The Billionaire's $500,000 baby

Liora

ferent through the tinted windows. The peeling paint of the laundromat, the rusted fire escapes, t

Essentials only. Mr. Volkov has already arranged for a new wardrobe to be

ped, my voice trembling with a mi

ten minutes ago, your lease is effectivel

lding. My heart sank. My meager belongings weren'

cardboard box were piled next to the front stoop. R

shing the door open before Xav

s Mr. Henderson, my landlord. He was a man who smelled of stale cigarettes

puddle to reach the pile. "What did you do?

awyer an hour ago. Said you were 'relocating' and that your tenancy was void. I don't keep deadbeats under m

the cardboard box. My father's old books were inside, t

y as junk," he grunted. "Now move your trash off my sidew

't give him the satisfaction. I wouldn't give Xavier the satisfa

les of plastic. My high school yearbook, the sweater my mother knitted m

efully avoiding the grime of the pavement. He looked

t," he c

shaking. "I'm not leavi

t is garbage," Xavier sai

cardboard box, and tossed it into the tr

clot

al. "Every second we stand here, your mother's doctors are waiting for the second half of that w

king. I looked at the trash bags, n

was erasing my past. He wanted me to enter his world with nothing,

tment. I turned my back on t

whispered.

ut the rear window. Henderson was already dragging one of my tr

pocket. It was the only thing they hadn'

er for the hospital has been authorized. Your mother is of

her own," I said, staring straight ah

pond. He just sig

We were heading toward the glass towers of the

into streaks of white and red, I realized the "service" ha