The morning sun was shining brightly as Sarah drove down her quiet suburban street toward her house.
Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as a wave of unexplainable nervousness washed over her.
She parked her sedan two houses down the block so Clara would not hear her car pulling into the driveway.
Walking quietly up the paved driveway, Sarah noticed the front door was unlocked, which was completely out of character.
She stepped inside the foyer softly, easing the front door closed without making a single sound.
From the dining area, the loud and frantic cries of baby Lily resonated through the hallway.
Sarah felt her heart slam against her ribs as she listened to the harsh sound of her daughter weeping.
She hurried down the carpeted hallway, keeping her footsteps light and quick as she approached the dining room.
Through the doorway, Sarah saw Clara wearing her bright mustard sweater, sitting comfortably at the wooden dining table.
Lily was sitting in her high chair next to Clara, red-faced and sobbing uncontrollably.
Instead of comforting the distressed baby, Clara was staring at her phone with an irritated expression on her face.
Sarah watched in shock as Clara abruptly shouted at the top of her lungs for the baby to be quiet.
The harshness in Clara's voice was unlike anything Sarah had ever heard from her before.
Lily flinched at the sudden loud noise and began to cry even harder, gasping for air in her high chair.
Clara then picked up a plastic bowl off the table and forcefully shoved a spoon toward the baby's mouth.
Sarah recognized the ingredients in the bowl immediately as standard peanut butter paste, which Lily was strictly allergic to.
The doctors had explicitly warned them that Lily had a severe allergy to peanuts and required absolute caution.
Sarah had written this warning on the refrigerator board in massive red letters on Clara's very first day.
Seeing Clara ignore the warning made a wave of hot adrenaline surge through Sarah's entire body.
She rushed franticly out of the hallway into the dining room, her sneakers squeaking against the hardwood floor.
Sarah: Stop right now!
Clara: Oh, Sarah! You scared me, why are you home so early?
Sarah: What are you doing with that bowl?
Clara: I am just trying to feed your fussy daughter her lunch.
Sarah: You know she cannot have peanuts!
Clara: It is just a little bit, children need to build tolerance anyway.
Sarah lunged forward and grabbed the spoon right out of Clara's hand, flinging it into the sink.
She unbuckled Lily from the high chair with shaking fingers and pulled her daughter close to her chest.
Lily buried her small face into Sarah's blue sweater, her tiny body trembling with violent sobs.
Sarah glared at Clara, her blood boiling as she realized the true danger her baby was in.
Clara stood up slowly, crossing her arms without showing a single shred of remorse or fear.