I didn't want this so-called home anymore, either.
Not half a day later, Diana updated her feed with a nine-photo post.
The caption read: Thank you, Mr. Harding, for spoiling me into a carefree little princess.
That one short line landed like a slap across my face.
In the photos she wore a long red dress, her skin set off pale and glowing against it.
I looked at myself in the mirror. Only thirty, and already sallow-faced, worn down to nothing.
I gave a bitter little laugh.
For Jude Harding, I had actually let myself become this haggard wreck.
Before I could even close the app, Jude's message came through, an order more than a request.
"Mom's in the hospital. Go check on her."
I stared at the text, everything churning inside me.
I hated Jude's coldness, resented his betrayal.
But the old woman was innocent. She shouldn't have to pay for the tangle between him and me.
I pushed down the sourness rising in my chest, changed clothes, and rushed to the hospital.
It took an hour and a half of running around before I finally reached the ward door.
I'd just lifted my hand to push it open when the laughter and chatter inside stopped me cold.
"Diana, sweetheart, you two enjoy yourselves. Don't waste a thought on me."
"Delia's holding down the house, nothing's going to go wrong, and I've put her fully in charge of things here at the hospital too. The two of you relax, watch the ocean, unwind. Just hurry up and give me a grandchild."
Then Diana's voice, all soft and sweet: "Auntie, won't that be too much trouble for Delia? I really do feel bad about it."
Odette Harding laughed lightly at once, her tone thick with favoritism. "What trouble? She's the Harding daughter-in-law. Running the household and taking care of her elders is exactly what she's supposed to do."
I stood outside the door, cold all over.
So it turned out five years of my heart and soul, five years of waiting on the whole Harding family, was nothing more than my duty in their eyes.
Every one of them treated me like a free maid, watched me toil away without complaint like some fool.
I pushed the door open, and Odette's smile froze on her face as she hurried to end the video call.
"Delia, why are you only getting here now?"
She was used to my meekness, my swallowed grievances, and whatever guilt she'd felt a moment ago had already burned off.
"Since you're here, go settle the payment slip right away, then finish today's caregiver paperwork."
I raised my eyes and looked at her, quietly.
Ever since she'd fallen ill, all those midnight ER runs, all those hospital stays, from start to finish it had always been me keeping watch through the night, alone.
Even when I was burning up with fever, I never missed a single time.
Jude was always busy. Always with Diana.
And in the end, everyone decided this was simply what I was meant to do.
"Have your son do it."
Odette blinked, stunned, then said in disbelief, "What did you say? You're the Harding daughter-in-law. How dare you not do as you're told—"
I didn't explain, didn't make a scene. I just ignored her shouting, turned, and walked out.
Outside the hospital, I dialed the number that had sat buried in my contacts for so long.
It picked up fast. "So you've finally decided to call me. What, come to your senses?"
I felt a little sheepish. "Yeah. Is there still a spot for me over there?"
Rosamond Swanson shrieked with laughter. "There you are, you little brat. About time you came to your senses. You're always welcome here."
Good. It wasn't too late for any of it.
The second I hung up, Jude's messages came firing in, one after another.
"Delia, Mom says you just walked out?"
"Such a tiny thing and you have to throw a fit? I'm out here working myself to the bone so you can sit back and enjoy life at home, and this is how you repay me?"
"Go back and stay with Mom right now. If anything happens to her, you can't afford the consequences."
I looked at the messages, let out a small scornful laugh, then blocked him and deleted the thread.
