During the holiday, I make a rare trip back to my hometown. After dinner, Dad orders me to wash the dishes.

I pause for a moment and ask, "Do we not have a caretaker at home?"

Mom frowns and says, "Julia works so hard taking care of us every day. Since you are back, you should let her rest. You should be the one doing everything."

I fail to fathom the logic behind her reasoning.

So, I argue, "I am paying her to be a caretaker here. Is this not exactly what she is hired to do? How does it make sense that I pay and still have to do the chores myself?"

My words make the caretaker, Julia Woodard, cry. My parents get angry at me too.

The frown on Mom's face becomes even more pronounced. "What's the point of raising you? We barely see you all year. You are not as thoughtful as Julia! At least she stays by our side every day."

Dad points at me and scolds, "You might as well stop coming back. From now on, Julia is our real daughter! Go do whatever you want!"

I let out a helpless laugh.

I am busy working away from home, but I send a large amount of money back every month and even fork out extra money to hire a caretaker for them. But in the end, they think her as their caring daughter and shower her with affection instead.

If that's the case, I'll stop sending money and see whether Julia will still act like their "daughter" for free.

I went home early, thinking of giving my parents a surprise. However, when I got home, my key wouldn't open the door.

I tried opening it several times, but the key just wouldn't turn. Then, it dawned on me that the locks had probably been changed.

Frustrated, I took my phone out and called Mom. The phone rang several times before she finally answered.

I heard the typical sounds of a shopping mall in the background as she spoke into the receiver.

"Hey, Jen. What's up? Why are you calling all of a sudden?"

"I'm home, Mom. I'm at the door. Did you change the locks? I can't open the door."

A few seconds later, Mom finally answered slowly, "Oh, you're back? Your Dad and I are out shopping with Julia. Just wait by the door for a bit. We'll be home soon."

She didn't wait for my reply before hanging up quickly.

I stood in the hallway with my suitcase behind me and waited for a whole hour.

Finally, I heard footsteps in the hallway. I looked up and saw my parents walking ahead, with the caretaker, Julia Woodard, right between them. Her right arm was affectionately linked with Mom's, and she carried the shopping bags for Dad on her right.

The three of them were laughing and chatting merrily, just like a family.

When they got to the door and saw me standing there, neither of them showed any surprise or delight. Dad just glanced at me indifferently, and Mom simply said, "You're back."

On the other hand, Julia immediately let go of Mom's arm as she beamed at me with a warm smile, hurrying toward me.

"You're back, Ms. Peterson! Why didn't you tell us beforehand? We could have come and picked you up instead."

I forced a smile and nodded, my gaze falling on the door lock. I asked, "When did you change the lock? Why didn't you tell me?"

Julia hurriedly explained, "We just changed it a month ago. The old lock was a bit stiff and not very secure.

"I thought that it might be a problem since Mr. and Mrs. Peterson are getting old, so I got the locksmith to upgrade it for us. I'm sorry we didn't manage to tell you in time, Ms. Peterson."

Before I could get a word in, Dad scoffed coldly and pushed the door open, grumbling with obvious displeasure.

"What difference does it make to you anyway, since you didn't even bother coming home for the Christmas holidays?"

I knew Dad was still upset that I didn't come home for the holidays last year, and he clearly still hadn't let it go. I didn't want to get into a fight with my parents as soon as I got home, so I just didn't say anything in return and followed them into the house.

Once inside, I habitually went to the shoe cabinet to get my indoor slippers, but I saw that my cotton slippers were already on Julia's feet.

Julia noticed my gaze and hurriedly rummaged through the bottom of the shoe cabinet, pulling out a pair of disposable indoor slippers and handing them to me instead.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Peterson. I seemed to have been wearing the wrong pair by mistake. Why don't you put these on for now?"

I looked at the flimsy disposable slippers and then at my thick cotton slippers on Julia's feet. A strange feeling rose in my chest, but I still didn't say anything and just silently changed into the disposable ones.

After dinner, I was just about to sit on the couch and rest to ease my fatigue from travelling for hours when Dad pointed to the table and said, "Go wash the dishes."

I froze on the spot and instinctively replied, "Don't we have a caretaker for that?"

Mom frowned at once and set down her glass. Her face darkened as she looked at me. "Julia has been working hard, taking care of us, doing the laundry, cooking, cleaning, and more.

"She's exhausted from working all day long. She should rest now that you're back. What's the matter with you doing the dishes instead?"

"I'm tired from work too," I said, looking at them, completely bewildered. "I work overtime every day. I finally get a few days off and want to relax at home, and you're telling me to do housework instead?

"Also, I paid a lot of money to hire her. Isn't this part of her job? Why should I pay her if I'm going to be doing the housework myself?"

Julia just stood to the side with her head down, looking terribly aggrieved.

Dad slammed his hand on the table, his face darkening. He yelled at me angrily and said, "Money, money, money! That's all you care about! What else do you see besides money? You've literally abandoned your parents just for the sake of money!

"You won't even come home to visit us regularly or during the holidays. And now that you're finally home, all you talk about is money! Why don't you just live for your money and your job, then? Why even bother coming back at all?"

