Chapter 2

2.

Now, I promised him over and over again that I would never bother him again.

But Eason's face only grew darker. After a long moment, he said with cold certainty, "Natalie, you're sulking."

He turned and left, tossing a final command over his shoulder.

"Throw your tantrum if you must. Just make sure you organize my study tomorrow. I don't want to see a single speck of dust."

I wanted to say something, but stopped myself. Instead, I pulled out my phone, opened a housekeeping app, and started looking for a suitable live-in maid, yawning the whole time.

I couldn't do this work. I really, really couldn't.

I genuinely admired the old me.

I used to wake up at six every morning to make a special nut-free breakfast for my allergic son. At seven, I'd prepare a separate organic meal for Eason and his delicate stomach.

After grabbing a couple of bites of a cold bagel for myself, I'd start cleaning the entire house. Eason was a neat freak with obsessive tendencies; there couldn't be a single spot of dirt, and the files in his study had to be arranged in perfect alphabetical order.

Today, I tried to replicate the old me. I didn't even get a third of the way through before I collapsed onto the bed in exhaustion.

When I was organizing the files in the study, I lost my patience and just shoved them all in randomly. That was probably why Eason came to "remind" me.

I had just drifted off when a loud banging on the door startled me awake.

"Get up and make breakfast! The school bus is almost here!" my son, Leo, yelled impatiently from the hallway.

Breakfast time. Again.

Luckily, I was prepared.

"I ordered from a delivery app," I mumbled into my pillow. "Should be here in about ten minutes."

I rolled over to go back to sleep, vaguely hearing Leo kick the door in frustration.

"Dad never should have brought you back! Chloe makes me pancakes! You're useless!"

The next time I opened my eyes, it was because Eason was violently dragging me out of bed.

"What did you feed Leo?!"

I was completely dazed, my eyes still heavy with sleep.

He hauled me into the living room and pointed at Leo, who was covered in red hives and struggling to breathe.

"Even if you're angry, you don't take it out on our son! He has a severe nut allergy! If I hadn't found him, he could have gone into anaphylactic shock and died!"

An ambulance wailed in the distance, quickly arriving to rush our son to the hospital. I chased after them, trying to explain.

"I honestly don't know how this happened! I specified a severe nut allergy on the app and even called the restaurant to confirm! They promised it was a completely nut-free kitchen! I never thought Leo would still have a reaction."

Eason shot me a look of pure disgust.

"Stop making things up. You fired the two professional nutritionists I hired. You've been controlling Leo's diet obsessively. He was just miserable and said he liked Chloe, so you decided to punish him."

"No, that's not it, it was because―"

"Shut up. Don't make me regret giving you your memory back."

His cold words cut me off.

I controlled Leo's diet because he had a fragile system and was prone to severe allergies. I was trying to protect him. And those two nutritionists? They quit after less than a week because it was too much trouble.

Whatever. Explaining was exhausting. Once the new maid arrived, none of this bullshit would be my problem anymore.

After an examination, the doctor said it was a mild peanut allergy from a very small amount of exposure. It wasn't serious. A shot and some observation would be enough.

I called the restaurant to complain. The manager checked the security footage and apologized, explaining that it was a complimentary cookie included with the meal. The package was clearly labeled with a "contains nuts" warning and wasn't part of the main order.

So Leo must have gotten hungry and eaten it himself.

He always had a sweet tooth but was allergic to peanuts and chocolate. The old me watched him like a hawk to prevent this. The moment I let my guard down, this happened.

"Natalie!"

Just as I was about to turn and explain the situation to Eason, a small, warm body crashed into my legs.