Chapter 2

The moment the cameras were turned off, Brenda became a completely different person.

Before, Leo's meals were carefully prepared purees and organic oatmeal.

Now? She slapped together some clumpy, cold instant oatmeal, splashed it with salty soy sauce, and shoved it into his mouth. Leo turned his head away, gagging.

I said, "Brenda, isn't this food a bit too lazy and unhealthy for a baby?"

She rolled her eyes. "He’s lucky to have food at all! So picky. If you’re so smart, why don't you feed him yourself?"

I forced myself to swallow my anger.

In the afternoon, when I went to change Leo's diaper, I touched his skin. He was wrapped in layers of thick clothes like a winter burrito—on a sweltering summer day!

When I stripped the clothes off, his neck and back were covered in angry red heat rashes.

"Why did you dress him in so many layers?"

She snatched the baby back from me, her voice booming louder than mine. "Babies catch colds instantly! If he gets sick, are you going to take responsibility? Do you know how to raise a child, or do I? If you don't like my way, fire me! I’ll pack my bags right now!"

My hands shook with rage. Fire her?

If she walked out now, she and her daughter would only spin more lies in the neighborhood group.

That evening, I wanted to take some of my imported organic saffron and premium collagen elixirs.

It was a luxury health set I had spent two months' worth of bonuses on.

But when I opened the box, it was completely empty.

My heart skipped a beat.

I marched straight into the guest room.

Brenda’s back was turned to the door. She was holding my designer silk pajamas, draping them over her body and posing.

Next to her, her phone was propped up on a tripod, snapping photos.

I rushed over and snatched the phone.

The screen displayed a grid of nine photos of her posing provocatively in my clothes.

The caption read: *"A lovely gift from a dear friend. A woman must pamper herself!"*

The location tag was set to my luxury apartment.

The blood rushed to my head. "Brenda! Have you no shame?!"

She panicked for a split second, but immediately put her hands on her hips and yelled back. "What's the big deal? I just tried them on! I didn't ruin them! Stop being so cheap!"

I demanded she delete them immediately.

She took her sweet time and deleted them in front of my face.

But I knew she had probably just blocked me from seeing her posts.

A few days later, my phone blew up again.

A local parenting influencer with millions of followers, *Parenting Hub*, had reposted the sob-story written by Brenda’s daughter.

The headline was sensational: *"A Nanny's Nightmare: Humiliation Under 24-Hour Surveillance."*

They painted me as a paranoid, power-tripping psycho.

The comments section was toxic.

"Dox her! Leak her address and phone number!"

"How can a woman like this be a mother?"

Soon, a barrage of calls from unknown numbers began flooding my phone.

The text messages were filled with disgusting abuse.

Terrified, I turned off my phone.

When Austin came home, his face was pale and angry.

He slammed his phone on the table. "Look at what you’ve done! I told you we shouldn’t have installed those stupid cameras! Now the whole city knows about our private drama!"

I looked at him, my heart turning cold. "Am I the one causing this drama? They are the ones abusing us!"

"But you shouldn't have given them ammunition!" Austin yelled at me. "Now what do we do? Tell me!"

I opened my mouth, but not a single word came out.

Outside the window, the sky was pitch black.

I felt like I had fallen into a deep, muddy pit. The more I struggled, the deeper I was buried.

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