Page 8 of Nanny and the Beast

My heart feels like the wings of a butterfly.

It’s light, flighty, all over the place. I don’t know what to feel.

My state of mind reminds me of something I read about a long time ago—the butterfly effect. It’s a theory about how one minor event can cause significant consequences over time. The concept stems from the idea that the flap of a butterfly’s wings in one part of the world could trigger a chain reaction, ultimately resulting in a tornado in another location.

That’s what meeting Klaus Sinclair felt like.

It felt like the start of something new.

It felt like the end of who I once was.

But none of that matters now. I’m back at the agency, right back at square one. I didn’t get the nanny position, so I’ll have to speak with Mrs. Hendricks about other job opportunities.

Three other girls sit in the waiting room with me. They look vaguely familiar. I’m pretty sure I saw them here a few days ago, but I don’t say anything.

One of the girls, a redhead with a bright smile, flutters her fingers at me in a hesitant wave.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

I suck in a breath. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just been a long day.”

“I’ve seen you around here before,” she says.

“I remember seeing you as well,” I reply, giving her a small smile. “I’m Emma.”

“I’m Gigi,” she says, extending her hand toward me. She tilts her chin toward the identical twins sitting beside her. “I met these two the other day.”

The twins introduce themselves as Olivia and Ophelia. Though they share identical features, their personalities couldn’t be more different. One is playful and bubbly, while the other is more reserved.

“What job did you apply for?” Gigi asks.

“The nanny position at Sinclair mansion.”

“Oh, I’ve heard stories about that one,” Ophelia, the bubbly twin, says.

“Whatever you heard, it’s probably true,” I answer.

“They say that the entire family is cursed,” she continues. “Misfortune shadows the family and everyone else who works at the mansion.”

“Curses aren’t a thing,” says Olivia, the soft-spoken twin.

“Then how would you explain what happened to the last nanny?” Ophelia shoots back.

“The last nanny?” I ask.

“They didn’t tell you about her?”

I shake my head.

“Well, that makes sense. They probably didn’t want to scare you off,” Ophelia says. “The Sinclair kids used to have a nanny. She was hired a few weeks after the accident. But after a few days of working at the mansion, she disappeared from town. It was like she never even existed.”

“She just…disappeared?” I ask.

“Crazy, right?” Ophelia says. “She was never seen or heard from again.”

“There’s probably a perfectly reasonable explanation for what happened,” her twin sister says.

“Of course there is,” Ophelia says, her eyes as wide as saucers. “The man killed her and buried her in the forest.”

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