Chapter 5

When I noticed that my father's hair had fully turned gray and that fine lines had appeared around my mother's eyes, a long-overdue wave of regret crashed over me like a tide.

I had once stubbornly gone my own way for love, never giving much thought to my aging parents. But now, when I finally looked back, I realized just how much time with them I had missed out on.

Life at home was comfortable. I woke up to meals already on the table, and it only took me ten minutes on foot to get to and from work.

It was kind of funny how I rarely stepped foot in the kitchen at home. The dishwasher handled all the dishes, and as for cooking, they kept insisting I didn't need to.

Mom always said that daughters should be pampered, whereas Dad would say that daughters should be raised as if they were princesses.

Yet somehow, I had more or less ended up being Rodney's nanny for almost ten years.

Rodney called, but I never answered. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Since I had already chosen to s