I didn't dare take medication for fear of affecting breastfeeding.

I lay awake crying until dawn, only to see Chloe using my makeup to powder her face.

Seeing me rise silently, she was startled.

Then, looking at my face, she was even more shocked.

Covering her mouth, she could barely hold back her laughter.

She said, "Why is your face so swollen? Didn't you say you used to be a makeup artist? Looks like your foundation wasn't good. That's why you worked so hard to learn makeup."

Seeing that I didn't respond, she became even more aggressive.

She put all my cosmetics into her own makeup bag and casually sprayed some perfume.

She said, "I see you won't be using these, and they're about to expire. I might as well use them."

I was in so much pain that I just wanted to go to the hospital immediately.

The pungent smell of her perfume gave me a headache.

Although I was resentful, I was still afraid of offending her, fearing she might mistreat my son.

I could only advise her, "Aren't maternity nurses not supposed to wear makeup or use strong-smelling things? Why don't you put it on when you go home?"

She sneered, "He's so small. How can he smell anything? I think you're just jealous of me."

She snatched away the baby and added, "If you're sick, go get treated."

Looking at the makeup bag she had left there, I opened it and dumped it into the trash can.

Hearing the noise, she rushed back.

She shouted, "You crazy woman, what are you doing? These are all branded items. You probably haven't even seen them before."

Her hand kept fishing in the toilet, opening the eyeshadow, which had already melted into water.

Furious, she threw it directly at me.

She snapped, "You're going to pay for this. These are all brand-name products. You're just jealous of me. That's why you threw all my things into the toilet."

She threw everything from my bathroom onto the floor.

Finally, she stomped on them a few times.

She coldly said she'd teach me a lesson.

I sat on the toilet floor that looked like a paint palette, feeling my burning forehead, and called the agency to complain.

I said, "Yes, terminate the contract. Let her leave now."

The sound of our two arguing finally woke up my husband.

He frowned and asked what I was making a fuss about again.

Chloe's voice dropped, saying that I was jealous of her using good cosmetics, so I threw everything into the toilet.

She suspected that I had developed postpartum depression.

The irritated Declan grabbed my hair and dragged me to the bathroom, shoving my face against the mirror. He told me to look at how crazy I looked now.

He said I was just jealous that she earned more money.

Chloe stood behind him, looking smug.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, and Chloe went to open the door.

She probably thought it was her daily gossip buddy, my mother-in-law.

She stuttered, "Supervisor?

"Why are you here?"

Chloe instinctively took a step back.

Then she hid her wrists behind her back.

But the strong perfume smell was choking.

The supervisor of the housekeeping center grabbed Chloe's hand and sniffed it.

Then her face darkened.

She demanded, "Chloe, apologize to the client."

I threw a pack of wet wipes to the supervisor, coldly eyeing Chloe.

The supervisor wanted to wipe, but as soon as she got close to Chloe's face, Chloe stepped back.

She screamed, saying it was a violation of her rights as a worker and that she could report it to the police.

Declan came forward to intervene, saying this was just a small friction between us.

He said, "My wife doesn't understand. It's not just Chloe's fault."

I looked at him coldly.

I said, "Since that's the case, why don't you pay her salary? She worked for one day in total, and the fee is one thousand dollars."

"One thousand?"

Declan's eyes widened as he held up one finger.

He knew maternity nurses were expensive, but he didn't expect them to be this expensive.

Unable to speak clearly, he questioned me, "You gave birth to the child and hired the maternity nurse, but you want me to pay? I won't pay. I didn't even get to enjoy her services."

He sat far away.

His face was full of anger.

Chloe's eyes were filled with tears, her face red from being wiped with tissues.

The supervisor held the tissue, apologizing to me.

She said their management was not strict enough, they would deal with this seriously, and we didn't need to pay for the service.

Hearing that he didn't have to pay, Declan became smug.

He kept praising Chloe, saying she did a good job, the food she cooked was delicious, and she cleaned well.

His words embarrassed the supervisor.

Finally, she asked me, "Was the postpartum meal prepared by Chloe to your liking?"

I muttered, "Postpartum meal?"

If last night's beef with chili and soup counted...

Declan answered, "The beef was so delicious, even better than what my mom makes."

His words further embarrassed the supervisor.

She told us that the company would fire Chloe and blacklist her across the industry.

A maternity nurse of this quality couldn't remain in the profession.

I wholeheartedly agreed.

Letting her go on to harm other new mothers would be a great misfortune.

Chloe was sobbing.

When she heard she could no longer do this job that earned her so much money, she pointed at the cosmetics in the bathroom, saying I had smashed several tens of thousands worth of her makeup.

She wanted to call the police for compensation.

"Well..."

The supervisor obviously hadn't dealt with such a situation before.

"Call the police. Do it," I said.

I closed the bathroom door behind me.

"Don't wipe out the fingerprints."

The police came to a conclusion, and Chloe was on the verge of breaking down.

Because real eyeshadow and lipstick wouldn't dissolve in water instantly.

When I saw her cosmetics had turned into a muddy mess, I knew immediately that they were all fake.

Moreover, she couldn't provide any purchase receipts, only claiming that a previous client had gifted them to her.

As for my cosmetics, since I used them for clients, everything was purchased from authorized counters, with receipts and codes all intact.

Now Chloe not only didn't make any money but also had to compensate her.

She finally swallowed her pride and lowered her head.

She explained that she couldn't have children but loved kids, which was why she had worked as a nurse.

She couldn't afford the compensation and begged me to let her off.

I was burning with fever, my head pounding to the point of near collapse.

Just as my mother-in-law arrived, under the police's mediation, we had Chloe write an IOU. The company would act as a guarantor, and she'd pay back the money in installments.

I rode in a patrol car to the hospital, telling my husband and mother-in-law to keep a close watch on the child.

Although my mother-in-law was simple and honest, her childcare skills were almost non-existent.

She couldn't even mix baby formula properly or dilute hot water with cold, and if left alone at home, there was no telling whether the baby would be suffering from diarrhea by the time I returned.

But surely, she wouldn't harm her grandson.

I still believed too much in human nature.

When I came home after getting my IV drip, I thought my eyes were deceiving me.

Chloe was holding my son, chatting and laughing with my husband and mother-in-law as they had dinner together.

When they saw me return, Declan came up to explain, saying that as soon as I left, the baby started crying.

It was Chloe who managed to calm him down.

He said, "You're just too sensitive. Chloe is good at taking care of the baby."

Her mouth full of food, my mother-in-law echoed his words.

She said, "Exactly, and Chloe is from my hometown. I believe she's a good person."

The two of them stared at me as if I were the bad person.

It was fine.

I waved the IOU Chloe had written for me.

I said, "You make more than 20 thousand dollars a month. You should be able to pay me back in two or three months."

Declan panicked, suggesting that Chloe could take care of the baby as compensation for the debt.

Even my mother-in-law said they had already discussed it, and besides, my cosmetics weren't worth that much.

They were used anyway. No one would want them if thrown away.

I sneered. They'd done the math quite well.

The only one left to suffer was me.

I said, "You earn 26 thousand dollars a month. That's one thousand a day. If I don't get my money every day, you can get out of my house."