I sat at the kitchen table, staring at the clock as the minutes ticked by. My eight-year-old should have been home by now. Harper’s ballet class had ended nearly an hour ago, but she still wasn’t home.

“Maybe Lena’s mom had an errand to run,” I told myself.

Usually, we took turns to pick up the girls from their ballet practice, and because I had meetings that afternoon, Michelle had offered to switch places with me.

My fingers drummed nervously against the countertop as I glanced at her favorite snack sitting on the counter—a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with apple slices on the side.

Finally, the front door creaked open, and Harper’s footsteps echoed on the wooden floor.

“Honey! What took you so long?” I asked, enveloping her in a hug.

“Sorry, Mom,” she replied, her voice unusually subdued. “I stayed back to practice a new routine with the girls. You know we’re performing soon.”

“What, again?” I asked, trying to keep the worry out of my voice. “You’ve been late every day this week, honey. There’s homework to be done and rest to be had.”

My daughter shrugged, avoiding my gaze.

“I just wanted to get it right, Mom,” she said. “I have the main part, you know.”

But there was something off about her tone, something that made me feel like she was hiding something from me.

“Harper girl,” I said gently, kneeling down to her level. “You do know that you can tell me anything, right?”

Her eyes met mine for a brief moment before she looked away, eyeing her sandwich.

“I know, Mom,” she said.

“Right, you go and eat, and I’ll run you a bath,” I said, getting up.

I walked upstairs, trying to figure out what my daughter could be keeping from me. This wasn’t Harper. Usually, whenever anything happened, she was the first one to run to me and tell me everything. But now, I just had an uneasy feeling that only grew stronger the next day when she came home late.

Again.

I was in the kitchen making burgers for dinner when David, my husband, came in.

“Oh, I know that look. What’s wrong, Sarah?” he asked, putting his hands on my shoulders.

“It’s Harper,” I said in a low voice. “She’s been coming home late from ballet practice, and earlier when I called the studio, they said that she hasn’t been staying late at all. Madame Erica said that she doesn’t keep the younger ones long after school because they need their own time to be kids.”

“So, where has she been going?” David asked, his eyes widening. “Do you think she’s just going home with Lena and then coming home when she’s done playing?”

I shook my head.

“I asked Michelle,” I said. “She told me that Harper has been saying that we’re fetching her. So, she just waits for Lena to get into the car and they’re off.”

“We need to find out what’s going on. But you know Harper, she’ll get spooked if she knows we’re onto her. Let’s just follow her tomorrow.”

The next day, we parked near the ballet studio and waited, coffees in hand. When Harper emerged, she didn’t head to Michelle’s car, which was parked just outside the studio. She didn’t head to the bus either.

Instead, she walked in the opposite direction, moving quickly through the streets.

“Where is she going?” David muttered.

We followed our daughter at a distance, our hearts pounding as she led us down a deserted road toward an abandoned factory. The place was eerie, with broken windows and graffiti-covered walls.

“This can’t be right!” I said. “This place looks dangerous!”

We crept closer, careful to stay hidden. Inside, Harper’s voice rang loud through the empty space.

“I told my parents I was practicing. They have no idea I’m here with you, Angela.”

My stomach twisted. David and I exchanged a panicked glance before rushing forward. As we stepped into the shadows of the factory, we saw Harper kneeling beside a frail, elderly woman who looked like she needed a hot bath, a nutritious meal, and a bed.

“I brought you some food, just like I promised,” Harper whispered, handing the woman her lunch bag.

“You’re such a good girl, Harper,” the woman said. “Thank you.”

Tears welled in my eyes, but as I moved closer, I caught sight of the woman’s face, and my breath hitched in my throat.

I knew her.

She was the woman who worked as a caregiver for my mother when she was sick. This woman had scammed her for everything she had, finally leaving her penniless just before she passed on.

Rage surged through me, overpowering the pride I’d felt for my child only moments before.

“Harper,” I called out. “Come along. Now.”

My daughter’s mouth fell open.

“Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?” she asked.

“We should be asking you the same thing,” David said, not even trying to hide his anger. “Why didn’t you tell us about this?”

Harper looked down at her feet.

“I didn’t want you to be mad. She was all alone, and she was so hungry. I met her when she was sitting outside the ballet studio. Madame Erica chased her away, and I followed.”

My heart broke at my child’s compassion.

“Harper, do you know who this woman is?” I asked.

My daughter shook her head.

“This is the woman who stole from your grandmother. She’s the reason that Gran couldn’t afford her medication and didn’t tell us about it. Which is how she got so sick.”

The woman’s eyes filled with tears.

“Please, let me explain…”

“There is nothing to explain!” I snapped.

“Did you really do that?” Harper asked.

“Yes, she did.”

Angela lowered her head, tears streaming down her face.

“I’m so sorry, Sarah,” she said. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone. My daughter was dying, and I needed money for her surgery. I was desperate, and I made a terrible mistake.”

I opened my mouth to start talking, but David placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Let her talk, sweetheart,” he said.

“I took the money from your mother, yes. But it was too late. My daughter didn’t make it. After that, I lost everything. My home, my family, my will to live.”

Her words pierced through my anger, leaving me feeling hollow and torn. I thought of my mother, of all that she had lost in the end, but I also saw Angela, a broken person before me, hunched over in loss that I couldn’t understand.

“Mom? What are you going to do?” Harper asked.

“I think it’s time to let it go,” David said, taking Harper’s hand.

“Let’s help, Mom,” Harper said.

I was silent for a moment. I didn’t want this woman to take my daughter’s kindness for granted, but I also couldn’t let her suffer now that we knew of her troubles.

“Come with us,” I said. “We’ll take you to a women’s shelter, and you’ll get the care you need. You can get back on your feet, Angela.”

We got into the car, Harper sitting in the backseat with Angela. I watched them and knew that giving Angela a second chance was only going to reinforce my daughter’s kindness.

The next day, I took Harper to the shelter after school. As much as she tried, I knew that she didn’t understand everything that had happened, but she knew enough to smile warmly at the woman and hold her hand.

“Hi, Angela,” Harper said, holding out a drawing. “I drew this for you at school. You can put it on the wall in your room.”

“Thank you, sweet girl,” Angela said. “You’re a very special little girl.”

From that day on, we visited Angela regularly, and soon she was working as a lunch lady at Harper’s school.

“Thank you, Sarah,” she said to me when I went to drop off a package of toiletries for her. “If you hadn’t shown me the kindness that you did, I would still be in the factory just living day by day. You’ve helped me get my life back on track.”

“Thank my daughter, Angela,” I said, smiling. “She deserves to see the world as a kind place, and her compassion has shaped who she is becoming.”

Angela nodded and smiled at me.