“This man figures I’m some sort of grifter. He can’t seem to get it straight in his head, though.

Am I passing off another man’s child as Kellum’s? Or am I trying to shake his people down through a custody battle? And then there’s the ten thousand dollars, which seems to say they don’t care which it is, they just want the garbage to take itself out.

The knot in my stomach sits there, gross and heavy as lead, while my breakfast churns. Eggs on a hot day. I knew it was a bad idea.

I bet this comes down to the fact I belong to the help. I’m not a decent person like them.

That’s how they all see me, isn’t it? I’m trash. Cheap slut. Liar, conniver, whatever. But above all, cheap.
That’s how they see me, and that’s how they’ll see Mia.

My heart sinks, but my brain keeps plugging along, impervious.

Ten thousand dollars is a lot of money for cheap.”