: Raising a Tiger

2

The nanny's name was Melody Hale. She started working for us last year. Unlike the other nannies, she was a young woman.

She had just graduated from college with a degree in nutrition.

When she interviewed, she stood out among a group of middle-aged women, and her skills were superior.

She said she came from a rural area and, as the eldest daughter, knew how to do plenty of housework.

She was working as a nanny to save money for graduate school.

I took pity on her circumstances. Her work was good, and coupled with the fact that she was more educated than the other nannies, I hired her.

Little did I know, I was raising a viper in my own home.

"Mom, Auntie Hale hasn't eaten yet. Why are you picking on her?"

After Melody Hale left, Joyce Thorne came to her defense.

I took the chicken leg right out of her bowl and placed it in my older daughter's.

"Alright. Since you think what Auntie Hale did was right, your sister can have this chicken leg."

The next second, Joyce Thorne burst into tears.

"What are you doing? That was my chicken leg!"

"Does it have your name on it? What are you crying for? You're going to cry away all the good fortune in this house."

Joyce Thorne froze, staring at me in terror.

"This chicken leg doesn't have anyone's name on it. Any of us could have eaten it, but Auntie Hale deliberately made one less so that someone would have to go without."

It's just that my older daughter is used to giving in, which means she never gets one. This has led Joyce Thorne to assume she's entitled to everything.

And I was determined to set her straight.

"It's okay, Mom. I don't like chicken legs."

My older daughter was silent for a long moment before quietly pushing her bowl forward.

Joyce Thorne instantly stopped crying. She had just picked up her chopsticks when I blocked her.

I looked at my older daughter and patted her head.

"Tell me the truth. Are you saying you don't like chicken legs, or are you just giving in to your sister because she's crying?"

My older daughter didn't say a word, just quietly nodded.

"Then let me tell you something. You shouldn't sacrifice your own feelings just because someone else is crying. This is also a lesson for your sister—so she learns that crying doesn't solve every problem. Understand?"

The atmosphere at the dinner table grew tense.

After a long silence, my older daughter finally picked up her chopsticks and started eating the chicken leg.

The moment she saw the chicken leg was gone, my younger daughter threw down her chopsticks, yelled, "I'm not eating!" and stormed into her room.

"It's fine. Let's just eat."

Joyce Thorne hid in her room and began to wail, but she had deliberately left the door open a crack, and the sound of her crying drifted out through the gap.

I pretended not to hear and continued eating, asking my older daughter about school.

The crying didn't finally subside until after dinner.

But soon after, I got a call from my husband.

"I heard Joyce didn't eat dinner tonight. What happened? It was just a chicken leg. Why didn't you just give it to her?"

: You're Fired

3

I looked at the closed door. Joyce Thorne must have realized her one-woman show wasn't working, so she called for backup.

"It's just a chicken leg. Do the two sisters really need to be so petty? Especially Julie, she's the older sister. Can't she just let her little sister have it?"

I leisurely sipped my tea before speaking. "I'm planning to make an investment recently. As it happens, your brother's company has a pretty good project, so I invested $7 million in it."

"What!"

He immediately grew anxious on the other end of the line. "Don't you know my company needs money too? I'm on this business trip specifically to secure funding! How could you invest our money elsewhere?"

"It's only $7 million. Do you two brothers really need to be so petty? Especially you, you're the older brother. Can't you just let your little brother have it?"

I threw his own words right back at him. The other end of the line fell silent.

"It's not scarcity that people resent, but inequality. They are both my children. Why should one sister get something the other can't have? Over time, what do you think Julie will feel?"

I was about to say more when I suddenly looked up and saw the reflection of Melody Hale standing behind me in the glass.

"Let's leave it at that for now. Come back soon. There's something I need to talk to you about."

After hanging up, Melody Hale walked in cautiously.

"Madam, I've prepared the list."

She handed me a printed spreadsheet.

I had to admit, Melody Hale was very good in some respects. The spreadsheet she made was clear and easy to understand.

"You're so capable. Being a nanny in our home is a bit of a waste of your talents."

Hearing this, Melody Hale immediately broke into a smile.

But the next second, I continued, "You're so outstanding, you could shine anywhere. So you don't need to stay in our home any longer."

