Cover of The Housemaid Is Watching

The Housemaid Is Watching

by Freida McFadden


Genre
Thriller, Suspense, Mystery
Year
2024
Contents

Chapter 14

Overview

While Millie tries to win Enzo over with a special dinner, Nico breaks a stained-glass window at Suzette’s house, forcing Millie to confront their neighbor. Millie discovers Enzo is in Suzette’s backyard again, reigniting suspicion and anger over his continued proximity to Suzette.

Unable to afford the damage, Millie negotiates an alternative: Nico will do chores for Suzette to pay off the window. Suzette reluctantly agrees under Enzo’s pressure, creating a new, ongoing connection between the two households that also puts Millie’s trust in Enzo under strain.

Summary

Millie cooks pasta alla Norma, hoping to impress Enzo after seeing how much he loved Suzette Lowell’s version at the recent dinner. While preparing dinner, Nico repeatedly asks where Enzo is because Enzo promised to practice baseball with him.

Millie lets Nico practice alone in the backyard, then hears glass shatter. Nico rushes in, admitting he had an accident, and Millie follows him outside to discover he has broken a window at Suzette’s house next door.

Millie marches Nico to apologize, worried about the cost, and hears a man’s voice in Suzette’s backyard—Enzo’s. Angry that Enzo is at Suzette’s again, Millie rings the doorbell insistently until Suzette answers, dressed provocatively and clearly irritated.

Enzo comes in from the backyard dirty-handed, caught off guard by Millie’s presence. Nico apologizes directly to Suzette, and Millie learns the broken window is a stained-glass one, escalating Millie and Enzo’s fear that they cannot afford repairs.

To avoid paying outright, Millie proposes Nico work off the damage by doing chores at Suzette’s house. Suzette resists, saying Martha already comes twice a week, but Millie argues that still leaves other days, and Enzo presses Suzette until she agrees. Millie feels relieved—Nico will learn responsibility, they may avoid the cost, and Nico’s presence could deter Suzette from flirting with Enzo.

Who Appears

  • Millie Accardi
    Cooks to impress Enzo; confronts Suzette and Enzo; negotiates chores to cover window damage.
  • Nico Accardi
    Impatient for baseball practice; breaks Suzette’s stained-glass window; apologizes and is assigned chores.
  • Enzo Accardi
    Caught working in Suzette’s backyard; supports making Nico do chores; pressures Suzette to agree.
  • Suzette Lowell
    Neighbor whose window is broken; flirts with attention; reluctantly accepts Nico doing chores instead of payment.
  • Martha
    Suzette’s maid mentioned as already doing chores two days a week.
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