Chapter 5 The Offer She Can't Ignore

Emma sat in the cocoon of her rental, the air inside already going stale and sweet with recirculated breath. The fully signed contract lay on the passenger seat, weighed down by the leather-bound pen Marcus had left her.

She pressed her forehead to the steering wheel and exhaled, then pulled her phone from her pocket, hands trembling. The screen reflected the last glint of afternoon sun-a ring of light around her face, accentuating the dark crescents beneath her eyes.

She scrolled to Grace's number and dialed before she could talk herself out of it.

Grace picked up on the second ring, her voice the familiar burr of coffee and sarcasm. "Did you get out alive, or do I need to call the authorities?"

"I'm in the parking lot," Emma said, voice too loud in the close interior. "I-Jesus, Grace. You didn't tell me he looked like..."

Grace laughed. "...like an Adonis?"

Emma stared at the contract. "I got an offer."

A beat. "Already?"

"They made up their minds before I even got here," Emma said. "It's for a live-in position. Six months, possibly longer. I'd have to move into the estate. It's..."

"A complete surrender," Grace supplied.

Emma bit her lip. "I don't know if I can do it."

"Why not?" Grace's tone was all brisk efficiency now. "You've been living off ramen and hope for a year. You keep saying you want to help kids..."

"It's not the same," Emma cut in. "This is one kid. One rich, possibly sociopathic, tech heir. I'd be a glorified babysitter."

"You'd be solvent," Grace countered. "And you might actually help. If you hate it, you leave. But you need this, Em. You need a bridge, remember?"

Emma looked at the dashboard, at the odometer ticking away rental time she couldn't afford. She pictured her apartment, with its linty couch and thrift store lamp, the poster of Maya Angelou peeling off the wall.

She imagined erasing her presence, moving out on two weeks' notice, leaving her life's artifacts in a storage unit or a landfill.

"What about the literacy program?" Grace asked, almost a whisper. "You said you wanted to help start the afterschool program. With this funding you could open the program without needing the district's approval."

Emma knew Grace was right but she couldn't help feeling like she was selling herself out.

Grace softened. "Em, I know how much you care about helping these kids. But right now? You need to take care of yourself."

Emma stared out the windshield. She thought of her parents, their small-world hopes. She thought of all the times she'd told her kids to fight for themselves, to take the risk if it might change their lives.

The phone was slick in her hand. She squeezed it, needing the physical connection.

"I'm scared," she admitted.

"I know," Grace said, her voice so gentle it almost didn't sound like her. "That means you're doing the right thing."

They sat in silence, the kind that only old friends could share without drowning in it.

Finally, Emma nodded, even though Grace couldn't see. "I'm going to do it," she said. "I have to."

"Damn right," Grace replied, and it sounded like a benediction. "Call me when you're home. I'll bring wine. You can tell me all about your new billionaire overlords."

Emma managed a laugh, the first in what felt like years. "I'm all for the wine but they made me sign an NDA so I can't give you any details about our meeting."

"Damn...even before you accept the job?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Well at least you can finish telling me about this Greek god like appearance." Grace laughed and ended the call before Emma could respond.

After Grace hung up, Emma sat for a few more minutes, letting the city's evening lights flicker to life one by one before she opened her email and digitally signed the acceptance letter.

As she looked up at the monolith of glass and ambition, she wondered what kind of person she would be when she came back down.

Emma stared at the signature, stunned. No way to unsign it, right? UGH.

Her mouth tasted weird, like battery acid and coffee. Her hand was still trembling. The rental car felt smaller now, closing in around her. She read the contract again, just to make sure she hadn't hallucinated it. She could feel her heart thudding behind her ribs. If she started the car now, she might just drive straight to Mexico and pretend none of this ever happened.

Why did she say yes? Was she crazy? Was she so desperate to pay off her loans that she'd basically sold her life, round the clock, to a billionaire family?

She could still see Marcus Liu in her head, every move perfect, every word a power play. Did he go home and laugh about interviews like this? Was she just another name in a folder? Probably.

And then... Dawson himself. They said his name like it was a brand. Emma tried to remember the way he'd looked when he first walked in. Not that she could forget. He didn't move like anyone else. Even the small gestures-the way he adjusted his cuff, glanced at the contract, didn't really look at her straight on-it was all sharp, controlled, not one millimeter out of place.

He wasn't old. Early forties, maybe? But something about the dark eyes and jawline made her stomach flip. Not that she was interested. God, no. He was intimidating. Like he could see through you in five seconds and catalog your every flaw.

What was it Grace always said? "Men like that don't get rich by being nice." Hell, Grace would probably tell her she was lucky he didn't fire her on the spot for criticizing his precious education software.

She shivered, even though the car was warm. Living in that house? On their estate? She'd googled it once, late at night, just to torture herself. Fifty acres and barely any people. No corner store, no laundromat, nothing but landscaped trees, cold stone, and cameras everywhere.

And Alex. The son. A "gifted" kid who set traps for adults and got himself suspended for outsmarting the school IT. All her training, all those years fighting for her own classroom... and here she was, about to play private jail warden to a billionaire's heir.

She almost put the key in the ignition, half ready to peel out of the parking lot and never look back. What if she emailed Marcus right now and just said, Oops, sorry, huge mistake, ignore my signature? If she was lucky, they'd just blacklist her from their weird billionaire society and move on.

But then she remembered the stack of bills on her table. The way Grace had looked at her, dead serious, and said, You can't help anyone if you can't keep your own lights on.

She had to do this. For herself, for her future. For the reading program she'd promised her students, and all the kids who didn't have a billionaire father to bail them out.

She'd do this job. She'd survive Dawson Manor, and the impossible kid, and whatever weird rules came with the deal.