"Madam, what do you mean? Why are you firing me out of the blue?"

"Let's not even talk about how you can't even get the portions right when you cook. Before you came here, the housekeeping agency should have trained you. Don't you know about protecting your employer's privacy? You're so good at making short videos, it's a real shame you're not a full-time influencer."

Melody Hale's face went pale. She probably never expected that I would know she was filming videos to make extra money on the side.

After all, in my past life, I only found out about it many years later.

Melody Hale shared her daily life online, her selling point being what it's like to be a nanny for a wealthy family.

She frequently filmed the inside of my home and even snuck into my bedroom to shoot videos several times when I wasn't there.

Because of the luxurious environment and easy work, she attracted the envy of a large number of netizens.

So, she leveraged her online traffic to start live-streaming and selling products.

She completely forgot about the privacy agreement I had her sign when we made the contract.

But I didn't have a habit of scrolling through short-form videos, so I never discovered it.

"I will give you severance pay. You can pack your things and leave my house."

Melody Hale looked at me in terror, tears instantly welling up in her eyes.

"Madam, you know my family's situation. By doing this, you're trying to kill me."

: Naturally Bad Seed

4

I couldn't understand her thought process. First of all, what did her family's situation have to do with me?

I thought I treated her quite well, paying her $5,000 a month and covering her room and board.

Because she said she was preparing for the graduate entrance exams, I even asked a friend to get her some practice questions.

But I never saw her studying. Instead, I saw her putting her energy into other things.

I didn't want to waste any more words on her. I told her to take care of herself and turned to leave.

Over the next few days, Melody Hale kept pleading with me.

She'd either say she still wanted to study or talk about how difficult her life back home was.

She even incited my younger daughter to come and plead with me on her behalf.

"Mom, why are you being so hard on Auntie Hale?"

To be honest, I didn't understand my younger daughter's way of thinking either.

She could seemingly empathize with anyone and everyone, except for her own family.

At first, I just thought she simply disliked me. But something that happened a few days later completely changed my mind.

It also made me realize what it means to be a born-bad seed.

One day, while I was in a meeting at work, I got a call from a teacher. She said Julia Thorne had gotten into a conflict with a classmate and stolen something, and that I needed to come to the school.

I was stunned by the news.

After all, my older daughter had always been so well-behaved and sensible. How could she possibly do something like that?

I arrived at the school and was led to an office by the teacher.

Inside the office were a sobbing girl and her parent.

The parent, with a cold expression, told her child to repeat what she had just said.

The little girl began, sobbing, "I thought my mom's necklace was pretty, so I brought it to school. Then I got into a fight with Julia Thorne, and then Julia Thorne stole my necklace."

I was completely confused. The parent quickly added, "I just spoke with the teacher and other students to understand the situation. It was really just a childish squabble. My daughter was being naughty and your daughter wrote her name down. My daughter got upset and, in front of the other students, said that Julia Thorne didn't deserve to be Class President."

"We were the ones in the wrong for that, and we should apologize. But little Julia Thorne can't be stealing things! She's so young. If she develops a bad habit like this now, what will become of her in the future?"

Before I could even say a word, my daughter had been labeled a thief. She was hiding behind me now, shaking her head frantically.

"Mom, I really didn't steal anything! I don't know how that necklace got into my desk."

I stroked my daughter's head and asked the teacher to check the surveillance footage.

The teacher immediately looked troubled. "All the other students saw the necklace being found in Julia Thorne's desk."

"So, did any student actually see Julie take it? I need to see the surveillance footage. If she took it, I will pay ten times its value in compensation and apologize publicly."

Seeing my firm attitude, the teacher finally pulled up the classroom's surveillance footage.

It happened during the long break between classes. All the students had left the classroom for exercises, and the room was empty.

About five minutes later, a person walked into the classroom. After making sure no one was around, they rummaged through one of the desks for a long time, finally found a necklace, and then stuffed it into Julia Thorne's desk.

After doing all this, she nodded in satisfaction and glanced inadvertently at the camera, revealing a familiar face.

At that moment, the little girl whose necklace had been stolen immediately pointed her out. "It's Joyce Thorne! I told her I brought my necklace! She's Julia Thorne's little sister!"