Chapter 1

When I looked down without answering, Maria tapped the table.

"Alan has always worried about you living alone in Texas. Now that he's making good money, he wants you to move here."

My hands curled into fists, but I still couldn't bring myself to tell them I'd sold the house years ago.

I looked Alan straight in the eye. "Where would I stay if I moved here?"

Alan's gaze darted away.

"My company just landed a major project, so I'm on video calls late every night. You're a light sleeper. If we shared a room, I'd keep you awake. Mom is getting older, so we can't ask her to give up the primary bedroom. Daisy has too much stuff in her room, and she needs her privacy. You can clean out the storage room and put a twin bed in there. You'll be fine."

One look at the expensive meal in front of me killed my appetite. Acid rose in my throat, and I felt sick.

I asked him, "What would I do here?"

Alan seemed to think I was coming around. He let out a relieved breath.

He smiled, his eyes full of condescension.

"You can cook and clean during the week. On weekends, take Mom to the park. Most importantly, take care of Daisy's dog. Brush him, clean up after him, and prepare his meals.

"It'll be tiring, but I'll give you 500 dollars a month! Mom will take 300 for groceries. You'll get to keep the other 200."

Alan smiled as if he were doing me a huge favor.

"It's a good thing you're here. Now you can help me out around the house."

Daisy pushed a plate of escargot toward me, looking completely innocent. "Amanda, I'm so jealous of you. You don't even have to work. Alan puts me under so much pressure. I just started interning at his company, and he assigned three supervisors to train me!"

Alan gave Daisy a reproachful look, but the affection in his eyes was obvious.

"Someday, Amanda should tell you what it's like to be broke and struggling in Texas. Then you'll appreciate everything we do for you."

I clenched my hands beneath the table so tightly I could barely breathe.

Alan knew what I'd been through. He simply didn't care.

He cared so little that he could joke about my suffering over dinner just to make Daisy appreciate her privileged life.

I was fighting back tears when Daisy asked, "Amanda, why aren't you eating?"

"Yes, eat, Amanda. Daisy loves escargot. She's always talking about eating at Michelin-starred restaurants."

I stared at the escargot. I had eaten it plenty of times at business dinners, but now I could barely swallow. Watching them pretend to care about me, I said deliberately, "I've never had it. I don't know how to eat it."

Alan and Maria froze.

Maria shot Alan a reproachful look.

"You're living a good life here and have never sent a penny back to Texas! Amanda has never even tried French cuisine!"

Alan slapped a hand to his forehead.

"Daisy costs me a fortune. Whatever money I have left goes toward her bags and shoes."

Maria gave Alan a fond look, then seemed to remember something.

"Why are you being so timid? If you don't know how to eat it, just ask Alan! Daisy never had that problem. She was only 18 the first time she went to a reception with Alan. When she wanted French cuisine but didn't know how to order, she simply made Alan help her."

Her voice faded into the background.

So Daisy had been going to receptions and meeting powerful people with Alan since she was 18.

When I was 28, Alan had just started his business. He left me drowning in debt to loan sharks in Texas while he built his career.

I asked him when he would bring me over.

He said he would as soon as he got settled.

And I waited five years for that.