I sat still, not moving an inch. Then I heard Daniel’s voice outside the door. “Dad, please open the door. Let’s talk.”
I didn’t answer.
He knocked a few more times, then finally used his key to open the door himself. When he came in, his face was full of apology, completely different from how he looked earlier at the office.
“Dad, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way.” He pulled out a chair and sat down. “Wanda and her mom were too blunt. They didn’t think about your feelings.”
“They know they crossed the line, so they asked me to apologize for them.”
I looked up at him. “Really?”
“Really,” he nodded quickly. “Wanda works in finance, so she’s strict about money. That’s why she cares so much about twenty cents. Please don’t take it personally.”
I didn’t reply. I just lowered my head and kept folding my clothes.
Daniel sighed, his voice sounding tired. “Dad, running this factory isn’t easy. Every morning, I wake up worrying about rent, bills, salaries, materials…”
“The pressure’s been killing me.”
“As a financial manager, Wanda’s job is to control costs. It’s just her responsibility.”
He rubbed his temples, looking drained. “The market’s rough right now. Profit margins are tiny and one mistake could wipe us out.”
“I can’t sleep at night because of the stress. I’m even losing my hair.”
Looking at him, my heart began to soften. After all, he was my son, the boy I had raised with my own hands.
When he had a fever as a child, I stayed up all night by his bedside. When he went off to college, I saved every penny I could to pay for his tuition.
Now he was struggling to build his own business. How could I, as his father, really just walk away and leave him on his own?
“Dad,” he said again when I stayed quiet, “please don’t go. I’ll talk to Wanda and make sure she watches how she speaks next time.”
“I’ll also raise your salary by seventy dollars.”
I put down my clothes and let out a long sigh. “You don’t need to raise my pay. I’m not staying for the money.”
Daniel smiled with relief. “Thanks, Dad. I knew you cared so much about me.”
He stood up, still smiling. “Get some rest. You’ll need to wake up early tomorrow to buy groceries.”
I nodded.
He turned around and quietly closed the door behind him.
Later that night, I lay in bed but couldn’t sleep.
When I got up to use the bathroom and passed by my son’s bedroom, I heard muffled laughter inside.
“See? I told you,” Daniel said proudly. “I know my dad too well. Just a few soft words and a bit of pity talk, he always gives in.”
Wanda chuckled softly. “My husband is the best. You’re right. Your dad is too easy to handle. That didn’t take much effort at all.”
“Of course. If he really leaves, we would have to hire at least two chefs and three helpers. Do you know how expensive that is? A chef costs at least seven or eight hundred a month and three helpers together would be over one thousand and fifty hundred.”
“My dad happily accepts two hundred and fifty bucks and he buys groceries, cooks and cleans. He’s basically free labor. We would be stupid to let him go.”
Wanda agreed. “And his cooking is great. Everyone at the factory says his food’s amazing. Where else can we find such a cheap and skilled cook?”
“That’s why we should keep him happy and make sure he stays. Once business gets better, we can deal with the rest later.”
So, their apology and concern were all an act. They weren’t really sorry.
They just didn’t want to lose their free labor.
Back in my room, I unlocked my phone and bought a ticket for the earliest train home. The payment went through and the departure time showed as 6:30 a.m. tomorrow.
At 4:30, it was still dark outside.
