Chapter 2: The Second Page

Mrs.

Whitaker pulled a blue folder from the chair beside her and placed it between us.

Inside were copies of every invoice I had given her—and handwritten notes about Willa going back eight years.

“Why did you keep these?”

“Because I noticed more than you thought,” she said.

“You worked through illness, school emergencies, and months when you barely had enough.

Yet you never once asked me for extra money.”

My throat tightened.

“Mrs.

Whitaker, what is this?”

She slid a document toward me.

My name was printed across the first page.

“I’m giving you something that will change Willa’s future.”

Before I could read further, her phone rang.

She glanced at the screen and went pale.

“It’s my daughter,” she whispered.

She answered, and a furious voice carried through the quiet kitchen.

“Tell me Carly isn’t there.

And tell me you haven’t signed anything.”

Mrs.

Whitaker calmly put the call on speaker.

“You’re too late,” she said.

The back door suddenly opened.

A woman stepped inside, saw the folder beneath my shaking hand, and froze.

“What did you promise her?” she demanded.

Mrs.

Whitaker looked at me.

“Carly, read the second page.

Then she can explain why she’s been keeping the truth from both of us.”

What was hidden on the second page—and why was Mrs.