I'd only meant to offer Mrs. Dickerson a helpful suggestion. I never expected her to dismiss it entirely—worse, to take it as a sign that I was trying to shirk my duties.

"What do we need a maternity nurse for when we have you? Effie, my mother-in-law didn't bring you here so you could take it easy. If everyone just came and went as they pleased, what kind of household would this be?"

One sentence, and I had nothing to say.

What I wanted to say was that any servant in this house had more days off than I did—and that in all my time here, this was the first time I'd ever asked for anything.

But I swallowed the words.

In the third year, Mrs. Dickerson became pregnant with Joseph.

Looking back over those three years, it struck me all at once: I had been away from home for three full years and hadn't gone back. Not once.

A sour ache spread through my chest. I blinked, and tears slipped down my face without a sound.

Three years. What had I gotten in return?

The first year, the Dickersons paid me three hundred dollars a month—room and board included.

Nora told me this was what city people called a probation period. Once it ended, my salary would go up to a thousand, same as the other staff. She said she'd already arranged it with Mrs. Dickerson.

The second year, my salary was still three hundred.

The third year, still three hundred.

Unlike the other staff, I didn't have my own meals prepared for me. Every time, I waited until the family finished eating, then cleared whatever was left.

I didn't mind. To me, the Dickersons ate the kind of food I'd never dared dream of back home—rich dishes of meat and fish. And leftovers were what I'd grown up on in the countryside.

As for living arrangements, I was different from the other staff there, too. They were housed in the condo unit next door.

Me? Mrs. Dickerson had me stay in the little structure behind the garden.

"Little structure" was generous. It was two rooms, sixty square feet each.

It wasn't that I never had doubts. Everyone's selfish at the end of the day. When you see people who do less than you living better than you, it's hard not to feel the sting.

I went to Mrs. Dickerson about it.

"Effie, are you really comparing yourself to the other housekeepers? They came through an agency. Their wages get split with the company. How is that the same as someone from the countryside?"

I opened my mouth.

"But ma'am, Nora told me my salary would—"

Mrs. Dickerson smiled. There was something behind that smile I couldn't quite read.

"Effie, you're a servant in my household. Your compensation follows my terms."

I stopped talking.

I'd thought that after everything I'd been through, my heart had gone numb.

But when I heard what Steward Hargrove said, something inside me trembled all the same.

Feeding my appetite?

The truth was, I'd stumbled upon the conversation between Mrs. Dickerson and Steward that day.

"Ma'am, Effie may not have accomplished anything remarkable these past few years, but she's put in the work. Don't you think it's time we gave her a raise?"

I'd been standing not far away. When I heard those words from Steward, my eyes burned.

Not wanting anyone to notice, I turned and left before hearing the rest—which meant I missed whatever Mrs. Dickerson said after that.

When no raise came, I could piece together enough.

Even now, I found it laughable.

For three years, I'd worked myself to the bone—walking on eggshells, pushing through until my body broke down—all for three hundred dollars a month. And Mrs. Dickerson still thought my appetite was too big?

I was the housekeeper, the cook, and the nanny, all rolled into one. Three hundred dollars a month.

Meanwhile, every new hire the Dickersons brought in through the agency started at a thousand.

Steward trained every new hire under my supervision, so naturally I knew each one inside and out.

Watching the people I'd personally trained walk out from under my wing into the easiest assignments—pulling salaries several times what I earned—how was anyone supposed to feel good about that?

Every payday, I'd quietly broach the subject with Steward, hinting that I wanted to apply for a raise. After all, the $3,000 had been agreed upon as a probationary wage.

But every single time, he'd dodge the question, hemming and hawing until the moment passed.

"Effie, I'll mention your concerns to the family, but don't get your hopes up too quickly."

"The Dickersons have so many staff, and Mr. and Mrs. Dickerson are so busy—it's only natural they can't attend to everything right away."

And so I waited. One year, then another. And what I got for my patience was the word greedy.

Of all the staff in the Dickerson household, I was the only one who genuinely wanted the family to thrive. I was the only one who treated every task in that house as if it were my own home, handling everything personally.

They kept saying they were afraid of feeding my appetite? Fine. Let them see whose appetite was really the problem.

I packed my things in silence, not letting myself think about it anymore.

I was only halfway through when Mrs. Dickerson found me.

She must have just gotten home from work and heard Steward's report.

I glanced at her but didn't speak. In all these years, this was the first time she'd ever lowered herself to set foot in my quarters.

"Effie, Steward tells me you want to resign?"

When I still didn't respond, a flicker of displeasure crossed her face. She reined it in and pressed me again.

I nodded, my voice steady and unhurried.

"Yes, ma'am. I've already packed. I'll be leaving shortly."

"Effie, the holidays are right around the corner. Don't you think walking out now is a bit impulsive?"

A rare flash of surprise crossed her face.

"From what Steward was implying, it sounds like you think your pay is too low—is that why you want to leave?"

I shook my head.

