Prince Tale 100 Days with Fantasy

Stephany's POV

It's been a year now.

I stare at the endless list of bills that seem to stare at me back. I could never get out of this black hole that continues to suck the life out of me. I feel the weight of the world press down on my shoulders as I sink deeper into despair.

How would I get out of this? There was no way I could? I'm stuck forever giving this man every piece of me till I run out.

Every time I fought my way to pay the bills, it seemed like I was drowning even deeper and the worst of it was that it isn't even mine.

The large ocean of debt that swallowed me continuously belongs to my father before he passed.

I never understood how he managed to acquire such a large amount to owe someone, Don Mario for that matter.

Every time I think about it, I feel a mixture of anger and frustration boil inside me. Father must have had a reason.

I take a deep breath as I continue to swallow the hard lump that formed in my throat. I want to cry, to scream, to run away. I want to go somewhere far away where I and Elise could live peacefully.

Somewhere I didn't need to dread every time I open my tired eyes or drag my exhausted body to go to work.

Someplace where every penny I work for didn't go into the hands of that monster Don Mario. He was the reason my life was hell.

I suck in another deep breath, one that came from the deepest part of my worn out soul. I take another look at the bills, my teary eyes scan through the papers.

Electricity, water, rent...I mutter to myself before dropping it. Reading the list made me even more tired and the weight of gloom tug harder inside me as I list every word to my ears.

My phone buzz with a notification on it. It's a reminder I set for myself for the afternoon shift I had in thirty minutes, one that I needed to prepare for. My eyes shift to look around the house.

The house my happy memories came to an end, the I was struggling to keep afloat.

I stand up from the chair I'm sitting on in the dining area and Elise walks in. Her face brightens up with a smile, her brown doe eyes sparkling, those sparkles I swore to protect from our cruel fate.

I force a smile on my face hoping it would mask the exhaustion that pulled on my eyes.

"Hi Stephany!" she waves hurrying in my direction. "I didn't know you came back early" she opens her arms to hug me.

"Yeah I wanted to change before going for my next shift at the grocery store" I say hugging her back, I make sure to push back every sadness that fought to stay in my voice.

I always told her we were going to be fine and I made sure she believed it. We'll be fine...it's crazy because I didn't believe in that sentence anymore but I always told Elise those exact words with so much hope.

She didn't need to know how much life was horrible for us, I couldn't let her go through that now especially after witnessing my father's dead body dragged to our doorstep.