Chapter 11
The foundation office opened in a small building near the children’s hospital.
Not in David’s mansion.
I insisted on that.
“If caregivers are scared of rich families,” I told him, “they won’t walk into another rich family’s building to report abuse.”
David listened.
He really listened.
That was new for him.
The first week, three women came in.
A nanny.
A housekeeper.
A driver.
All of them had stories.
Locked rooms.
Bruises explained away.
Threats wrapped in money.
I sat across from them and recognized the same fear in every face.
The fear of not being believed.
The fear of losing work.
The fear of becoming the problem because you dared to name the real one.
One nanny cried so hard she could not speak.
I pushed a box of tissues toward her.
“You are safe here,” I said.
She looked at me like she wanted to believe it but did not know how.
I understood that too.
After she left, I went into the bathroom and cried quietly.
Not from weakness.
From memory.
When I came out, David was waiting in the hallway.
“Too much?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Do you want to stop?”
“No.”
He nodded.
“Okay.”
No pressure.
No speech.
Just okay.
That made me trust him more than any apology.
That afternoon, Leo visited the office with his grandmother from Elena’s side.
He ran straight to my desk.
“I brought drawing!”
It was a picture of three stick figures.
Leo.
David.
Me.
Above us was a big yellow sun.
I pointed to the third figure.
“Is that me?”
“Yes. You have big arm.”
I laughed.
“Big arm?”
“For blocking.”
My throat tightened.
David heard it from the doorway.
Leo smiled proudly.
“Ria is shield.”
I pulled him into my arms.
“No, sweetheart,” I whispered.
“Ria is friend.”
He hugged me harder.
“Friend shield.”
May you like
I let him have that.
For now.
