There were too many situations like this and she couldn't possibly help them all. And when it came to other people's family matters, stepping in often felt like an impossible dream. She had to take back what she said earlier. Not every mother loved her child. There were selfish and terrible mothers out there too.

What worried Jamie most was how today's incident might shape Charlie's values. For children, character and perspective were everything.

She spent the entire way home fretting, and once there, gently probed him to see how he was processing the event, ready to comfort him if needed.

To her surprise, Charlie seemed far more adaptable than she had expected. He even said something that left her stunned. "I know that girl's mom is a bad mom, but my mom isn't, so I won't listen to her." Jamie was speechless for a moment before a smile of relief spread across her face.

*

Once Jamie's mother's condition stabilized and she stopped waking up in the middle of the night screaming, Jamie was finally able to return to work.

Her assistant's envy over her leave was practically written across his face. "Jamie, you get so much time off. Can you maybe talk to Mr. Lucas and ask him to share some of it with me? Just a little would be enough." Clearly fed up with his workload, he sighed dramatically.

Jamie chuckled, "You'll have to ask him yourself for that."

The assistant shuddered at the mere thought. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

favor and take these documents to Mr.

nothing on my plate right now. Hand them

soon as she received the

muttered, staring at the label

particular document from the pile, his surprise matching hers. "Is the

yel

year. I thought it wouldn't

end of this year."

colleague joined the conversation,

Jamie suddenly remembered that the end of the year was approaching. Time

mind was still stuck in the years when she had just given birth to Charlie, and now, in the blink of an eye, he was already in

unison, but it did nothing to diminish their excitement over

documents, Jamie

balance the files, she knocked on the door. When no one answered, she hesitated for a moment before reaching for

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