Chapter 18: The Case of the Mystery Earrings
Moana

I finished preparing lunch with the maids and helped them to set the meal out on the dining room table. Although I had already eaten a quick meal in the kitchen earlier as we prepared the food, it was still my duty as Ella’s nanny to stay with her and help her if she needed anything. Besides, the grumpy look on Ella’s face whenever Kelly was around only softened when I was near her, which made me want to be near her even more as support.

I sat beside Ella for the duration of the lunch, helping her to cut her food, keep her clothes clean, and get her whatever she needed. Edrick, Verona, and Kelly spoke with each other about trivial things as though I wasn’t even there, which was fine with me. If they had tried to involve me in their conversation, I likely wouldn’t have known the right things to say. I’d never dealt with such wealthy people in my life, let alone tried to have meaningful conversation with them.

Not being personally involved in the conversation also allowed me to be more observant — and one thing that I observed was that Kelly was being much more quiet and reserved now than she had been before. She absentmindedly picked at her salad with her fork, hardly eating anything at all.

“Pour me some more tea, would you?” Kelly said suddenly, shooting me a look out of the corner of her eyes.

“Right away,” I said, standing and walking around the table to pick up the teapot. I noticed that Kelly kept her eyes intensely focused on me the entire time as I walked back to pour her tea, but I pretended that I didn’t see it.

Kelly was silent for a moment as I poured her tea. I felt her gaze focused on the side of my head, burning furiously.

When I sat down, Kelly took a sip of her tea before speaking again, this time looking at Edrick.

extra daily necessities were in your room earlier, Edrick?” she asked, setting down

raised an eyebrow.

saw earrings on your side table,” she said.

gasp and

that morning. As a knot formed in my

sounding so nonchalant it made my stomach sick. “I’m not sure. Sometimes Ella likes to play in

her head to look up at me,

if they all knew, and that Kelly would call Edrick out on his bluff and expose our unexplainable sleeping arrangement. Thankfully, she didn’t say anything else about it. Surprisingly, Kelly

turning toward him in her seat. “Do you remember when we were kids, and we used to drive our training coaches insane? We used to run off into the woods as

he cut his food with his fork

misbehave all of the time for your trainers, don’t you?” she said, reaching out

do my training,” she said, her little voice flat and

returned to picking at

help but feel guilty for my arrangement with Edrick after hearing about how he and his childhood sweetheart used to act together. It felt wrong of me to be participating in this agreement if

some reason, hearing about Edrick’s escapades with

her in for her nap, I returned to the foyer to see Verona and Kelly preparing to leave. Verona and Edrick were talking quietly about something that seemed important, so I turned away to go

before I could walk away. I still felt Kelly’s cold gaze on me as I tentatively walked up to Edrick’s mother. Verona, much unlike Kelly, was smiling a bit and seemed a little more open to my presence than the

a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Morgan,” I said politely as I approached. “And

seemed to open her mouth to say

Verona said. “It seems he’s forgotten… Or, he just thought he could get out of going this

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