The moment the chauffeur parked the car at the front of St. Peter Elementary School, I felt my heart skip a beat. This would be the first time I was picking Aria up by myself, though it hadn’t been the first I’d been here. The previous two had been with James when he allowed me to tag along simply because the three of us had to go out shopping afterward.

“I won’t be long, John,” I said to the chauffeur.

The driver said, “Take your time, Miss Donovan.”

A few moments later, I was making my way toward the main building where reception was situated. As I was doing so, I couldn’t help but feel more than a little nervous. After all, I wasn’t used to doing this sort of thing, going on errands and picking kids up after school. It was completely new to me for sure.

“Hi,” I said the moment I was in front of the reception desk.

The elderly woman looked up and gave me a bright smile. “Hello, dear,” she said. “How can I help you?”

I licked my lips and said, “My name is Mia, and I’m here to pick Aria up.”

The woman looked at me long and hard for a moment, scrutinizing me. Once she was satisfied, she asked, “Mia? Mia Donovan?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Mr. Maxwell phoned. He said a Mia Donovan would be picking Aria up after school today, and I assume that’s you.”

I couldn’t help but feel she was judging me on the spot. Did I look out of place somehow? Was I supposed to be more like Sophie? Elegantly dressed with a know-it-all attitude? After all, this was a private school for rich kids, and their guardians would have to look the part?

I didn’t know James had to phone and tell the school I was the one coming. Was this a security step? If so, then I wasn’t surprised. They had to make sure the children were safe and the people picking up those kids weren’t imposters. Then, of course, I wondered if they’d need some form of identification to ensure I was who I said I was.

I wasn’t wrong. On cue, the woman asked me for my driver’s license. Luckily, I brought it with me and quickly dug into my handbag to take it out.

A moment later, she nodded in approval. She raised her eyes to me again and said, “So you really are Mia Donovan? Mr. Maxwell’s girlfriend?” She beamed at me.

I blinked. “Excuse me?” I asked, confused. Girlfriend? What girlfriend?

The woman wasn’t listening to me and headed around the corner. She said, “Please wait here until the bell rings. I’ll tell Aria’s teacher, Mrs. Thompson, you’re here to pick up Aria.”

I nodded as I watched her disappear along the hallway. Alone, I took a seat in the waiting area and retrieved a magazine to read.

Girlfriend? Had James told the receptionist I was his girlfriend? My heart skipped a beat. But why would he do that?

Then it clicked. Of course! It was obvious, wasn’t it? It’d be weird for James to inform the school that his mistress, the one he made a contract with, would be here to pick his daughter up because he was busy with work. It just didn’t sound or look right. It made sense that James would have to tell a little white lie that I was his girlfriend to make things seem more legit. It was normal for a man’s girlfriend to pick his daughter up after school, wasn’t it?

Yes, that made sense. I nodded at that sound conclusion, feeling more than satisfied.

A few moments later, the elderly receptionist was back. I was just reading through an article when she cleared her throat and asked me, “So are you living with Mr. Maxwell?”

I wasn’t sure what she was trying to get at. I answered, “Yes, I am.”

She looked pleased. “That’s good, dear,” she said, nodding in approval as a grandmother would to her granddaughter. She continued. “Poor Aria. I heard people talking, you know. Her mother ran off with a man when she was just three. The guy was some young stud. Stupid woman. Well, what do you expect? Those filthy rich people. They don’t care about their kids much, do they? Which is a shame.”

I thought about this for a moment and knew James wasn’t like that. He cared about Aria and loved her so dearly that he’d do anything for her, even take a bullet for her, as I would for Andy. The bottom line was I wouldn’t lump James with those filthy rich people. To me, James was a different sort of filthy rich.

The woman chuckled, which drew my attention to her. She commented, “You don’t talk much, do you?”

I said, “Not really.” This was simply because I didn’t know what to talk about. I had no doubt she liked making small talk, more so gossiping, which I didn’t. To be sure, I wouldn’t know how to gossip, which wasn’t surprising since I’d spent most of my adult life working my ass off, trying to survive and making ends meet.

“You know that Sophie woman? Aria’s nanny?”

That topic got me interested, and I nodded. “Yes.”

“What do you think about her?”

I licked my lips and couldn’t help but blurt out the truth. “I know she’s not very nice to Aria, and I don’t like her.”

The woman chuckled. “You’re honest, aren’t you?” She didn’t wait for my reply and continued. “I know. And I don’t like her either. She’s a piece of work I tell you. I know a fake when I see one, and Sophie is a fake. She doesn’t care about Aria. Honestly, I hope Mr. Maxwell fires her soon.” She smiled at me. “I don’t imagine it’ll be long, though, since he has you to look after Aria now.”

I nodded. I’d love to look after Aria, I thought and smiled with glee.

It was then the bell rang, and the place was filled with kids scurrying around everywhere. Their animated voices hummed loud in my ears, which only reminded me of my school years.

I stood and scanned for a sneak peek of Aria, my eyes sharp. A moment later, I saw her rushing along the hallway toward me, her backpack bouncing behind her. I couldn’t help but chuckle at how cute she was.

“Mia! Mia!” she called out to me, her arms widespread. “Mia!”

Once she was close, she threw herself into my arms, and I hugged her tight. “Hello, Aria. How was school today?” I asked, grinning in adoration.

“Good,” she said hyperactively. “I had so much fun today. We did heaps of cool stuff like painting and stuff. I’m gonna show you my painting when we get home. It’s the coolest painting ever!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her enthusiasm. “That’s good,” I said. “I can’t wait to see it.”

“Now that’s something I don’t see every day,” the elderly receptionist said behind me.

