So their parents really had passed away after all.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Jolene blurted out, a little flustered. She never really knew how to comfort others, so she simply said, “Then I suppose Ben must be quite familiar with photography.”
“Thank you again for the camera,” Jolene said, holding it up as she turned around. “I’ll go get some rest now. Good night.”
“Good night,” Raymond said with a smile.
He looked really young. She had no idea what he did for work—he wore a black suit every day, yet carried none of that drained, work-weary vibe. How enviable.
Jolene certainly didn’t think he was coming home this late because of overtime.
Raymond gave off a mysterious air, as if he worked just to pass the time or to do something he genuinely enjoyed.
Jolene looked closely at the camera. It said EOS 1000F on it and looked like it had been bought several years ago—a black DSLR.
When she opened the cover, she found that film had already been loaded, so it was ready to use. She couldn’t help but remark on how thoughtful he was. It was only after she got back to her bedroom that she remembered to check whether film was loaded.
Early the next morning, after breakfast, Jolene dragged Emma along to walk Ben to school.
Ben wore a white polo shirt with blue shorts and carried a small black backpack.
After dropping Ben off at his classroom, Jolene took Emma to the school office to submit the paperwork.
This school didn’t have an interview process. As long as the child lived nearby and had legal status, they could enroll in the nearest school—public schools were free.
She handed the materials to the teacher in the office, who indeed said that, barring any issues the child could officially start school on Monday.
“Thank you, teacher,” Jolene said as she left.
The mother and daughter had some free time again, so they went home and continued learning the alphabet and basic arithmetic.
Emma was quite smart, to be fair. If Jolene had to learn all those letters and math problems by herself, it would have taken her at least several days, but Emma had almost mastered them in just two days.
Taking Emma to play at a nearby park, Jolene seized the chance to ask a passerby to take a photo of the two of them—Emma on the swing, with Jolene pushing her.
After checking in back home, she took another photo of Emma practicing her letters.
Today’s check-in task was done.
In the afternoon, the mother and daughter took the camera and went to pick up Ben. Then they all made a trip to the bookstore near the piano school.
While the two kids looked at picture books, Jolene browsed popular fiction and came across a promotional article about the movie The First Wives Club, which was set to be released in September.
The First Wives Club?
Jolene vaguely remembered that this movie had done pretty well at the box office. It was about three best girlfriends, all betrayed by their husbands, who band together to take revenge and leave their ex-husbands with nothing.
The film explored marriage, divorce, and female friendship with humor and satire.
Jolene had seen it, but it had been so long ago—she hadn’t realized it was coming out this year.
Suddenly, an idea struck her. Since the movie was still a few months away from release, why not ride its momentum to promote her own book?
Jolene remembered that in U.S. history, some authors had skyrocketed to fame by leveraging their own identities.
She was already a single mother. No matter how she fabricated the story of her child’s father, he wouldn’t dare to speak up or identify himself—after all, Emma’s father was a public figure who would want nothing more than to completely cut ties with them.
So why not write a story about a single mother and her child taking revenge on the ex-husband?
Single mothers were a very common demographic in American society—this was a real-world issue. Such a book would naturally resonate with a segment of the audience. And if she wrote it authentically, close to real life, even better.
In recent years, themes of female independence and resistance had been well-received in American film and television, aligning with mainstream social values.
Revenge also carried its own strong dramatic conflict, and in American culture, stories of “rising from the bottom” were highly embraced—just like The Count of Monte Cristo, which remained influential even after countless adaptations.
Just like in her past life, once Jolene decided what to write about, her mind immediately started constructing an outline and thinking up conflicts.
After dropping Ben off at piano school, the mother and daughter sat on chairs in the hallway, waiting for his lesson to end.
Emma sat by the door watching Ben practice inside, while Jolene began brainstorming the female lead’s character profile in her head.
First, the female lead had been cheated on—her husband had an affair, maybe with someone from his company. The male lead could forge debt documents to set her up, so that after the divorce she would only get a meager settlement.
What kind of background should the female lead have? She would have been a homemaker for many years, but before marriage, she must have had a fairly specialized career.
As the piano lesson was about to end, Jolene stood outside the glass window and, bathed in the sunset glow, took a candid shot of him practicing piano—an ordinary, everyday moment.
Back home, Jolene remembered to take a photo of the kids doing their homework together on the floor.
By now, Ben didn’t like going back to his own room to do homework anymore, and he seemed genuinely hooked on playing the little teacher. Maybe Emma gave him a sense of knowing more than she did, and he really enjoyed the feeling of teaching.
Emma, for her part, was studying super seriously, which actually made things a lot easier for Jolene.
