Leo stared at the form. Then at the text.

A year of late nights, of driving across three counties to install custom shelving for people who never remembered his name, of hauling MDF boards up four flights of stairs, of patching nail holes for free because he was "a nice guy." All of it, distilled into crisp, impersonal digits.

$47,350.00 earned. $12,100.00 in gas, tools, and vehicle wear. $8,000.00 set aside for taxes—or so he thought.