ia's
in the lobby, my stomach dropped.
calls, completely unaware that the man standing near her d
cto
as he watched me approach. Without giving him a chance to speak, I
u doing here
his arms acr
e for my
lse pounded in my ears.
ad across his fac
en a little. A bitter laugh almost es
el
e touched. If selling out his own daughter boug
work address?"
d. "He was ver
the disappointment. My father wasn't protecting his fam
t his phone. "Yo
eral messages before st
d made. The date I had committed to making th
's the
efly. God. I wasn't
tasted like humiliation.
ession remain
ng for more time
kno
won't chan
ng because th
ard. "Just on
won't solve a problem you've been
right. The debt had become a monster. Every payme
eas
Victor simpl
pathetic. It sounded tired. As if he
phone back into his pock
ked. "
you twenty
d briefly ins
cto
t tha
d me. "If I don't have the mone
n my spine. "Wha
o my eyes. "It means I
ention. Ethan Blackwell. He walked through the lobby with expensi
et him pass. He didn't even glance in my direction
t he was a friend. Maybe he simply didn't care. Whate
wed my gaze.
odd
r smi
ce working for
Not anymore. A few moments later, Victor left. And with
urs. That was
there for several seconds before forcing myself towar
office and shut the door. The silence felt unbearable. Mom. Leo. The hospital bil
Not today. Not after that. I was halfway tow
phi
toward me before I could escape. Conc
leaving
called me from home." Th
"Is everyt
cour
ly. But I wasn't about to
died me c
s we stepped inside, the crowded space
ok okay," he
oked
just
. "My love, you need to
e made me u
Emeka was
ed. Not when my life was already such a disa
ed out. "I'll s
t. Outside, I climbed into a cab and gave the dri
. Twenty-four hours. If I couldn't pay him, he would take the house. My mother's house. The only
was pounding. I paid the driver an
at might save me. My savings. It wasn't much. Three thousand dollars. But it was something. Every extra
d searching.
s. Nothing. Under t
ng quicken
ere. Panic exploded inside me. I tore through the wardrob
f the room. My heart stopped. The savings
seconds, I s
ocess what I
e person who had a spare key to my apartme
ollars I had spent months saving was gone. Ev
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