He Wanted a Free Nanny, I Gave Him Hell

Waking up in the middle of the night after feeding Lily, my chest still aching, I couldn't fall back asleep. I scrolled through my phone and stumbled upon a post. "My wife doesn't want to go back to work after childbirth, what should I do?" One highly upvoted comment read: "Isn't that the best? She doesn't go to work, so she can be a free nanny at home! You can even use her not earning money as leverage to control her!" A chill ran down my spine. The commenter's profile picture was identical to my husband Liam's. But he had just spent today comforting me because I was feeling down about possibly not finding a job. I had just finished feeding Lily and changing her diaper. Only after putting her back to sleep did I finally have some time to myself. I grabbed my phone, leaning against the headboard, cherishing these precious moments. Scrolling through my feed, I suddenly saw a post: "My wife doesn't want to go back to work after childbirth, what should I do?" The original poster explained that his wife was six months postpartum. His mom had specifically come from out of town to help with the baby, hoping his wife would go back to work and earn money, but she refused. He was seeking advice from other users. Below, almost all the comments echoed the sentiment that women shouldn't abandon their careers even after having a child. They insisted she should work, even if it was just for a small income, to avoid becoming disconnected from society. But there was one highly upvoted comment that said: "Isn't this great? If your wife doesn't want to work, just let her be a free nanny at home. You can even use her not earning money as leverage over her! What's not to like?" "Taking care of a baby is exhausting; I wouldn't want my mom to go through that!" "OP, lighten up and learn from me. My wife wanted to go back to work after having our kid, but I convinced her not to. Kids need their mom's presence. Now our kid is one, and she's dutifully my nanny at home, taking care of the kid, cleaning, and cooking for me every day." "The best part is, with your wife as a stay-at-home mom, you can play the field outside. Even if she finds out, she won't dare say anything." Below this comment, it was all "Genius!" and "Spot on!" "Brilliant strategy! Why didn't I think of that?" "Awesome, OP! Learning from you." "Looks like I need to have a serious talk with my wife tomorrow and tell her to quit her job and stay home with the baby." "Guys, he's right. Because I do the same thing. My wife caught me cheating, she cried all night, then she was fine. She wouldn't dare divorce me because she doesn't earn money. Without me, she has nothing." As I scrolled through the comments, my heart grew colder and colder, until tears blurred my vision. That highly upvoted comment was from my husband. His profile picture was a photo of our family of three—a picture I had put up for him. Liam and I met at work. We had overlapping projects, and he was gentle, friendly, and always knew how to make me feel good. Before long, we were deeply in love. We dated for two years before getting married. Back then, we were both in the rising phases of our careers. Mine was even going better than Liam's. I'd switched jobs twice, each company bigger than the last, and my salary grew with each move. Just as I was about to compete for a general manager position, I found out I was unexpectedly pregnant. We always used protection, so how did this happen? I sat on the edge of the bed, a double-lined pregnancy test in my hand, my lips pressed together in disappointment. Once a woman gets pregnant, she often loses her competitive edge at work. I might even lose the position I currently held. I didn't want a child yet. I felt I was still young, and at that moment, I should be fully invested in my career, striving to secure that general manager position. But Liam tried to persuade me. He said a child was a blessing, a matter of fate. If you got rid of it now, what if the child got angry and never came back? Wouldn't that be a terrible loss? Liam's cousin had terminated an unplanned pregnancy for her career, and then couldn't conceive for ten years. She eventually spent tens of thousands and went through three rounds of IVF just to have a boy. Because of this, her weight, which was originally under 100 pounds, skyrocketed to 200 pounds. Not only did she waste time and money, but she also damaged her health. After Liam's persuasion, and with such a clear example right in front of me, I suddenly got scared. I was afraid that if I got rid of the baby, I might really become infertile. Even though I'd say having children or not was the same, not being able to conceive and not wanting to conceive were two completely different things. So, half-heartedly, I decided to keep the baby.Lily was a good baby, she didn't give me much trouble. Although I lost the opportunity to compete for General Manager, I stayed at my job until the day before I gave birth. After having the baby, I planned to return to work after three months. But my mother-in-law, who had promised to come help us with Lily, immediately turned cold when she found out I had a daughter. One moment she complained of a backache, the next a headache. She refused to come help us with the baby no matter what. I hired two nannies. One I found using cold water to mix Lily's formula, and the other I caught secretly drinking Lily's formula. My mom passed away early, my dad wasn't in good health, my in-laws were useless, and the nannies were worse than useless. In desperation, Liam and I discussed who would quit their job to stay home with Lily. If we went by our incomes, it would definitely have been Liam. But he stayed home with Lily for two days and managed to give her diarrhea so bad she ended up in the hospital. The doctor said formula must be mixed strictly according to the instructions. Liam sheepishly scratched his head and said, "I just wanted her to drink more." So, after much thought, I decided to give up my career for our child. That "giving up" lasted for a year. I used to naively believe that Liam and I were a team, that my role at home taking care of Lily and his role earning money were both for the good of our family. But I never imagined