Chapter 3

3: 3

Then she signed her name.

Sebastian hesitated a moment, then signed too.

Leila was even more eager, pressing her thumbprint down.

I folded the penalty slip, tucked it into my pocket, and only then opened my mobile banking app.

There was just over a hundred and thirteen thousand left in the account.

This was the money my husband had left me. It was also the last of my retirement savings.

Three years ago, this card had held more than four hundred thousand.

Now most of it had been spent on this family.

Then, in front of them, I pressed confirm.

One hundred thousand dollars, transfer successful.

Katherine's phone chimed.

She screenshotted it at once, sent it to the family chat, and updated the group announcement too.

"Sylvia Henson has violated the household childcare rules and has been fined one hundred thousand dollars. Let all family members take this as a warning."

With the fine paid, Sebastian cleared his throat twice.

"Mom, since this is settled, go clean up the kitchen."

"Job's bound to fuss tonight. Work a little harder, stay up and watch him."

I stood where I was, not moving.

Katherine frowned.

"What, you paid the fine and you're still not satisfied?"

"Mom, I'm telling you ahead of time, caring for a child while carrying an attitude counts as a safety hazard too."

"If you keep pulling that face, I'll have to handle it by the rules again."

I looked at her.

"Didn't I just endanger the child's health?"

"Someone that dangerous, and you'd still let me take care of him?"

Katherine opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Leila slapped her sunflower seeds down on the table.

"We fined you so you'd learn your lesson. Nobody said you get out of the work."

"If that child spikes a worse fever tonight, can you take the responsibility?"

I finally understood.

A hundred thousand dollar fine wouldn't spare me a single night of exhaustion.

I turned and walked toward my room.

Katherine asked at once,

"Mom, where are you going?"

"To wash up and disinfect, so I can sit up with Job."

Once the door was shut, I didn't reach for the disinfectant.

I dragged the suitcase out from under the bed instead.

Then I dialed a number I'd waited three years to call.

When the line connected, the person on the other end asked only one thing:

"Ms. Henson, have you finally decided?"

"I've decided."

"I'm leaving tomorrow."

Head Nurse Dickerson agreed on the spot, delighted.

"Don't worry, the staff apartment at the center is already made up."

"The pay is what we discussed before, twelve thousand a month, holidays counted separately."

"Eight hours a day, two days off a week."

"You're coming as a childcare consultant, not a live-in nanny. We'd never trouble you at night."

Three years ago, I'd met Head Nurse Dickerson when I took Job to the hospital.

She knew I was a certified childcare and nutrition specialist, and she'd invited me several times to consult at the maternity center.

But I couldn't bear to leave Job, so I turned her down again and again.

Now there was no reason to hesitate.

After I hung up, I started packing.

The clothes in the closet that belonged to me were pitifully few.

In these three years, I hadn't let myself buy more than a handful of new things.

Katherine kept saying she stayed home full-time with the baby and had no income, yet the bags in her closet only got more expensive.

I packed my documents and medications, then took a file folder from the back of the drawer.

Inside were three years of transfer records, receipts, and a list of everything I'd fronted.

Five hundred and seventy-six thousand dollars in all.

Every time they had me cover the money, Sebastian would send a message:

"Mom, just pay for us first."

"We'll count it as a loan from you and pay it back by year's end for sure."

I'd kept every one of those chat records.

And on top of that, the rental lease I'd signed three years ago.