Chapter2:MorningReckoning
893 Words
Morning sunlight slipped through the curtains, spilling across the unfamiliar bedroom.
Ava stirred awake with a dull ache behind her eyes. For a few brief seconds, she stared at the ceiling, trying to remember where she was.
Then the memories rushed back.
The gala.
The stranger.
She remembered the impulsive proposal she had made to a man she’d only just met, hoping one reckless night would help her forget a broken heart.
She slowly turned her head.
The man beside her was still asleep, his features softened by the morning light. Without the cold composure he had worn the night before, he looked strangely peaceful.
Ava looked away almost immediately.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
She had only wanted one night to forget the betrayal that had broken her heart. Instead, she had crossed a line.
Taking a deep breath, she quietly slipped out of bed and gathered her belongings from the bedside table. Her fingers brushed against the folded notes still tucked inside her purse.
She took the money out and placed it neatly on the table beside her bag.
It wasn’t much compared to the luxury surrounding her, but it was enough.
She refused to owe anyone anything.
Not even a stranger.
Without looking back, Ava picked up her shoes and walked quietly towards the door.
Just as she reached the hallway, her phone vibrated violently in her hand.
“Mum.”
A knot formed in her stomach.
She answered immediately.
Her mother’s trembling voice came through the speaker.
“Ava... where are you? Come to the hospital. It’s your father.”
Every trace of sleep vanished.
“What happened?”
“He’s getting worse,” Evelyn managed between shaky breaths. “Please... just come.”
The call ended before Ava could ask another question.
Panic settled heavily in her chest.
She hurried out of the hotel.
The journey to the hospital felt endless.
By the time she arrived, Evelyn Hayes was already waiting outside the ward, her face pale and streaked with tears.
The moment she saw her daughter, she pulled Ava into a tight embrace.
“The doctors have done everything they can for now,” Evelyn whispered. “But the bills keep increasing.”
Ava looked through the small glass window into the room.
Her father lay motionless on the hospital bed, surrounded by machines that seemed louder than the silence between them.
He looked nothing like the cheerful man who had worked tirelessly to provide for his family.
Illness had taken almost everything from him.
Almost.
Ava swallowed the lump in her throat.
“We’ll find a way,” The words left Ava's lips, but they sounded hollow even to her own ears.
Evelyn lowered her eyes.
“It’s not just the hospital anymore.”
Ava frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“They’ve been calling since yesterday.”
“Who?”
“The people your father borrowed money from.”
Ava’s heart sank.
“He kept taking loans to pay for his treatment... hoping he’d recover before everything caught up with us.”
Evelyn’s hands trembled as she clutched her handbag.
“They’re demanding repayment. They said if we can’t pay what we owe, they’ll take the house.”
The words hit Ava harder than she expected.
The house.
The only home she had ever known.
“No,” she whispered. “There has to be another way.”
“I’ve tried everything.” Evelyn’s voice cracked. “I’ve asked friends for help. I even thought about applying for another loan, but no one is willing to lend us that kind of money.”
Silence settled between them.
For the first time in her life, Ava felt completely powerless.
She had no job.
No savings.
No one she could turn to.
Evelyn wiped away her tears and took a slow breath, as though gathering the courage to say something she had been avoiding for years.
“There may be one last option.”
Ava looked up.
“I didn’t want it to come to this,” her mother admitted. “I’ve thought about it for a long time, and I kept telling myself we would find another way.”
She paused.
“But we haven’t.”
Ava waited.
Evelyn finally spoke the words she had buried for years.
“I think it’s time we asked my son for help.”
Ava blinked in confusion.
“Your... son?”
“My son, Cassian” Evelyn corrected softly. “Before I married your father, I had a son with another man. When he was still young, his father took him away, and he grew up with him. We lost touch after that.”
Ava had heard vague stories over the years, but never enough to know the man or even imagine meeting him.
“He built a life of his own,” Evelyn continued. “He’s successful now... more successful than I ever imagined.”
Ava searched her mother’s face.
“You think he’ll help us after all these years?”
Evelyn’s eyes filled with uncertainty.
“I don’t know, we just got in contact recently.”
She reached into her handbag and pulled out a small piece of paper with an address written neatly across it.
“But if we have any hope left...”
She placed it in Ava’s hand.
“It begins there.”
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