that this was all Liam's setup, that his goal was to tie me down at home and make me his free nanny. I remember when Lily was six months old, she was either teething or going through a growth spurt, waking up at least five or six times a night, crying uncontrollably every time. Liam could soothe her once or twice, but after a while, he grew annoyed. He stopped getting up to make formula or change diapers. Whenever Lily cried, no matter how loud, he'd snore like a pig, completely oblivious. One time I was so tired I kicked him. "Liam, I'm so exhausted. Can you please make a bottle?" Liam jumped out of bed like he was possessed, pointing at my nose and yelling, "Chloe, do you have any conscience?! I have to work tomorrow, and you want me to get up in the middle of the night to make formula and soothe the baby?! Do you want me to go to work tomorrow or not?!" "You're tired? What do you have to be tired about? You stay home with the baby all day, you sleep when she sleeps, what's there to be tired about?!" He rolled his eyes at me and snorted, "You're so loud, I'm going to sleep in the guest room." From that day on, Liam and I began sleeping in separate rooms, a separation that lasted for six months. When Lily cried in the middle of the night, I was the only one to comfort her. When she got a low fever after her shots and cried all night, I held her and comforted her through the whole thing. Taking care of a child was truly exhausting. My back ached, my legs ached, my neck ached, and even my chest felt a dull ache. Yet, Liam still believed I was enjoying a life of leisure at home. Turns out, he wasn't ignorant of how hard it was to care for a child; he just thought it was all "my" responsibility. I lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, tears rolling down my cheeks. What others saw as a good husband, what others saw as a happy family, was, in private, already broken beyond repair. If he wanted me to be his free nanny so badly, then I would defy his wishes. The next morning, I got up and started updating my resume. Once it was done, I sent it directly to Liam's company – my old employer. When I was about to leave the company before, Joanna had tried to talk me out of it for a long time. She said that while Chengsheng Group paid well, it wasn't stable. They were incredibly competitive, and the "last place elimination" system had actually started with them. I was young and ambitious then, believing young people should earn more money, and I politely declined Joanna's good intentions. Not long after submitting my resume, I received a call from Joanna."Chloe? Was that resume in my inbox from you?" I hummed in affirmation. Joanna immediately laughed. "Honestly, you're still so formal with me! You could have just told me you wanted to come back! And sending a resume!" "What, finally willing to leave Lily?" Joanna teased. When people found out I had quit my job to become a stay-at-home mom, many didn't understand. In their eyes, I was a true career woman. How could a career woman suddenly decide to give up her career to become a housewife, truly content with revolving around her husband and child? Of course I wasn't content! But I had no choice! Everything was for Lily, for this family. I thought my sacrifice would earn Liam's love. I thought Liam understood me. I never imagined that in Liam's eyes, my sacrifice was nothing but a complete joke. "Lily's older now, she doesn't need her mom around all the time," I said, feeling a little embarrassed. "You, you're just too strong-willed, you want to do everything perfectly, even childcare. If you ask me, you should have sent Lily to daycare a long time ago. The teachers at daycare now are proper graduates from teaching programs; their methods for educating children are far better than your half-baked attempts." "Drop her off at 8 AM, pick her up at 5 PM, isn't that perfect?!" "Bring her to the company, I'll keep an eye on her." Joanna chuckled. To be honest, that was exactly what I had in mind. Joanna's child was two years old this year. She had sent her child to daycare when she was six months old. There were four children in one class with two teachers. Though the care might not be as meticulous as parental care, it was certainly much better than what the grandparents' generation could offer. I asked Joanna for the daycare's contact information, and that same afternoon, I scheduled a trial class with the teacher. I initially thought Lily would take a long time to adjust, but to my surprise, as soon as she saw so many children her age, she immediately started playing with them, barely even noticing me. Seeing Lily adapt so well to group life, the worry in my heart finally eased. That evening, Liam came home from work. As usual, he kicked off his shoes and flopped onto the couch. "Chloe, I need water." I poured a glass of water, walked over, and handed it to him. He took a sip and immediately frowned. "Why is it cold? I wanted warm water!" "Chloe, you're getting less and less careful!" I almost laughed out loud. Careful? Before we got married, he remembered exactly which day of the month I had my period and what my favorite foods were. Now, all he did was order me around and belittle me. If we're talking about being careless, who was more careless than him? "Liam, I'm going back to work," I said. "What?" Liam looked at me in shock. "You're perfectly fine staying home, why suddenly want to go back to work? Work is exhausting!" I hummed, sitting on the couch. "Lily's older now, she doesn't need me with her all day. I've been out of the workforce for a year; it's time to go back." "No!" Liam immediately refused. "If you go to work, what about Lily?" "Daycare," I said. "No! Who sends such a young child to daycare? Chloe, how could you be so heartless?!" Me, heartless? Lily was over a year old, had he ever bought her a toy? A can of formula? A piece of clothing? Now he calls "me" heartless?! "Liam, I'm heartless? Are you not heartless?" "Lily has been sleeping with me since she was six months old. Have you ever comforted her once at night?" Liam was speechless, his face flushing. He stammered, "But I have to work!" I nodded. "Well, now I'm going back to work too. So, starting today, taking care of Lily is "your" turn!"