Chapter 2 - The Study Confrontation
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"In my study. Now."
Pedro didn't wait for her response. He turned on his heel, his expensive leather shoes clicking sharply against the polished hardwood.
Abigail gave the boys a reassuring nod.
"Finish up, boys. I'll be right back," she said softly.
She followed the billionaire down the long, shadowed hallway. Breakers Mansion was a fortress of wealth, but it felt entirely devoid of warmth. The walls were lined with expensive art, yet the absence of family photographs was glaring. It was a house that had forgotten how to be a home.
Pedro was pouring himself a glass of scotch when she entered. He didn't offer her one.
"Ten," Pedro said, keeping his back to her. "That is the number of caregivers I have dismissed in the past month. Do you know why?"
"Because you are looking for a replacement mother, Mr. Jacobs," Abigail said plainly. "And no one can fill that role."
Pedro slammed the heavy crystal decanter onto the mahogany desk. He spun around, his dark eyes blazing with a dangerous mixture of anger and raw, unfiltered pain.
"Watch your tone, Miss Hill. You have been in my house for less than four hours. You do not know me, and you certainly do not know my sons."
"I know what abandonment looks like," Abigail countered, refusing to shrink under his gaze. She stood tall, her posture forged by years of surviving her own difficult childhood in Providence. "They are acting out because they are terrified of loving someone else who might disappear. And your constant firing of their nannies is only proving their fears right."
Pedro opened his mouth to shout, but the words died in his throat. The sheer audacity of this woman was staggering. But beneath his anger, a very quiet, very uncomfortable truth began to settle in his chest.
"If you want them to heal," Abigail continued, "you have to let me do my job. You provide the house. Let me provide the structure."
May you like
Pedro stared at her, the ice in his glass melting.
"One mistake, Miss Hill. That's all you get."
