When she returned to the living room, she spoke softly. “I’m home, Dante.”
Dante didn’t even shift his gaze from the screen. “My mother says you were late again, and she couldn’t buy her groceries today.”
“I told you, tomorrow is the big day at the agency,” Elara replied.
“I know all about your presentation,” he interrupted with a sneer. “But listen, tomorrow is Friday, and we have priorities.”
Elara felt a familiar knot tighten in her stomach because she knew exactly what that meant. Every Friday, Martha took Elara’s debit card to the bank and withdrew nearly her entire paycheck under the guise of “household management.”
They usually left her with barely twenty dollars for gas and a cheap lunch, while Martha bought expensive skin serums and went to fancy brunches with her church friends.
“What do you need this time?” Elara asked, her voice flat.
Dante looked at her as if she were being intentionally difficult. “My mother wants to go to the spa, and she needs a new set of designer luggage for her upcoming trip to the cabin in Sedona.”
The cabin in Sedona was a sore spot for Elara because she had never been allowed to go there. It was a luxury property that Martha claimed was for “family only,” even though it was clearly funded by Elara’s grueling hours at the office.
“We are behind on the electricity bill, and Maya needs a larger car seat and new winter clothes,” Elara pointed out.
“Stop being so dramatic and selfish,” Dante snapped. “My mother has sacrificed her whole life for me, and she deserves a little luxury now and then.”
Elara bit her tongue so hard she tasted copper. She had returned to her desk only eight weeks after giving birth, often typing emails with a crying baby in her lap, yet she was treated like a guest in her own home.
The next few weeks passed in a blur of caffeine and late-night strategy sessions. While most of Phoenix was enjoying the early summer heat, Elara was negotiating with a difficult client to save a multimillion-dollar account.
On a Wednesday afternoon, the CEO called her into his private office to deliver the news. She had been promoted to Senior Account Executive, which came with a massive increase in authority and a 30 percent salary bump.
Elara walked out of the building with her hands shaking, but for the first time in years, she felt like she could breathe.