Fleeing in the night with Maddy, Alex seeks help from social services and lands a job with Value Maids, only to find her problems are just beginning.

While navigating the complex government assistance system, Alex wrangles with Sean over Maddy's care and tackles a cleaning job that nearly breaks her.

Determined to send Maddy to a better preschool, Alex desperately searches for a new place to live, a process complicated by her government benefits.

Alex writes about her clients, including a couple living separate lives, as she juggles her tricky housing situation and Paula's fragile mental state.