For 4 years, I picked up my sister’s kids from school for free. One day I was 37 minutes late, and she screamed at me in front of them: “Not with my children!” Then she shoved me out of her house. I stopped picking them up. 11 days later, the school called me. Then my sister called 6 times. I turned my phone face down.

I read it several times.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

My sister had told the court she was paying me hundreds of dollars every month.

But I had never received money for caring for her children.

Not for gas.

Not for the booster seats.

Not for the afternoons I rearranged my work schedule.

Not for doctor visits, emergency pickups, or the countless errands I’d handled.

Occasionally, Nicole bought me coffee.

Sometimes she said I was a lifesaver.

That was all.

Then I remembered something.

Earlier that year, Nicole had transferred $950 into my bank account several times.

But each time, she’d immediately asked me to return it.

She claimed she’d selected the wrong recipient while using her banking app.

And I’d sent every dollar back.

Suddenly, those innocent-looking mistakes didn’t seem innocent at all.

Before I tell you what I discovered at the bank, you need to understand what caring for Nicole’s children had cost me.