.

"Daddy!"

The bathroom door burst open. Hazel rushed in, her pink princess dress swishing frantically around her legs. She sprinted across the slippery floor, threw her tiny arms around Roman’s leg, and yanked backward with all her might.

"Let her go! She is in pain!" Hazel screamed, her face turning red. "If she is hurt, I will feel so bad!"

The little girl possessed barely any physical strength, her small hands slipping against his trousers, but her voice echoed with raw panic and genuine fury.

Roman froze. He looked down at his daughter’s tear-filled eyes, then back up to the woman gasping against the wall. The anger drained from his expression, replaced by a sudden realization of his actions. He released his grip, stepping back.

Sienna collapsed to the floor in a heap. She clutched her bruised neck, sucking in ragged breaths of fresh air, coughing hard as her lungs expanded.

"Are you okay?" Hazel dropped to her knees beside her. Her small hands patted Sienna’s chest with frantic worry, checking her face for tears. "Is it bad? I will get you a doctor!"

Without waiting for an answer, Hazel spun around on her knees and glared up at Roman, pointing a small finger right at his chest. "Go get a doctor!"

Standing just outside the doorway, Merrick broke out in a cold sweat.

In Alden City, Roman Knox was untouchable. He was a god-like existence in the business world. Nobody dared breathe wrong in his presence, not even the oldest, most respected members of the Knox family. Yet this tiny, newly-found daughter was barking orders at him, treating the most powerful man in the city like he was a hired servant.

Roman frowned, his jaw tight. He glanced sideways at his assistant. "Get a doctor."

Merrick stood stunned in silence for a second before scrambling to pull out his phone.

"There is no need for that."

Sienna drew in a long, shaky breath and pushed herself off the damp floor. She leaned against the edge of the vanity for support, smoothing down her uniform. "I am not so delicate that I need medical attention over this."

She raised her chin, meeting Roman’s dark, stormy gaze head-on. "Mr. Knox, my name is Sienna. Si-enna. I am sorry for sharing the exact same name as your ex-wife, but I cannot do anything about that. It is my name."

She paused, letting the silence stretch for a beat. "As for the incident at the department store, I bumped into you by pure accident. And as for getting hired here..." Her gaze remained steady, stripped of any lingering emotion. "I just want a job that I am good at. It just so happened that the Little Princess and I clicked today. I harbor zero intentions toward you. I hope you will not overthink it."

Having set her boundary, Sienna lowered her head. She looked down at Hazel, her voice instantly softening into a gentle, warm murmur. "I thought you went downstairs for some dessert?"

Hazel’s face crumpled into a dissatisfied pout. "The desserts here are way too sweet. I hate them."

"Do you want some cookies, then?"

"Yeah!"

"I will bake you some."

"Okay!"

Hazel reached out, grabbing Sienna’s index finger tightly. She puffed out her chest and pulled the older woman behind her, marching toward the door like a tiny, fierce bodyguard protecting her treasure.

When they reached the threshold, Hazel stopped. She turned around and leveled a solemn, menacing glare at Roman.

"Daddy, if you dare touch Auntie again... Not only will I run away from home, but I will call the police! I will tell them you are abusive!"

Roman stood in the middle of the bathroom, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he watched the two figures—one tall, one tiny—disappear down the hallway. The house suddenly felt too quiet.

"Give me everything we have on Sienna," Roman said, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous register. "Her background, her past employers, everything."

"Yes, Sir." Merrick nodded rapidly, eager to escape the suffocating tension in the room. He turned to leave, but Roman called out.

"Wait."

Merrick stopped in his tracks, turning back.

Roman stared down at his own large hands. "The way I acted just now..." He hesitated, the words feeling foreign and heavy on his tongue. "Will it make Hazel think I am a bad man?"

The sudden appearance of this daughter left him tangled in a mess of conflicting emotions. He felt a profound sense of delight knowing his child was alive and living under his roof, yet he felt so out of his depth. He had no concept of how to parent, no idea how to interact with a fragile six-year-old girl who looked at him with such bright eyes.

He wanted to uncover this strange nanny's true identity, but in his rush for answers, he forgot he needed to leave a good impression on Hazel.

"A bit, yes..." Merrick dabbed at his forehead with a folded handkerchief. "The Little Princess picked this servant herself out of dozens of candidates. I can tell that she is very fond of Sienna..."

The knot between Roman’s brows tightened further. Irritation flared in his chest, directed mostly at himself for losing his temper. Without another word, he strode out of the bedroom and headed downstairs.

In the small dining room adjacent to the massive open-concept kitchen, Hazel sat quietly in a high-backed wooden chair. Her legs dangled off the edge, swinging back and forth as she stared unblinkingly toward the kitchen counter.

Roman walked into the room, pulling a chair out across from her. He rested his arms on the table. "What are you looking at?"

"At my cookies." Hazel licked her lips, her voice soft and sweet. "Auntie said the cookies need to stay in the oven for another thirty minutes before we can take them out."

At the mention of the nanny, Roman scanned the empty kitchen and the adjoining hallway. The oven was on, but the room was deserted. "Where is she?"

"Who?" Hazel cocked her head to the side, blinking her big, dewy eyes at him in feigned innocence. "Are you talking about Auntie?"

Seeing her soft, adorable expression, Roman could not resist. He reached across the table and patted the top of her head. "Yeah, her."

"Auntie, she is..." Hazel paused. Her lower lip began to tremble. She drew in a ragged breath, and tears spilled over her eyelashes, running rampant down her cheeks like broken pipes. "Auntie is gone!"

She rubbed her eyes with the back of her small hands, sobbing loudly. "She said Daddy hates her! She said even though she needs a job badly, she refuses to live under constant suspicion and humiliation! So she went home! Sob, sob, sob!"

Roman froze, his hand still hovering over her head.

The woman just left? Walked out of the house just like that?

He studied Hazel’s red, tear-streaked face. He lowered his voice, trying to sound as soothing as possible. "Do you want her to come back?"

"Yes!" Hazel sniffled, wiping her nose. "But Auntie said she is not coming back unless Daddy apologizes. Unless you admit you misunderstood her."

Hazel paused her crying for a fraction of a second, pressing her lips together. She spoke with a mature, understanding tone that belied her age.

"Although Hazel really likes Auntie, Daddy’s pride is much more important. We cannot ask you to apologize just for me." She sighed, a dramatic, heavy sound. "So Daddy, you can just cook lunch for me today instead. I do not like to eat meals made by the regular servants. I only eat food made by people I like. And in this house, I only like you, Daddy."

The blue veins on Roman’s forehead throbbed.

She wanted him to cook for her? Personally?

"Daddy, you are so handsome and smart," Hazel said, her voice dripping with sugar. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands, staring at him with wide, serious eyes. "A small matter like cooking is a piece of cake for someone like you, right?"

Roman stared into those expectant, tear-filled eyes. A heavy, pregnant pause settled over the dining room. He had never cooked a meal in his life.

Minutes ticked by in silence. Finally, Roman let out a long breath. He stood up, unfastened the expensive cuffs of his dress shirt, and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows. He turned on his heel and marched straight into the kitchen, eyeing the array of stainless steel pots and pans with grim determination.

The moment his back was turned, Hazel’s tears vanished without a trace. She bent over the small table, secretly digging into her pocket. She pulled out her mobile phone, resting her elbows on the wood to steady her hands.

She snapped a picture of the intimidating Roman Knox fumbling around the kitchen, staring at a cutting board in confusion.

Smiling in triumph, Hazel hit send, firing the photo straight to Sienna.