Chapter 1
I took Sofia’s hands in mine and nearly lost control.
Her skin was red across the knuckles and palms, raw from water and detergent. One finger had split near the nail. Grease marked the sleeve of a blouse I had never seen before because it barely looked like clothing anymore.
“How long has this been happening?”
Sofia looked at Delia.
Not at me.
That told me more than any answer.
My sister stood against the collapsed copper rack with one hand pressed to her face. Marcus was still beneath the overturned pastry cart, cursing under his breath.
Lily clung to Sofia’s leg.
I waited.
“Sofia.”
Her eyes finally met mine.
“Since you started spending more nights downtown.”
My chest tightened.
“How long?”
“Five months.”
The kitchen became completely silent.
Five months.
I had kissed my wife every morning.
Shared a bed when I was home.
Asked whether she was tired.
She always said Lily kept her busy.
Apparently Lily had not been the reason.
I looked around the service kitchen.
Not one employee met my eyes.
Interesting.
“Who knew?”
Nobody answered.
I raised my voice only slightly.
“Who knew my wife was being used as kitchen labor?”
Three staff members immediately started crying.
Delia scoffed.
“She volunteered.”
Sofia flinched.
I turned toward my sister.
“You slapped a volunteer?”
Delia’s jaw tightened.
“She became disrespectful.”
Lily suddenly shouted:
“Mommy said no!”
I looked down.
My daughter’s face was wet with tears.
“No to what?”
Lily pointed at Delia.
“She said Mommy had to wash everything because she lives here free.”
I slowly looked back at my sister.
Sofia lived free?
In the penthouse purchased in my name?
Inside the family I headed?
Delia realized what Lily had just exposed.
Her face changed.
May you like
And suddenly this was no longer about dirty pans.
Someone had spent five months convincing my wife she no longer had a place in her own home.
