BENEATH THE ICE

The raindrop patter against the windowpane echoed in the gloomy apartment where Sienna Carter was seated at her small kitchen table, staring at the stack of unpaid bills. Her fingers tightened around the coffee cup, though the contents inside had long been chilled. The numbers on the page blended together, yet the reality was clear-she was running out of time and money.

Sienna had always been independent, always believed she could manage on her own. But the world had a cruel way of destroying that confidence.

Her teaching job had been a vocation, but vocation did not cover the rent. When the school board had started to economize, she and some of her fellow teachers had been let go without even a layoff package. Two months had passed, and nothing had worked out despite the ongoing job hunting. Now she had only her last hundred dollars left, and desperation was starting to creep in.

Her best friend, Ava, had been prodding her into taking a temporary job-one to hold her over until she had her ducks in a row. But this one wasn't temporary.

It was something altogether different.

A live-in nanny to a billionaire.

"You need to at least consider it," Ava had said this morning, nudging the job listing down the table at the café.

Sienna had scoffed. "Ava, I taught. I was a teacher. This is basically babysitting some spoiled kid for some man who does not even know his kid's name."

"You love children," Ava retorted, unflappable. "And it pays-she leaned in theatrically,-"ten thousand a month."

Sienna had nearly gagged on coffee.

Now, hours later, she stood reading the job posting again.

"Live-in Nanny Required Urgently. Great Salary. Discreet, professional, and able to deal with difficult situations only."

The vagueness was not to her liking. That it was posted anonymously made it even worse.

Her instinct was to decline.

Her bare fridge told her otherwise.

With a groan, she grabbed her phone and dialed the number on the bottom of the ad. A crisp, professional voice answered on the first ring.

"Mr. Dawson, personal assistant to Mr. Grayson Pierce. Who is calling, please?"

Sienna nearly dropped the phone. Grayson Pierce?She knew that name.

A billionaire. A murderer. Head of Pierce International, one of the largest conglomerates in the world. She'd read his name in business magazines-a man for his icy detachment, his ruthless business tactics, and his complete absence of emotions.

And she was about to present herself as a servant to him?

Swallowing her anxiety, she kept her voice steady. "Uh, hello. My name is Sienna Carter. I saw the ad for the nanny, and I'd like to be interviewed."

There was a pause. Then, "Be at Pierce Estate tomorrow at nine. Don't be late."

Before she could even process that, the phone call ended.

Sienna looked at her phone. No interview procedure? No screening?

What had she just enrolled herself into?

---

The Next Morning – The Pierce Estate

The house was ginormous.

Sienna had expected decadence, but this one was on a different scale. The Pierce Estate loomed in front of her, an elegant yet intimidating structure of glass, steel, and stone, rising above the morning gray sky. The long, curved driveway itself was enough to fit a whole neighborhood.

Her hands were wet with sweat as she clutched her tattered leather purse. Just calm down, Sienna. You need this job.

When she reached the front door, it opened before she could ring. A butler stood there, uniformed. "Ms. Carter?"

"Yes," she tried to sound braver than she felt.

"Right this way."

She was led down a pristine marble corridor, down a hall with windows from floor to ceiling, which displayed sweeping gardens beyond. Everything here was screaming wealth and status.

And then the butler stopped in the doorway of an office.