Chapter 3

The day my mother's life hung in the balance, I was putting together a financial report for Ethan's company.

The hospital called. "Ms. Bennett, your mother has had a brain hemorrhage. She needs surgery immediately."

"Please come and sign the consent forms. The deposit is fifty thousand, up front."

Fifty thousand dollars.

I checked every account I had. Together they came to less than five hundred.

Ethan had taken all my savings, everything my parents and I had set aside over a lifetime. I had nothing left.

When I burst into Ethan's office, he was leaning back in his chair on a video call with Vivian, his voice impossibly gentle.

"Baby, what do you want for dinner? I'll book somewhere."

He frowned when he saw me come in, covered the phone's mic, and looked at me.

I spoke fast. "Ethan, my mother has a brain hemorrhage. She needs fifty thousand for surgery. Can you—"

He cut me off, his voice flat. "Money's tight for me right now. Figure it out yourself."

"That money you took out of my accounts—"

"You gave it to me. It's all there in the agreement, in writing."

He turned away, uncovered the mic, and smiled at the screen. "Vivian, sorry, where were we?"

I stood there, my nails digging into my palms. "Ethan, my mother is in the ICU. Fifty thousand is nothing to you."

He finally looked at me properly, a faint smile on his lips. "It's nothing to you either."

"Aren't you the one who's so good at finding money? You'd do anything for me, remember?"

He could have helped. He had the money.

I remembered the diamond necklace he gave Vivian for her birthday, eighty thousand.

He hadn't blinked buying it, and now my mother was in surgery waiting for the money to save her, and he was telling me to figure it out myself.

But there was no time. I stopped begging, turned, and ran.

It was dark by then. I couldn't pull the deposit together, and the doctors said they couldn't operate without it.

I stood at the payment window, staring at the number.

Hurried footsteps came up behind me. Ethan's assistant, Kyle, jogged over with an envelope in his hand.

"Nora, Mr. Hart asked me to give you this."

I opened it. Inside was a loan contract, already signed by him, waiting for my signature.

Amount: fifty thousand. Interest: a hundred and twenty percent a year. Term: one year.

He'd lent me the money after all, at loan-shark rates.

While my mother lay waiting to be saved, he was doing business with me.

I signed.

The surgery took six hours, and I stood outside the operating room the entire time without moving.

My phone buzzed over and over, all of it from Ethan.

"Is the report done? Send it to me by morning."

"After you finish the report, take Vivian to the airport. Her flight's at eight."

My mother was on the table between life and death, and he wanted me to go drop Vivian off.

The surgery went well. I let out a breath and went to Vivian's apartment.

Vivian was leaving the country for six months to study abroad.

Ethan had packed her a huge suitcase, full of the imported snacks she liked, expensive skincare, treats from back home.

There was also a bank card loaded with two hundred thousand, the PIN her birthday, spending money from Ethan.

Enough to save my mother four times over.

I drove them to the airport and watched Ethan kiss Vivian for a long time, smooth her hair, kiss her forehead.

"Call me when you land. Doesn't matter how late."

Vivian went through security. Ethan stood there holding up his phone, waving it, saying he'd miss her.

I waited a distance away to take him home.

Once she was through, he got into the back seat and was quiet for a long time.

Then he said, "Nora, go clean up her apartment tomorrow."

"She left in a hurry. There are leftovers in the fridge she didn't deal with. Go clear it out."

Vivian was gone, and even the leftovers in her fridge mattered more than I did.