Chapter 1 - The Invisible Daughter
My mother demanded that I give up the master bedroom for my sister and her husband.
When I refused, she lost her temper, grabbed the old baseball bat my father kept in the corner, struck me in the shoulder, and ordered me out of the room.
My sister stood there and watched it happen.
None of them knew the one fact that made their entire little takeover ridiculous.
I owned the house.
My name is Laura Bennett, I’m 31, and I run an online app business from home.
For years, my family treated that last sentence like the punch line to a joke nobody had bothered to tell me.
Because I worked from a laptop instead of putting on a uniform, driving to an office, or carrying a badge with somebody else’s company name on it, my parents never really considered what I did a job.
To them, I was simply home.
And if I was home, I must have time.
Time to make dinner.
Time to start the laundry before anyone ran out of clean clothes.
Time to notice when the milk was low, pick up groceries, wipe down the counters, vacuum the living room, and handle every small household problem that appeared before anyone else had to think about it.
When my father misplaced something, he called my name from the other room.
When my mother needed a package returned, a prescription picked up, or something cleaned before company arrived, she asked me because I was the one who supposedly had “all day.”
Meanwhile, I would have my laptop open at the kitchen table, answering messages from customers or trying to solve a problem in the app while a load of laundry spun down the hall.
If I told them I was working, Mom would give me that patient little smile people use when they think you are being dramatic.
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“You’re already home, Laura.”
That sentence explained almost everything about the way my family saw me.
