"Why would you have a live-in maid when you already have me to do all the dirty work?"
Fiona's taunting voice stopped me in my tracks as I was about to leave with Adrian. She leaned against the wall, arms crossed, a malicious smirk twisting her face.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, my chest tightening.
"Oh, you didn't know?" Her eyes widened with fake innocence. "Your precious mommy signed a contract this morning. She's our new maid for the next five years."
The world tilted beneath my feet. "You're lying."
"Am I? Why don't you ask her yourself?" Fiona pulled out a folded document from her pocket and waved it in the air. "Legally binding. In exchange for dropping the charges against your father."
My mother stepped forward from behind me, her face ashen. "Sera, I—"
"You didn't," I whispered, my voice breaking. "Tell me you didn't sign anything."
The guilt in her eyes told me everything.
"It was the only way," she said softly. "Your father can come home."