I turned to her and asked, “What do you mean?”

She chuckled. “Aria is never like this when that Sophie woman comes to pick her up.”

“Really?” I asked, turning my eyes to Aria once again, feeling my heart ache for the little girl at the reminder of Sophie’s mistreatment.

Aria excitedly carried on, telling me about all the wonderful things she’d done at school today while I encouraged her by smiling and nodding. A moment later, another little girl showed up. The cutie with a mop of thick red curls and sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of her small nose was Susie, Aria’s best friend.

“Hi, Mia,” Susie said once Aria had introduced me to her. “Aria told me all about you and stuff. She said you cook very nice spaghetti Bolognese. It’s my favorite food too. So can we make it together when I come over this weekend? Can we? Can we, please?”

I chuckled and nodded. “Of course,” I said.

Not long after, a woman named Lisa, Susie’s mother, who like her daughter had bright red hair and freckles on her lovely face, introduced herself to me. I didn’t know how I should present myself to her in relation to Aria and James, so I simply said, “I’m Mia Donovan.”

The receptionist didn’t forget to aid me in my introduction and added, “Mr. Maxwell’s girlfriend.” She even winked at me.

I blushed profusely at this while Lisa said, “Wow! James is finally getting real. That’s great news. Congratulations.”

Aria chose that moment to announce to everyone, “Mia’s my girlfriend too. We slept together last night, you know, in my daddy’s bed.”

Oh no, I thought. Was Aria going to tell everyone what had happened? Instantly I felt more than a little embarrassed. I wanted to stop her, but the little girl was too excited. I found I couldn’t interrupt her. So I stood there, my face bright red, as I listened to Aria reciting the tale.

“When I went to bed, it was just me and Daddy, but when I woke up this morning, Mia was in there with us too. I slept on the right of the bed, Mia in the middle, and Daddy on the left. It was the best slumber party ever.”

She turned to Susie and said, “You should do that sometime. You know, sleeping with your mommy and daddy. It’s so warm and cozy and just the best ever.”

At this, Susie turned to her mom and asked, “Can we, Mommy?”

Lisa chuckled and said, “We’ll have to ask your dad about that.”

Susie pulled a face as she turned to Aria. “We have to ask Daddy, and he might say no.”

Aria pulled a face too. “That’s too bad.”

Both Lisa and the receptionist burst out laughing. The three of us chatted for a bit about the two girls, and then fifteen minutes later, Aria and I returned to the car where John was still waiting patiently.

Back at the mansion, once we stepped into the large kitchen, Aria said, “I’m so hungry.”

Martha, the house cook, chuckled and offered, “What would you like to have, Aria?”

Aria thought about it for a moment and then said enthusiastically, “Some chocolate cake, please.”

A few minutes later, I watched her heartily consuming her chocolate cake, Sammy and Alfie by her side. Across the countertop, Martha leaned toward me and said lowly, “Miss Donovan, did you know? Miss Wilson has been fired.”

The subject interested me, and I turned my eyes to Martha. “Really?”

I wasn’t surprised. It was James after all. If Sophie were a man, it would have been worse than just getting fired. Much worse.

Martha continued. “She’s finished packing her stuff, and I saw a moving van outside about half an hour ago.”

I nodded at this. Of course, I wouldn’t have known what had happened because I’d been in the library all morning, reading. After that, I’d been chatting on the phone with Andy and then Savanah, so I hadn’t been paying much attention to what was happening around me. Then James phoned me and requested I go and pick Aria up for him.

Ms. Lane entered the room, and her eyes rested on me. I gave her a slight smile and said, “Hello, Ms. Lane.”

The proficient housekeeper nodded. Then she said, “Mr. Maxwell called. He said his brothers will be coming for dinner tonight.”

Martha immediately made a big fuss about what they should concoct for dinner and went about preparing a nice, hearty menu because the two younger brothers had particular tastes.

Ms. Lane turned to me and said, “I assume you heard about Miss Wilson?”

I nodded.

“Well, I can’t say she didn’t have it coming, behaving as she did,” Ms. Lane said. She eyed Aria. “It’s a good thing she’s gone.” She smiled, which surprised me because I’d always thought Ms. Lane was rather cold and distant.

She returned her attention to me. “Aria likes you. She’s more herself since you’ve arrived. I’m glad.” With that, she headed out the door to continue her work.

I stood there dumbfounded. Honestly, I’d always thought Ms. Lane didn’t like me. I grinned, relieved and elated that James’s staff was beginning to warm up to me, like Martha and John for example, and now the highly regarded regal housekeeper Ms. Lane as well.

“Aria, I’m going to be up in my room for a bit,” I said to the little girl who was still enjoying her chocolate cake. “Do you want to show me your painting when I’m back?”

With her mouth full of cake, she nodded. I chuckled and then headed out the door.

On my way up the stairs, I heard my cell ding, informing me I had a message. I quickly checked it and found it was from James.

Scott and Eric? They had to be his brothers. As I headed into my room, I wondered what they were like. Without a doubt, I was sure they had that arrogant, elite demeanor just like James, the type that made girls weak in the knees yet made them want to run in the opposite direction at the same time because they were so far out of reach, like a sort of god.

My mind was still on the Maxwell brothers when my eyes caught sight of a piece of paper sitting on the bedside table. As I went to pick it up, I was pretty sure it wasn’t there before.

Up close, I read the note, and it said:

I shifted my gaze lower and saw there was a time and place for the meeting. There was also Sophie’s signature at the bottom of the page.

I placed the piece of paper back on the table, thinking Sophie really did want to have a showdown between us. Then I thought it was a good idea since we needed to get this over with once and for all.