Chapter 1: The Notebook That Changed Everything
I found the notebook by accident.
Mia had left her backpack unzipped on the kitchen counter, and when I moved it, a small spiral notebook slipped out.
I picked it up to put it back and the page it fell open to stopped me cold.
It was a list.
Dates going back ten months.
Each entry had a dollar amount next to it.
$500.
$500.
$500.
Every single month, the same number, in Mia's careful fifteen-year-old handwriting.
At the bottom she'd written: $5,000 total.
$800 left in savings.
I stood there for a long time before I went to find her.
She was in her room doing homework.
When she saw my face she went very still.
"Dad, please don't get upset."
I set the notebook on her desk.
"You've been paying $500 a month to live here?"
She looked at her hands.
"I thought if I couldn't pay, you'd make me leave."
Something in my chest went cold.
I'd been working double shifts for two years.
I thought the bills were handled.
I had no idea my daughter was draining her savings every month because she was afraid of losing her home.
I went downstairs and placed the notebook on the counter in front of Vanessa.
"She's fifteen."
Vanessa didn't flinch.
"She uses everything in this house."
"You made her believe she had to pay to stay here."
Vanessa started to say something.
Then she saw Mia standing in the doorway behind me, and whatever she was about to say disappeared.
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What is Vanessa going to say when Mia is standing right there?
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