Chapter 3

I pointed at the phone.

「Why are they sending you maid fees?」

She took the phone away.

「They gave it on their own.」

「I told them you come cook every week, and they felt bad eating for free.」

「Where's the money?」

She paused.

「Spent it.」

「Spent it on who?」

「On me.」

She said she'd gotten a new phone last month, and bought a bag that cost a few thousand.

「So I pay for the groceries and close the diner to come cook.」

「You take my wages and buy things for yourself?」

Bess frowned.

「What do you mean, your wages?」

「I found the clients. I negotiated the price.」

「Without me, would you ever get college students as customers?」

I froze.

I paid for the groceries.

I paid for the bus.

Every week I gave up half a day of business, and nobody made that up to me.

But in her mouth, she was the one carrying me along, earning money for me.

「Then starting next month, the money gets sent to me.」

She shook her head at once.

「No.」

「They think you're a cleaning lady I hired. If the money suddenly goes to you, doesn't that blow the whole thing?」

「Then I won't come anymore.」

Bess's face changed.

「How can you just say you won't come? I already told them it was settled.」

「If you walk out now, what are they going to think of me?」

I looked at her.

「You took the money, so hire someone yourself.」

「How did you turn into this?」

Her eyes went red in an instant.

「Mom, I just want to look like I'm on their level.」

「Any bag they carry costs ten thousand. And me?」

「My whole life, whatever I wore, whatever I used, I always had to check the price first.」

Something in me ached.

All these years, I never let her go without tuition or living money.

But it was true, I could never give her the kind of home her roommates had.

She grabbed my hand again.

「Once I find a job and move out on my own, this whole thing is over.」

「Help me for just a few more months.」

「Don't let them look down on me before I graduate.」

I asked her,:

「Grayson doesn't know either? Don't you want to marry him?」

She lowered her head.

「He's always thought our family was well off.」

「If he found out my dad died years ago, that my mom runs a little diner and even comes to cook for my roommates, his parents would never approve of us.」

「If my dad were alive, he'd never let me be this humiliated.」

She brought up her father again.

A man who'd been dead more than ten years, who couldn't say a word for himself.

In the end, I didn't expose her.

I only told her,:

「I won't keep playing this part for you.」

She nodded and nodded.

After that, she asked more of me than ever.

Whenever a roommate got a sudden craving, she'd text me in the middle of the night.

Jemima wanted all kinds of diet meals.

Julia wanted her sheets washed separately.

Delia complained about water spots in the bathroom and told me to bring a special name-brand cleaner.

When I refused, she'd say,:

「They already paid. Don't give them anything to hold against you.」

The words came out of her more and more easily.

As if that money had really gone to me.

The week before the birthday, I ran a fever and missed one visit.

Bess called a dozen times in one day.

I thought she was worried about me.

When I picked up, the first thing she asked was,:

「How many more days of food is left in the fridge? What am I supposed to do if you don't come?」

I said I was too dizzy to get out of bed.

She was quiet for a moment.

「Then send me five hundred and we'll order delivery.」

I sent the money.

She didn't say a single word about resting up.

The next week was her birthday.

I'd just gotten over being sick, but I closed the diner, made eight dishes, and ordered her favorite cake.

Seven or eight people were sitting in the shared apartment.

Besides the three roommates, there was Grayson and a few other classmates.

The moment Bess saw me, she pushed me into the kitchen.

「There are a lot of people today. Don't just wander out.」

I worked in the kitchen for three hours, dripping with sweat.

When it was time to light the candles on the cake, she handed me her phone.

「Aunt Joy, take a group photo for us.」

I held up the phone.

She stood next to Grayson, the others gathered around her.

Every one of them was smiling, happy.

After I took the picture, Jemima scanned Bess's payment code.

「Aunt Joy didn't come last week, so this month we can only give four hundred.」

Bess accepted the payment.

「Sure, make it up next time.」

I opened my mouth to speak, and she stepped in front of me at once, glaring at me.

「Aunt Joy, there are still dishes to wash in the kitchen.」

I looked at her.

She clamped down on my wrist and dragged me into the kitchen.

The moment the door shut, she dropped her voice.

「Don't go asking things. Didn't I already tell you?」

I looked at her, disappointed.:

「How long do you plan to keep lying?」

「The money's already spent. What am I supposed to do?」

「Just keep doing it. Once I have a job, I'll pay it back little by little.」

I took off my apron.

「No need to pay anything back.」

「Starting today, I'm not coming.」

She blocked the door.

「With all these people out there, you're really going to make a scene today?」

「I'm not making a scene. You took the money, so you deal with it yourself.」

「You're a grown woman, not a child waiting for me to clean up after you.」

I pulled the door open and went home.

Bess didn't come after me.

She had to go back and cut the cake with Grayson.

That night, I was added to a group.

【Aunt Joy Fee Settlement Chat】

Inside it, besides the three roommates, there were Bess and Grayson.

Bess sent the first message.

【Aunt Joy thought the pay was too low, and today she suddenly quit.】

【The earlier fees, I gave her every month in cash.】

Jemima replied right away,:

【We already paid this month. She should at least refund the rest.】

Julia posted a spreadsheet.

It listed deductions for the missed meal, for not cleaning properly, for leaving early.

Delia added,:

【Settle it in person tomorrow, or this isn't over.】

Before I could reply, a private message from Bess came first.

【Mom, just come by tomorrow.】

【Admit the money was paid in cash, and I'll pay you back later.】

A few seconds later, she sent another line.

【If you say you're my mom, everyone will know I lied to them.】

【You can't ruin me over a little money.】