Chapter 2: The Second Notebook
Vanessa's eyes moved from me to Mia, then back to me.
When she finally spoke, her voice was calm.
Too calm.
"She came to me.
I didn't ask her for anything."
I felt Mia go still behind me.
"That's not true," Mia said quietly.
"You told me if I wanted to stay, I had to contribute.
You said Dad couldn't afford me."
Vanessa's jaw tightened.
"I was teaching her responsibility."
"She's fifteen, Vanessa.
She was saving birthday money and babysitting cash to pay you every month so she wouldn't get thrown out of her own home."
"It wasn't like that."
"Then show me where the money went."
The silence that followed told me everything.
I looked at Mia.
Her eyes were wet but she wasn't crying.
She was standing very straight, like she'd been bracing for this moment for a long time.
Then I noticed something I hadn't seen before.
On the counter beside Vanessa's keys was a second notebook.
Smaller.
Different cover.
I reached for it.
Vanessa's hand came down fast.
"That's mine."
But I'd already seen the first line.
It wasn't a household budget.
It was a list of names.
And Mia's name wasn't the only one on it.
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What was in that second notebook — and who else was on that list?
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What my daughter told me next made my hands shake.
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