Chapter 7
Jenna's face went pale.
She stammered, "You..."
I snapped, "She fell two days ago. There's no visible injury, but she could have bleeding under the skull.
"If you don't take her to the hospital for a CT, are you going to wait until she starts convulsing?"
I yelled the last part.
The whole place went dead silent.
The parents, scared out of their wits, scooped up their kid and bolted out of there.
I chased after them.
"Go to the nearest major hospital and head straight to the emergency neurosurgery department," I shouted.
Seth was suddenly behind me.
"Use my car. I'll have my driver take them," he said.
Fifteen minutes later, I got a call from the parents.
The CT results were in.
There was a minor subdural hemorrhage.
If they'd waited another twelve hours, it could've been a disaster.
On the other end of the line, the mom was sobbing so hard that she could barely get a word out.
"Thank you. Thank you... for saving my daughter..." she sobbed.
I hung up.
My hands were still shaking.
Jenna stood off to the side, her face dark with anger.
Fiona didn't say a word either.
Seth handed me a bottle of water.
"How did you figure it out?" he asked.
Here it was again.
"Bulging fontanelle, nonstop crying, and a history of falling, that's Pediatrics 101," I replied.
"Not one of the four experts here caught it," he said.
"Maybe they were too caught up in their own theories," I said.
He looked at me for a moment.
"Let's go home," he said.
After the whole Amy incident, my place in the Turner family was different.
Betty was much nicer to me.
Even the butler, Tom March, who barely acknowledged me before, started saying hi every time he saw me.
"Ms. Goodwin, is there anything you'd like to eat today? I'll have the kitchen add a dish for you," he said.
I felt a bit spoiled by all the attention.
But I knew it wasn't me who made them change their tune. It was all because of Seth.
He bumped my monthly salary up to 27 thousand dollars.
He even added a clause to my contract: I had sole decision-making power over every aspect of Luke's care plan, without needing anyone else to sign off.
Everyone knew who that clause was meant for.
Fiona hadn't shown up at the Turner family's house for a whole week.
I thought she'd given up and backed off.
It turned out I was way too naive.
On Friday afternoon, I took Luke out to the yard to soak up some sun.
He could already roll over, and he was lying on his stomach on the blanket, checking out everything around him.
Luke: [Buggy... I see a buggy.]
He had spotted an ant crawling across the grass.
He was fascinated.
I crouched down beside him, shielding him from the direct sunlight.
The doorbell rang.
It wasn't Fiona.
It was a man.
He looked to be in his forties, dressed in a sharp suit, and carrying a document bag.
He introduced himself, "Hello, I'm a lawyer from Jefferson Law Firm, representing Ms. Jefferson."
He handed me a folder.
"This is a formal notice challenging your employment status," he said.
I didn't take it.
"Challenging what, exactly?" I asked.
"Under the household staff regulations, anyone working with infants has to have the right qualifications and certificates. You can't show any valid certification right now," he said.
"So?" I retorted.
"So, Ms. Jefferson, representing the Turner family's interests, wants you fired. If the Turners don't go along, she'll report you to the authorities," he said.
He laid it all out, every word crisp and professional.
I took the document and glanced through it.
The language was precise, the formatting was professional, and it bore the law firm's official stamp.
This was serious business.
"Got it," I said. "I'll pass it on to Mr. Turner."
After the lawyer left, I scooped Luke up and headed upstairs.
Luke: [What's wrong? Hailey, are you upset again?]
"It's nothing," I said.
I set the document down on Seth's desk.
When he got home at eight, he saw the document.
I heard him making a call from the nursery.
His voice was quiet but cold. "Fiona, you have one day to retract that letter from Jefferson Law Firm."
I couldn't hear what the other person said.
"This is the last time," Seth said.
He hung up.
The next day, the lawyer called and said the letter had been withdrawn.
But things were far from over.
That night, a post showed up on a local parenting forum.
The headline screamed: [Shocking! A Top Billionaire Hires an Uncertified Nanny for His Eight-Month-Old Baby.]
The post didn't mention any names, but with details like "seven nannies fired," "baby cries all the time," and "only a high school diploma," anyone could tell it was about the Turner family.
The comments section exploded.