Chapter 194: The Children's Current Situation
After seeing Lip and Ian, Fiona made time to find Debbie and the others.
Under normal circumstances, Debbie and Carl would have been placed together in a single adoptive home. The government generally tries to keep siblings together—it's always been like that.
But this time, Debbie and Carl were separated and placed with two different families.
Debbie ended up being taken in by an older woman—not alone, but with many other children like her. The house looked more like a daycare center, full of kids around ten years old.
However, this woman wasn't doing it out of kindness or love. She wasn't some selfless saint caring for these children out of compassion.
She was in it for the money. The government provides welfare payments to families who take in unwanted or abandoned children. Essentially, the state pays qualified households to help raise these kids.
It's important to note that "foster care" and "adoption" are not the same. Adoption is a formal legal process—once completed, the child becomes a full member of your family, registered in your household, with all the rights and inheritance claims of a biological child. When that happens, the government stops the welfare payments.
Fostering, on the other hand, is more like temporary hosting. The child stays with you for a while. If any issues arise—or if you no longer want to care for them—you can ask the government to take the child back at any time.
Veronica and Kevin originally took in Ethel for the same reason: to collect government welfare.
The more children the woman fostered, the more money she received each month. She even had the kids do work—crafting simple handmade items that she then sold. It was essentially an illegal sweatshop using child labor.
Unfortunately, this kind of situation isn't rare. Plenty of people exploit legal loopholes to make money this way.
And it isn't hard to pull off. As long as the government system shows that your household meets the fostering criteria, that you're willing to take in children, and you have a big enough house with basic necessities, they'll keep sending children your way—and you can keep profiting.
As for concerns about abuse or mistreatment—well, would most people stop to worry about a homeless person on the street?
The kids sent by Family Services are usually the ones no one wants—children without guardians, oversight, or advocates. As long as they're being fed and not starving, no one really asks questions.
Sure, Family Services staff will come by occasionally to check in, but as long as the kids are told not to say anything, it's easy to keep things hidden.
Debbie, unfortunately, ended up in one of these homes. But she didn't tell Fiona any of this—afraid of making her worry. She simply said she was doing fine.
"Don't worry. I'll bring you home soon," Fiona said, hugging her tightly.
Fiona had gone through similar situations herself. With "Frank" and Monica being so unreliable, she had bounced between multiple foster homes before adulthood.
So she could tell Debbie was hiding something. But she didn't push. She just comforted her.
Thankfully, not all foster families were like Debbie's. Some genuinely wanted to adopt, like couples who couldn't have kids of their own. Carl had been placed with such a family.
He was taken in by a same-sex couple—wealthy, well-educated, and clearly sincere about raising a child.
From what Fiona could observe, they were both decent people—not the kind of twisted individuals who prey on young boys. That was a relief. She no longer had to worry about Carl's safety.
Still, Carl had grown up in rough conditions. Adjusting to a stable, comfortable environment wasn't easy for him.
And then there was Liam.
"Hoo…" Fiona stood in front of the door, took a deep breath, and knocked.
"What are you doing here?" Roberta answered the door and frowned when she saw Fiona standing there.
"Fi… Fiona…" Liam, nestled in Roberta's arms, reached out his little hand toward her, calling her name in a soft, unclear voice.
Monica and Roberta's scheme had succeeded. Through the foster system, they managed to get custody of Liam.
But after gaining custody, they didn't flee immediately with him. They stayed.
That's because this was still a temporary placement. Liam—just like Debbie and Carl—was only in foster care for now.
Later, Family Services would do follow-ups and evaluations.
This period was like a trial run—to assess the compatibility between the foster parents and the child. If the parents were satisfied, they could apply for formal adoption.
Once the adoption is finalized, the child is officially part of the household.
Monica and Roberta had already filed the application for Liam's adoption. But the process takes time.
So they were waiting. Once everything was approved, they'd take Liam and leave Chicago.
"I'm here to speak with Monica," Fiona said. "I want to talk."
"There's nothing to talk about. Liam is ours now," Roberta replied coldly and began to close the door.
"Who's there? I thought I heard Fiona's voice," Monica called from inside. She came to the door and saw Fiona.
"It's fine. Let's talk," Monica told Roberta.
Fiona and Monica spoke outside, but the conversation didn't go well. It quickly turned into an argument and ended in a bitter fallout.
"A few days ago, you went to see Monica. How did that go?" Veronica asked Fiona.
"Terribly. It's hopeless," Fiona replied.
"She refused?" Veronica asked.
"She agreed—to everything," Fiona said. "She agreed to file the appeal to restore my custody rights. She even agreed to take the parenting classes. But only on one condition—that I hand Liam over to them. I absolutely refuse."
Knock knock knock.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
"Hey!" Jimmy greeted them with a smile.
"Well, well—Steve, long time no see. You've gotten a bit tanned," Veronica teased.
"Veronica, you're as beautiful as ever," Jimmy said with a grin.
"Still such a smooth talker. If you're trying to win Fiona back, you've got your work cut out for you," she joked.
"He's married, Vi," Fiona cut in, not even looking at Jimmy.
If Veronica hadn't invited him in, Fiona would've left him standing at the door.
Fiona knew about Jimmy's marriage because Officer Tony had told her everything—he didn't want her harboring any hopes about Steve, so he laid it all out.
"Oh, right. I almost forgot. Congrats on your wedding," Fiona said flatly.
"Married? Damn, even wearing the ring!" Veronica was surprised—she hadn't heard the news before and just now noticed the ring on Jimmy's hand.
"It's not what it looks like! It was… an accident. I went to São Paulo for a business deal, and her father was involved…" Jimmy tried to explain.
"Shut up. I don't care," Fiona cut him off. "I'm not in the mood to hear about your mess. I don't want to know anything about your marriage."
Already stressed out about the kids, the last thing Fiona needed was Jimmy showing up to stir the pot. She was in no mood for his drama—it only made her angrier.
(End of Chapter)
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