Chapter 2

After I finished my postpartum recovery, Andrew came home from work one day with a young woman behind him.

"Charlotte, this is Olivia Bennett. I hired her as our housekeeper. She was pretty expensive," he said.

That was when something clicked. He always called me "honey" at home, but whenever Olivia was around, he used my name.

In my previous life, I thought he was just being polite because she was an outsider. I didn't know he was scared the word "honey" would upset his precious Olivia.

"Hello, Ms. Sterling," Olivia said absent-mindedly. She barely looked at me before her eyes went straight to Ryan, who was crying nonstop next to me.

Back in my previous life, I thought she just had a soft heart and couldn't bear to see a kid cry. I didn't realize it was the natural pull between a mother and her own child.

"So, since you're the housekeeper, what exactly do you do here?" I asked.

Olivia acted like she hadn't even heard me. Her eyes locked onto Ryan, who was bawling like there was no tomorrow. She marched right over, picked him up, and started comforting him as if he were her own son.

When she finally looked at me, I caught an annoyed look in her eyes. "Seriously, Ms. Sterling, do you even know how to take care of a kid? You only care about your daughter. Your son is crying his lungs out, and you don't even look at him. What kind of mother does that?"

I turned to look at Andrew. "Andrew, what's going on? Didn't you say she was just the housekeeper? Then why is a stray dog barking at its owner?"

I knew she couldn't stand being away from her kid, so I twisted the knife. "You spent all that money just to bring home a dog that walks in and starts yapping at me?

"Andrew, don't forget you're the son-in-law who moved in. Even your own mother shows me respect. Now you bring home this piece of trash to annoy me?"

Olivia, still holding Ryan, clearly didn't know her place. "What? Am I wrong?

"You only care about your daughter and leave your son crying. Tell me. Am I wrong to call you out?"

I pointed straight at Olivia, who was still holding Ryan, and shot Andrew a hard look. "I don't care how much you promised to pay her. Get her out of sight right now. I never want to see her here again."

Seeing that I was dead serious about kicking her out, Olivia started to freak out, but she still wouldn't put Ryan down. "I'm sorry, Ms. Sterling. I just felt bad seeing him cry. I didn't mean to disrespect you. Please, don't make me leave."

"You want to stay? Fine," I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm.

I grabbed a dirty diaper from the trash and tossed it at her feet.

"Lick it clean. Do that, and you can stay," I sneered.

"Charlotte, that's too much," Andrew said, grabbing my arm. "Olivia was just worried about the kid. She said something she shouldn't have, but do you really have to go this far?"

I hugged Sophie tightly and shook off his hand. "Andrew, what the hell is your problem?"

Andrew blinked in confusion. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

I said, "Seriously, don't you think you're acting off today? Ever since you dragged this so-called housekeeper in, you've been defending her nonstop. She barges in and starts calling me out, and you sit there, not even bothering to back me up.

"So tell me, what's really going on between you two? Is she your wife now, or am I?

"You know what a housekeeper's job is, don't you? They're supposed to help the owner manage the house. I didn't spend all that money to have someone act like they're in charge of me. I hired her so I could have some peace, not so she could talk back and make things difficult for me."

A flash of panic flickered in Andrew's eyes. "Honey, I get that you've had a tough time taking care of the children, but she didn't mean any harm. Do you have to take everything so personally? Do you really have to blow up over a single remark?"

"Why? Did I hire her to crack jokes for me? I paid her to work, not to mouth off at me," I shot back.

I turned to Olivia, who was still holding Ryan. "Don't act like you're a victim, and don't use caring for the kids as an excuse. This is my son, not yours. Do you understand?

"You've been giving me attitude since you walked in. Not sure what makes you think you can pull this off, but I'm paying for help, not for someone to mouth off and disrespect me."

I pointed at the dirty diaper lying on the floor. "You offended me, so now you gotta pay for it.

"There's no law forcing you to be my housekeeper. Stay or go. It's your choice. If this disgusts you and you can't do it, then put my son down and get out the way you came.

"But if you want to stay and take the money, then go ahead. Lick the diaper clean. If not, I have every reason to kick you out right now."