"No, ma'am. I simply don't want to do this anymore. It's a personal decision."

"Effie—and I don't mean this unkindly—but at your age, if you choose to leave now, it'll be very hard to find another position like this one. Unless someone's already poached you?"

Under the weight of her scrutinizing gaze, I laughed bitterly to myself.

"No one has."

That was when Mrs. Dickerson's composure finally cracked. She stared at me, something close to disbelief in her eyes.

"If none of those are the reason, Effie, don't tell me you're leaving because you have some kind of grievance with me?"

"I know you're capable, but housekeepers are a dime a dozen out there. If it weren't for my mother-in-law's sake, I could replace you any time I wanted—with someone younger, someone quicker on her feet."

By the end, her tone carried an unmistakable edge of threat.

I let out a long breath. A bone-deep weariness settled over me.

What was left to say?

"Ma'am, do you even know what I do every day?"

I asked her the same question I'd asked Steward.

This time, it was Mrs. Dickerson who went still.

I gave her a small smile, said nothing more, and turned back to my packing.

She'd said it herself—anyone could replace me. So what was the point of staying where I wasn't wanted?

I finished gathering my things. When I walked out, it happened to be exactly when the household staff clocked off for the evening.

I looked back at the Dickerson estate, its windows glowing warm against the dark.

My nose stung.

In three years, this was the first time I'd ever left the moment my shift was over.

At this hour, I'd never had the luxury of thinking about time.

My schedule was nothing like the other household staff. Even after their shifts ended, I was still on call for the Dickersons. Cooking, cleaning, tending to whatever they needed—there was no clock-out time for me.

But starting today, none of that held me anymore.

I stood on the empty street, bags in hand, and for the first time felt truly lost.

Where was I supposed to go?

For some reason, Constance's words surfaced unbidden in my mind.

"Those servants were all hired through a staffing agency. What could a nobody like you—some country bumpkin with no credentials and no connections—possibly compare to them?"

My fingers curled slightly. I hailed a car and followed the directions to a staffing agency.

Standing before the gleaming high-rise, in my threadbare clothes with a battered suitcase at my side, I looked like I didn't belong. I felt it, too—a flicker of doubt I'd never allowed myself before. Could they even want someone like me?

"Hello, Mrs. Lambert. Are you here to register for placement?"

The woman who greeted me was young and professional. After learning what I was looking for, she asked a few preliminary questions, then led me to a model apartment where I completed a series of practical assessments—cooking, cleaning, childcare tasks.

When the results came back, a look of quiet satisfaction crossed her face.

"All right, Mrs. Lambert. We'd like to introduce you to our first client family. They're looking for a maternity nurse, and the annual salary they're offering is around a hundred thousand dollars. Does that work for you?"

I blinked. The number didn't register at first.

"A hundred thousand?"

She nodded. Seeing the complicated expression on my face, she ventured a follow-up question.

"Mrs. Lambert, you clearly have extensive experience, and your assessment scores show proficiency across the board. A hundred thousand is actually mid-range for someone with your qualifications." She paused. "If you don't mind my asking—what was your salary at your previous employer's household?"

I opened my mouth. The words came hard.

"Three thousand."

The young woman stared at me. Then something shifted behind her eyes—sympathy, disbelief, a flash of indignation on my behalf.

"Mrs. Lambert... are you serious?"

"They had no idea what they had. Don't worry—leave everything to us. We'll make sure you end up with the best position and the best compensation available."

After the brief interview, I signed a contract with the agency.

That night, in the small apartment they'd arranged for me, I sat on the edge of the bed in a daze.

So I wasn't as worthless as Constance had made me believe.

So out here, in the real world, I was worth far more than I'd ever imagined.

Three years. I'd been trapped in that house for three entire years.

The tears came before I could stop them.

But it was over now. All of it was behind me.

Not long after, a call came from the agency's HR department. I'd been matched with a family. The position was live-in housekeeper.

The salary: four hundred thousand dollars a year.

When I hung up, I couldn't hold it in any longer. I broke down and sobbed—not from grief, but from the sheer, overwhelming weight of finally being seen.

My new employers were James Lambert and Narelle Lambert. It was just the two of them, no children yet, and compared to the Dickerson household, the work was almost peaceful.

Both James and Narelle were kind. Genuinely kind—not the performative sort that came with conditions and strings. The pay, the living arrangements, the way they spoke to me—all of it was beyond anything I'd dared to hope for.

Just as I was settling into this new life, my phone rang.

The name on the screen made me pause.

"Hello? Effie, why haven't you come back to make dinner?"

I was quiet for a moment. If not for the familiar voice on the other end, I would have assumed it was a scam call.

I let out a slow breath.

"Mr. Dickerson, I'm not coming back."

Silence on the other end. Then his tone shifted, edged with displeasure.

"Effie, have we been too good to you? Don't forget—you're just a servant in this house."

Something about his tone struck me as off.

"Mr. Dickerson, didn't your wife tell you? I've already resigned."

"What?"