Chapter 2 - The Nights Adrian Never Saw
The guests left Reed Manor in uncomfortable silence.
Vanessa departed first.
She did not say goodbye.
Camille quietly collected her coat and avoided the reporters waiting outside.
Sophia paused near Emily before leaving.
“You did nothing wrong,” she whispered.
Emily nodded without answering.
Adrian remained in the ballroom after everyone disappeared.
Broken expectations seemed to linger beneath the chandeliers.
Leo had fallen asleep against Emily’s shoulder.
His fingers remained tangled in her apron.
Adrian stood near them, uncertain how to approach his own son.
“May I carry him?”
Emily hesitated.
That hesitation hurt.
Then she nodded.
She transferred Leo carefully.
The child woke the moment he left her arms.
His face crumpled.
“Mama.”
Adrian held him closer.
“I am here.”
Leo twisted toward Emily.
“Mama.”
Emily stepped forward instinctively.
Then stopped herself.
Adrian noticed.
“Take him.”
She accepted the child.
He settled almost immediately.
Adrian looked away.
He had never felt jealous of an employee before.
But jealousy was not the true emotion.
It was shame.
“Come to the library,” he said.
Emily’s expression became cautious.
“Am I being dismissed?”
“No.”
“Then what is this about?”
“The truth.”
Inside the library, Emily sat near the fireplace with Leo asleep in her arms.
Adrian remained standing.
He did not sit behind the desk.
For the first time, he understood how that position might make every conversation feel like an interrogation.
“When did he begin calling you Mama?”
“About two months ago.”
“Why did no one tell me?”
“The head nurse told Mrs. Holloway.”
Mrs. Holloway managed the entire domestic staff.
“And she told you not to mention it?”
Emily nodded.
“She said it would upset you.”
“Who gave her that instruction?”
Emily looked toward Leo.
“I do not know.”
Adrian opened his phone and called Mrs. Holloway.
She arrived ten minutes later.
Her face showed fear when she saw Emily.
Adrian asked one question.
“Who told you to keep Leo’s attachment to Emily from me?”
Mrs. Holloway folded her hands.
“Your mother.”
Adrian became still.
His mother, Margaret Reed, lived in Boston but remained involved in every decision at the estate.
She had selected the nursery staff.
She approved schedules.
She constantly reminded Adrian that emotional dependence made children weak.
“What exactly did she say?”
“That the boy should not become attached to a servant.”
Emily’s shoulders tightened.
Mrs. Holloway continued.
“She instructed us to reduce Emily’s time with Leo.”
Adrian looked at Emily.
“Did they?”
“They tried.”
“How?”
Emily explained that she had originally been assigned to the nursery cleaning schedule.
Leo became calm whenever she entered.
She sang while changing linens.
She sat beside him when the nurses were busy.
After Margaret noticed the attachment, Emily was moved to kitchen duty.
Leo stopped eating properly.
He cried until he became exhausted.
One night, Emily heard him from the service corridor and entered the nursery despite the instruction.
He reached for her immediately.
The staff began calling her secretly whenever he could not settle.
Adrian felt cold.
“Where was I?”
Emily looked at him.
“Usually working.”
“How many nights?”
She did not answer.
“Please.”
“Most of them.”
The words landed heavily.
Adrian walked toward the fireplace.
He remembered closing major deals in New York.
Celebrating an acquisition in Los Angeles.
Accepting an award in London.
During those nights, Leo cried inside a mansion large enough to echo.
“Why did you stay?” he asked.
Emily looked at the child.
“Because he needed someone.”
“That was not your responsibility.”
“No.”
Her voice remained gentle.
“But he did not understand job descriptions.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Leo had not cared who owned the house.
He had cared who came when he cried.
Adrian asked to see the nursery records.
Mrs. Holloway retrieved several binders.
The official reports showed Leo sleeping well.
Eating normally.
Remaining calm.
Emily quietly removed a smaller notebook from beneath her apron.
“These are the real records.”
Adrian stared.
Each page contained dates, times, meals, fevers, nightmares, and the length of Leo’s crying.
One entry read:
Leo woke at 1:12 in the morning and called for Dad until 2:06. Mr. Reed was in Chicago. Mrs. Holloway instructed the staff not to call.
Another read:
Leo refused dinner after seeing his father leave with luggage. He slept holding Mr. Reed’s photograph.
Adrian sat down.
His son had called for him.
Not only Emily.
Him.
The staff simply stopped giving him the opportunity to answer.
“Why was I not called?”
Mrs. Holloway began crying.
“Your mother said business should never be interrupted unless the child was medically ill.”
Adrian looked toward her.
“And you obeyed?”
“Yes.”
“So did I.”
He could not place all the blame on his mother.
He had created a life where everyone believed work mattered more than his child.
Emily turned another page.
A recent entry showed that Leo became distressed whenever Adrian wore formal clothing.
“Why?” Adrian asked.
Emily answered quietly.
“He thinks the tuxedo means you are leaving.”
Adrian looked down at the black tuxedo he still wore.
Leo had watched him dress for galas, flights, and business dinners.
The child associated elegance with abandonment.
Adrian removed the jacket immediately.
Then he noticed a red mark near Leo’s wrist.
“What is that?”
Emily’s expression changed.
“A nurse held him too tightly yesterday.”
“Which nurse?”
“Catherine.”
“Was it reported?”
“To Mrs. Holloway.”
Adrian looked at the house manager.
She lowered her eyes.
“Your mother asked us not to create conflict before tonight’s event.”
Adrian felt controlled fury rise beneath his shame.
His mother had not only hidden Leo’s emotional distress.
She had protected staff negligence to preserve an elegant evening.
He called security.
“Find Catherine. Do not allow her to leave until we understand what happened.”
Emily stood.
“Please do not frighten Leo.”
Adrian looked at his sleeping son.
Even his anger had to change now.
He lowered his voice.
“You are right.”
The nursery security footage was retrieved.
At first, it showed ordinary care.
Then the recording from the previous afternoon appeared.
Catherine tried to pull Leo away from Emily.
He resisted.
She gripped his wrist and shouted.
Emily immediately intervened.
Mrs. Holloway entered minutes later.
The audio captured her saying:
Mrs. Reed does not want the billionaire’s son behaving like a servant’s child.
Adrian stared at the screen.
The cruelty had not begun that night.
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His home had been teaching Leo that love from the wrong person was something shameful.
Continue to the next part: Adrian will confront his mother about the hidden nursery orders, while Emily reveals why she feared losing Leo more than losing her job.
