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Laia's smile fades a little. She knows it won't be easy—but that position is so much more than she ever expected to be offered, and she and her mom need the money that comes with the raise and the extra hours she'll spend watching over this woman who's never had to work for anything in her life.

"I'll do it," she says without hesitating.

"Good. Then you'll need to sign this contract—my sister's idea," Elvira adds, shaking her head. "Basically it says you're committing to supervising her in the factory and outside it whenever possible. I'm not going to ask you to walk into her home, but if you can keep her from going out to party, you'll have most of the job done—because a hangover is usually why she doesn't show up the next day or comes in late."

"Oh."

"Every Monday you'll give me a weekly report on her progress, her conduct, and her performance," Elvira continues. "Don't leave anything out, Laia. If she's late, you say so. Covering for her won't do her any good."

"Of course. Anything else?"

Elvira sits back, thinking. Even to her, all of this feels surreal, and she struggles to understand how Claudia agreed to it—but she saw her so defeated in that chair that it isn't hard to imagine the kind of control her sister has exercised over her, raising a perfect daughter to show off and be proud of, while making sure she never felt like a failure as a mother. It's clear she did fail, and a deeply twisted part of Elvira is glad it went that way—even if it's turned her niece into what she appears to be: a grown woman who only knows how to spend money and dress well.

"Nothing else. How's the day going? Any issues?"

Everything returns to normal at last, and for the next few minutes Laia walks her through the supplier problem, what she's done to address it, and the fact that she's reviewing their recent deliveries to determine whether they need to start looking for someone else. Elvira breathes slowly and tips her head back, thinking that because of her sister, she's going to lose her right-hand woman—and she'll have to start handling all of these problems herself again.

Chapter 5

"What are you doing here?" Irene asks when she comes out of the factory to grab some papers she left on the front desk.

Laia is sitting on the wooden surface with her legs dangling, holding the rotation schedule she prepared on Friday for Claudia.

"Waiting for the new one. Well, she's not new, she's—"

"Elvira's niece. I know."

Laia's eyebrows shoot up.

"How do you know? Did she tell you?"

"She didn't. Andrea from HR did." Irene checks the time and flashes a mischievous grin. "What time does she start?"

"Eight." Laia bites her lip and Irene lets out a little laugh.

"It's almost eight-thirty. First day and she's already late—what a start," Irene whistles.

Laia doesn't know what to say and starts swinging her legs. She's been here since ten minutes before eight, waiting in case Claudia showed up a little early—which seems perfectly logical to Laia when you're starting a new job—but this Claudia still hasn't appeared, and her boss came downstairs a while ago, saw Laia standing by the door, and went back up without a word.

"Maybe she got lost," Laia finally says.

"In her sheets." Irene's sarcasm makes Elvira's assistant crack a smile despite herself. "Okay, I'll leave you to your wait. Don't get bored."

Laia watches her disappear through the door into the factory and sighs, pulling out her phone to kill time, when she hears Elvira's footsteps on the floor above again. She hops off the desk, tucks her phone away, and leans back against the wood.

"I assume she's not in the bathroom," Elvira says, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"No."

Elvira checks the time and shakes her head. It's almost eight-thirty, and instead of heading back upstairs, she decides to wait with Laia—she wants to be there, wants to hear whatever excuse her niece walks in with.

"I was wondering—" Laia starts, and stops when Elvira turns her head so quickly that Laia isn't sure she should keep going.

"What are you wondering?"

"Well, she's late today and I had no way to control that, so I'm wondering whether this counts as me not doing my job."

"Relax. Your accountability in this matter doesn't begin until she shows up."