Chapter 2

By the third week of the society program, Grandma's medication ran out.

Her doctor had switched her to a new treatment plan that cost two hundred eighty dollars a month.

Nell's preschool had also sent a notice: sixty dollars for a spring field trip and lunch.

I sat up half the night with both bills.

No matter how I moved the numbers around, I was still more than a hundred dollars short.

The next morning, Nell hid the field-trip notice at the bottom of her backpack.

"Mommy, I get carsick. I don't want to go."

While she spoke, she kept rubbing the yellow field-trip cap her teacher had given her.

The brim was already wrinkled from her fingers.

I didn't call her on it.

That thin sheet of paper somehow felt heavy enough to hurt my hand.

I put Grandma's preion into a folder and went to Duncan's company to find Diana.

She was training new assistants in a conference room.

The glass door hadn't closed all the way, and I heard her say, "Mr. Lockwood can't stand people who don't know their place.

"Some people think a pretty face means every household expense should be charged back to him."

Several new hires followed her gaze toward me.

I instinctively hid the folder behind my back.

I waited until the training ended before approaching.

Diana glanced at the preion.

"You got this month's money at the beginning of the month. You're asking again?"

"Grandma can't go without her medication," I said. "Treat it as a loan. Take it out of next month."

"Ms. Lennox, Mr. Lockwood isn't an ATM. Even a machine needs a break."

She turned toward the car.

I was afraid she would leave, so I reached for the door.

The heel I had repaired several times finally snapped.

I dropped hard to my knees.

The papers scattered across the pavement.

"Diana, please. Just give me the money for the medication.

"I'll pay it back."

She didn't help me up.

She only smoothed the skirt where my hand had wrinkled it.

"There are cameras everywhere. Who's this little show for?"

That day, a photo of me beside her car appeared in the Lockwood family group chat.

It captured the dust on my knees perfectly.

It didn't capture the preion pages scattered behind the tire.

Mallory added a caption: "Nora went all the way to the company and made a scene because she wants another designer bag."

Evelyn replied, "If you're short on money, say so. Don't humiliate the family."

I typed a long explanation, deleted it, and typed it again.

In the end, I sent just one line: "I went to ask for Grandma's medication money."

Mallory answered almost immediately: "Every time you're caught, you come up with a new excuse."

No one asked another question.

Suddenly, I didn't know how to prove anything.

I had always paid for Grandma's medication; I'd just never said so. Now, saying it sounded like an excuse I'd made up after the fact.

That evening, Grandma saw the empty medication box.

She quietly pulled an old, crumpled one-dollar bill from under her pillow.

"Nora, is this enough? If it isn't, I can stop taking it."

She had forgotten again that the Lockwoods were now one of the wealthiest families in Crestmoor.

I pushed the bill back into her hand and smiled.

"The pharmacy closed early today. I'll go tomorrow."

Nell heard us.

She pushed her scrambled eggs toward Grandma.

"Great-Grandma can have mine. I don't like eggs."

She said she didn't like them, but her eyes followed every spoonful. I saw it, and all I could do was ladle her a bowl of broth.

The next day at the family house, Mallory was cutting filet mignon into pieces for her dog.

Nell smelled it and swallowed quietly.

Mallory lifted the plate.

"If Nell wants steak, tell her mother to swipe her own card."

I took Nell away immediately.

In the car, she tried to comfort me.

"Mommy, I think soup tastes better than meat."

I touched the waistband of her pants. It had gotten noticeably looser.

I couldn't speak for a long time.

That night, I picked up a setup shift through the society program's hotel-event practicum. It paid thirty dollars a night.

By the time the flowers and stands were packed away, it was usually one in the morning.

I worked four nights in a row.

Finally, I bought Grandma's medication and paid Nell's field-trip fee.

On the fifth night, Diana blocked me outside the hotel.

"Mr. Lockwood is overseas negotiating an acquisition. And you're entering hotels after midnight every night.

"What do you think people will say if you're photographed?"

I held out my scraped hands.

"I'm moving floral stands."

She barely looked.

"You're supported by Mr. Lockwood and you're sneaking out for thirty-dollar shifts. Who's going to believe that?"

That night, Duncan sent me a voice message.

"Stop going to hotels at night. It's not safe. If you need something, ask Diana."

I listened twice.

The first time, I heard the criticism.

The second time, I forced myself to hear concern.

At least he was worried I might not be safe.

Once again, I thought everything would be fine if I could just explain clearly enough.

I re-sent the preion to Diana.

A gray check mark appeared.

She had blocked me.