Chapter 2: What Was Left on the Door
Graham dropped his bag the moment he heard her.
He ran to the driveway and stopped.
Taped to the front door was a single sheet of paper.
Not a check.
Not an apology.
An invoice.
*Childcare services — 7 days: $1,400.*
*Home cleaning, deep scrub — full house: $800.*
*Grocery runs, meals prepared — 14 total: $600.*
*Emotional labor and back pain: free of charge.*
**TOTAL DUE: $2,800.**
*Kindly remit payment by end of day.
I accept check or bank transfer.*
Graham read it twice.
Then he turned to Bianca.
“What is this?”
“She’s out of her mind,” Bianca snapped.
“I want her gone.”
“Where is she?”
“Inside.
Sitting at the table like she owns the place.”
Graham walked in.
I was finishing my coffee.
He looked at me for a long moment.
“Mom…
did you really—”
“I did.”
“She’s going to be furious.”
“She already is.”
He sat down slowly.
Something shifted in his face.
“She told me you offered to come.
That you wanted to help.”
I set my cup down.
“Graham.
She called me.
She asked me to come.
And then she handed me a $2,000 bill for sleeping in your guest room.”
The color drained from his face.
“She what?”
From the hallway, Bianca’s voice cut through the silence.
“Don’t listen to her.
She’s twisting everything.”
But Graham wasn’t looking at Bianca anymore.
He was staring at something on the table.
The original invoice.
Still folded.
Right where I had left it.
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