TOMORROW WAS ALREADY WATCHING

Josephine believed money had proved one thing: her family no longer needed anyone. Her sons learned the same lesson by watching her. The sick were irresponsible. The poor were looking for handouts. The elderly were inconvenient. Mercy, in Josephine’s house, was treated like weakness.

Her late husband, Edward, had warned them differently.

He told his sons never to laugh at someone simply because they were strong today. He warned Josephine that wealth could disappear, health could fail, and the person standing above another today might one day be the one asking for a hand.

Josephine dismissed him.

Then, on a rainy evening, she drove an elderly woman out of her own home.

Before walking into the storm, the woman looked at Daniel and then at Josephine.

“One day,” she warned, “you may discover that children remember exactly what their parents teach them.”

Two years later, Josephine stood face-to-face with a frightened pregnant housemaid named Lilian.

And the question Josephine demanded an answer to would finally reveal how closely Daniel had been watching.