Mom sighed next to me, her eyes filled with disappointment. "He's right. You rarely ever come home after you started working in Berrington. We only see each other less than a handful of times a year. But Julia has always been taking care of us in every way.

"Sometimes, when we have a fever or a headache, Julia is the one busying herself to care for us, bringing us water, meds, and taking such good care of us.

"But what about you? As our daughter, have you ever treated us like your parents? Have you ever cared about us?"

When she finished, Julia went up to Mom and reached out to take her hand, comforting her softly.

"Please don't get mad, Mrs. Peterson. Ms. Peterson is working in a high managerial role now, so it's natural that she's always busy with work. It's not that she doesn't want to come home."

I was so angry hearing this from them that I almost laughed.

How could they say that I didn't care about them? I would always wire them 5,000 dollars every month, without fail, for their living expenses. And I was worried that they wouldn't bear to spend the money, so I hired a live-in caretaker and paid her a hefty sum to take care of their daily needs.

I worked myself to the bone, all alone in a foreign city, just so that they could live comfortably at home! And yet, they said that I wasn't behaving like their daughter, claiming instead that the live-in caretaker cared more about them than I did!

I clenched my fists and suppressed my anger.

"Don't you think that's unfair, Mom and Dad? You say I don't care about you and only talk about money all the time?

"I used to come home often in the past, whenever I had free time, but you said that I was wasting money, and that I was acting like a child who never grew up. You told me not to come home that often. I listened to you.

"But I still called and Facetimed you often, didn't I? I was never late wiring you the money for your living expenses, was I? And I was the one who hired Julia at a high pay to take care of you. Doesn't any of that count as caring?"

Dad's face darkened at once.

"But you didn't even come home for the holidays last year. That's unacceptable! You weren't here for Thanksgiving either and missed the family gathering. What's the point of sending us money? Your mom and I have enough retirement savings. We don't need your money!"

"Please don't get mad, Mr. Peterson," Julia said quickly, stepping forward and gently tugging at Dad's arm with a meek smile.

"Ms. Peterson has had a tough time working in Berrington. Being a manager in such a cutthroat city isn't easy for her. It's very demanding, so it's only natural that she can't keep coming home like you wished she could. I'm sure that she still cares about you two."

Yet, Dad only got angrier at her words.

"So what if she's a manager?" he snapped. "Why is a young woman even working so hard for? Sooner or later, she'll still have to get married and settle down. What's the point of climbing so high anyway?"

Mom agreed with him and chimed in, "You're not getting any younger, Jen. You really should think about getting married.

"A colleague of mine has a son about your age. He's honest and reliable, works here, and comes from a good family. Since you're back, you can go on a date with him. If you think he's a good match for you, you can get engaged."

I rejected her at once. "I'm not going to any blind dates, and I'm not getting married either."

"You're not getting married?" Dad's face was as black as thunder now. "Are you planning to work for the rest of your life?"

"Why not?" I asked, staring back into his eyes.

"You—" Dad's chest heaved with anger. "Your mom and I are getting older. We need someone by our side. If you went on the date and got married, then we'd have someone to rely on. Why can't you just think about us?"

I frowned. "Didn't I already hire Julia to take care of you?"

Dad slammed his hand on the table as he swore in my face. "Since you refuse to get married, then quit your job right now and move back home to take care of us! If not, then don't even bother calling us your parents anymore! Julia can be our daughter instead!"

I laughed in anger.

"Back when I graduated from college, I originally planned to come back here to work so that I could take care of you," I said calmly, looking at him.

"But, you thought that it was embarrassing for a prestigious college graduate to return to the village to find a local job here. You yelled at me for being useless and forced me to go into the city to work there instead.

"I struggled in Berrington for years, and now that I've finally found a foothold and have the life I have now, you think that you can make me give it all up and quit my job just to come back to take care of you? Just because you said so?"

I shook my head and added firmly, "That's not happening."

Dad frowned. His tone rose as he demanded, "What do you mean by 'not happening'? We raised you all these years! We're just asking you to come home and take care of us now. And you're making excuses?"

"I'm not making excuses," I explained patiently. "I worked hard for my position in Berrington. If I just give it up now, all my years of hard work would have been for nothing!"

"So you're not going to care about us anymore?" Mom demanded, her face tight with disapproval. "You're our only daughter. Who else are we supposed to rely on when we're older, if not you?"

"I never said that I wasn't going to care about you anymore," I said, taking a deep breath before offering them another solution.

"Fine. If you want me to take care of you, then you can move to Berrington with me. Then, I can go to work and also take care of you at the same time."

Dad immediately waved his hand dismissively, looking at me impatiently. "Move to Berrington? We've lived in this village for decades. All our friends and relatives are here. We won't be comfortable living in another place at all."

Mom nodded as well. "Exactly! Also, you're living in a rented apartment in Berrington. It's not going to be as comfortable as our own house! We're not going!"

I frowned. "If you don't want to come with me, and I can't quit my job, then there's nothing that I can do."

Dad's face was thunderous. "Nothing you can do? Now that you've spread your wings, you think you can just ignore us? You don't respect us anymore!"

"I'm not resigning no matter what," I said firmly, without the slightest hint of backing down.