CORINNE
The days after that Monday slipped past so fast they barely felt real.
At first, I brushed it off.
Told myself he’d only shown up again because I’d bruised his ego a little too hard.
Rich men hated being challenged, especially by someone so down the social ladder like me.
I thought after the one dramatic appearance, he’d make me get his point then disappear back into whatever billionaire bubble he lived in.
That was the story I stuck with.
Until Tuesday.
Then Wednesday.
Then Thursday.
By the fourth morning, I found myself standing wordlessly without a snarky remark as his car pulled out of the parking lot after drop off like it’s a normal routine that he has already adapted.
Four days in a row.
I hated how aware I was of it.
The car alone was impossible to ignore, then there was the way he steps out looking like he’d just walked off the cover of something expensive and unnecessary in perfectly pressed suits, polished shoes and watches that probably cost more than my yearly rent.
And the mothers.
Lord.
I couldn’t not gag at the not so subtle staring, the giggles and the whispered comments that followed him as he walked past.
A few of them suddenly found reasons to linger longer than necessary.
Fixing hair.
Adjusting bags.
Laughing too loudly at nothing.
It was starting to feel ridiculous.
Never in my life had I seen school runs turn into fashion parades.
Last year couture, designer coats and shiny Birkin bags were out in display before eight in the morning.
For pick up and drop off.
It was insane.
I made a point of not reacting to anything concerning him.
Thankfully, he made that easy by ignoring me and he hadn’t brought up that absurd offer of a private tutor again.
I’d half expected him to corner me by the door or send someone official and intimidating to “follow up.” Nothing like that happened and I was relieved more than I wanted to admit.
I couldn’t survive more time than necessary around Lucian Delacroix.
Not around his money.
Not around his presence.
So I stayed in my lane and I kept hoping this was a phase.
That eventually he’d get bored, hand the job back to George and disappear again.
I needed him to.
For my own sanity.
I was finally done getting the kids settled for the morning.
Bags tucked away.
Tears wiped.
Crayons already rolling under tables like they always did.
I figured I deserved a quiet five minutes, so I grabbed a coffee and headed for my office.
I didn’t make it far.
“Hey Corinne, do you have a minute?” Amelia’s voice called out.
I looked up and immediately saw the group of staff standing by the lockers.
“Fuck,”
It wasn’t that I hated people.
Okay, maybe I did.
Just a little.
I preferred distance.
Distance meant fewer questions.
Fewer connections.
And this staff?
Lovely women, truly.
But they were professional gossip machines.
If something breathed near them, it became a full story by lunch.
I took a slow sip of my coffee and walked over anyway.
“Morning,” I said, peering at them over the rim of my cup.
“Girl,” Melissa said, eyes wide, hand pressed dramatically to her chest, “how do you cope every morning?”
I frowned.
“Cope with what?”
She looked at me like I’d just asked the dumbest question alive.
“Mr Delacroix,” she whisper yelled, glancing around like the man might materialize out of thin air.
“Oh,” I murmured.
That seemed to fuel them.
“Oh?” Amelia repeated. Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping.com.
“She said oh.”
”Just oh?” another one chimed in, laughing.
“Because I’d be losing my mind if I had to take his children from his hands.”
”I swear,” Melissa continued, leaning closer, “I’d wet my panties and bend over seventy seven surfaces for that man if he ever breathes in my direction.”
I scrunched my nose in disgust.
“Same,” someone else said immediately.
“add that to the scruffy thing he has going on.
That’s just criminal.
“And the way he looks at people,” another added, fanning herself with a folder.
“Like he knows exactly what effect he has and doesn’t care.”
”I care,” Melissa said.
“I care deeply.”
There was a chorus of agreement.
I fought the urge to roll my eyes so hard they’d get stuck.
I took another sip of my coffee, mostly to keep my mouth busy.
What was so special about him?
Okay.
Fine.
He was attractive.
Annoyingly so.
But the arrogance?
The way he carried himself like the world adjusted around him?
It made my skin itch.
Still, judging by the way they were practically vibrating, I was clearly in the minority.
“Did you know he was the twins’ father before Monday?” Amelia asked, lowering her voice like she was about to confess a crime.
I shook my head.
“No.
Found out the same day as everyone else did.”
”Oh wow,” Melissa breathed.
“Imagine that shock.”
”I still can’t believe it’s him,” another woman said, leaning against the counter.
“I mean… after everything that happened with his wife.”
I took another careful sip of my coffee.
“God,” Amelia said softly.
“That whole thing was so sad.”
”I mean,” Melissa went on, undeterred, “it’s been what, two years since his wife passed?”
”Three, I think,” someone said quickly.
“I remember seeing it in the news back then.”
”That’s enough time, right?” another asked, not even pretending to be apologetic.