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Experts Couldn't Solve It — But the Poor Maid's Toddler Did It in Just 1 Minute

Experts Couldn't Solve It — But the Poor Maid's Toddler Did It in Just 1 Minute

Chapter 13

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Amora crossed her arms: protective, guarded, in a way that broke something in Julian's chest. "You don't understand what it's like," she said quietly. "To have people assume you used your own child to manipulate your way into money. I've spent two years trying to give her a decent life without anyone's charity. And in one week, I became a headline in your family's gossip instead of a person who just happened to bring her daughter to work.""You're right," Julian said simply. "I don't understand what that's like. I've spent my whole life on the other side of that kind of assumption. But I understand this: my father spent thirty years hiding a promise because he was afraid of exactly this—people twisting kindness into strategy, doubting sincerity because it's easier than believing good things happen without a hidden motive."He stepped closer, his voice steadying."The fund isn't charity, Amora. It's not a gift, and it's certainly not something Nova has to earn or deserve by being exceptional. It exists because my father made a promise decades ago and forgot it. And your daughter, completely by accident, reminded me who he used to be and who I want to be. That has nothing to do with whether you stay working in my house or not."Amora's eyes filled again, but this time something in her posture softened. "Marcus is trying to block it," she said. "Isn't he?""He's trying," Julian admitted. "But it's not his decision. It's mine, and I intend to make it—board vote or not."For the first time since she'd opened the door, Amora let out a small, disbelieving laugh: half-exhaustion, half-relief. "You came all the way out here in a coat like that just to tell me that?""I came all the way out here," Julian said, "because it was the right thing to do. And because I realized this morning that in eight months of living under the same roof, I never once knew your daughter's favorite color, or your husband's name, or anything real about the woman who kept my entire life running while I was too busy grieving to notice anyone else's grief."Amora looked at him for a long moment, something shifting behind her tired eyes. Not quite trust yet, but the beginning of it.
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Experts Couldn't Solve It — But the Poor Maid's Toddler Did It in Just 1 Minute

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