No Free House
That was when I saw the wish list.
From a house to a manicure, she'd assigned a price tag to eighteen years of care.
The final line, bolded in red, cut into my eyes like a knife:
"After this property is purchased, it will be for Chloe Collins's exclusive use. No one else will be permitted inside!"
Back then, I'd still been naive enough to knock on her bedroom door and speak to her gently.
"Chloe, we truly can't come up with the $90,000 down payment for the new house right now. Could we wait until after you graduate from college..."