While the kids practiced spelling and phonics, Jolene took a blank piece of paper and a marker pen and sat down at the coffee table to jot down the outline for her new story:
The female lead’s name is Maria Costa, age 32. She graduated from the New York Academy of Art and worked as an illustrator for two years. She fell in love with her husband in college and married him right after graduation. Soon after, they had a daughter, and she became a stay-at-home mom for ten years to take care of the child.
The male lead is named Sapir Costa, also 32, an executive at the New York Stock Exchange. He appears refined and gentlemanly on the surface, but is actually shrewd and extremely selfish. He’s been having an affair for three years with his subordinate, Afra, a graduate of a prestigious university. It’s an open secret at the company—everyone knows except his wife.
First, build up the resentment. The story is set in New York, a big city, which makes it easy for single mothers to relate—after all, many of them were once stay-at-home moms themselves, which fits perfectly with reality.
And the fact that the female lead was once an illustrator who gave up her career for her family only makes the reader’s anger burn even hotter.
Next, the divorce. The husband schemes to leave her with only a pittance in alimony, pushing the reader’s hatred to the max.
Then, the classic “suppress first, uplift later” structure: after being kicked out of the house, the female lead and her daughter struggle through multiple jobs and harsh living conditions, keeping readers pent up with frustration, just waiting for the moment that scumbag gets his comeuppance.
After that, step by step, the revenge plan unfolds. So—what does the scumbag care about most? Take that away from him.
He’s a successful executive—so let him lose everything in a failed investment.
He’s cheating with his subordinate—so let them turn against each other.
He cares most about his reputation—so ruin him completely.
Of course, the ending has to deliver sweet revenge. And since this is going to be published, Jolene knows the work needs highlights and real-world significance. For example, it should spark discussion about the value of stay-at-home moms—how they gradually find themselves again, how they grow—triggering social reflection, drawing attention to the contributions of homemakers, and encouraging women not to lose their sense of self.
“Scratch, scratch, scratch—” Jolene filled up an entire sheet of paper, finishing the rough outline. The finer details would need gradual refinement—for instance, she could look up social news stories, ride the wave of current events, and strike a chord with even more readers.
As for the female lead’s hardships, Jolene didn’t even need to do research—she had plenty of her own experiences to draw from.
After finishing the outline, Jolene looked up and realized it was already bedtime again.
She always read stories to the kids every night without fail, and she certainly wasn’t going to miss such a perfect photo opportunity. She lay down in the middle, with Emma on the innermost side. Ben sat with his little face all serious, arms crossed over his chest. “Why do we have to take pictures at bedtime?”
“To document your daily life! When you grow up and look back at yourself needing to hear the picture book three times before bed, you’ll definitely find it hilarious. Every child only has one childhood. When you’re older, you won’t remember what you were like as a little kid. These photos are records—proof of your wonderful childhood…” Jolene said with a smile, adjusting the camera angle and holding it up for a group selfie of the three of them.
She grinned at the grumpy Ben beside her. “Look at the camera—one, two, three, smile!”
As if hypnotized, Ben unconsciously flashed a goofy smile at the camera—then got even angrier. “Hmph, why should I listen to you?”
Jolene put the camera away with satisfaction and said casually, “Oh, this was your brother’s idea. He asked me to take photos to document your daily life. But I guess you don’t like it—so I’ll just take them for Emma instead.”
“This is my brother’s camera! Why should it be for Emma? You have to take pictures of me every day—I want lots and lots!”
Jolene opened up today’s picture book and nodded. “Alright, we’ll take plenty of photos from now on. Once we’ve saved up enough, we’ll buy a big photo album and print out all your coolest pictures to put inside. I’m sure your parents and your brother would be really happy.”
For a long moment, Ben said nothing. He lowered his head and pouted silently.
“Your brother said your parents used to take lots of photos of you. So I’m sure they’d love to see you happily taking pictures every day too,” Jolene said softly, patting his little arm.
Ben blinked and sat there in thought.
He was probably remembering his parents. For such a young child, he might forget many things from early childhood, but he must surely remember how much his parents loved him.
Jolene didn’t bring it up again. She turned to the picture book and began slowly telling a new story.
In the quiet room, the nanny’s voice was gentle and unhurried—sometimes like a soft narrator, sometimes deliberately mimicking animal sounds as if dubbing for them, with brief pauses here and there.
Occasionally, the usually noisy little brother would chime in with commentary:
“That little mouse you’re doing doesn’t sound right—his voice is too soft. He should sound more cunning. And the fox—why does that fox sound like a little girl…”
This was what Raymond heard as he came home and walked down the hallway outside.
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