Chapter 1: The phone call
The day my mother traded me for a debt was the day I learned I was never really her daughter. Not in her heart, just in her house.
I remember the smell of medicine in that hospital room. I remember the beeping of the machine, slow and steady, the only sound after the doctor left us alone.
My father was lying on the bed; his hands shook as he pulled the blanket up. Since his stroke, he could not stand on his own, most days, I was his legs, I carried him everywhere.
My mother stood by the window, arms crossed like a wall around her chest.
We don’t have a choice anymore, she said.
Something in her voice made my stomach twist.
My father looked up slowly. Grace…
“No.” She cut him off fast, The deadline is here, We are out of time.
The room went silent.
I looked from one of them to the other. What deadline?
Nobody answered me.
My younger sister Sophie was sitting in the corner on her phone. She looked up uncomfortable, Dad borrowed money years ago, she mumbled.
I frowned. What money?
My father dropped his eyes to the floor. The guilt on his face scared me more than any answer could.
My mother sighed like I was the one wasting her time. Before your father’s company collapsed, he borrowed from the Foster family.
My heart dropped.
Everybody knew that name. The Foster family, one of the richest families in the whole country.
If the money wasn’t paid back, my mother went on, there was a second option.
What option?
Silence again.
Mom. What option?
This time she looked straight at me, no blinking, no shame.
If the debt could not be repaid, one of our daughters would marry into their family.
For a second I thought I heard her wrong.
What? My voice came out as a whisper, It didn’t even sound like mine.
Sophie sat up fast, No way.
My mother turned to her quickly, almost gently. Relax nobody is asking you.
The relief on Sophie’s face hit me harder than a slap across my cheek.
Then my mother’s eyes came back to me.
“You’ll go.”
The room spun around me.
What?
You heard me.
Me?
You’re the elder sister.
I laughed, a broken little laugh that didn’t have any humor in it. “Mom, this isn’t funny.”
Who said I’m joking?
My father’s hand tightened around the blanket, His knuckles went white. “Grace…”
You stay out of this, she snapped.
I looked at my father his face had gone pale, as if something inside him had already died. And that’s when I understood he already knew, they had already talked about this without me, without asking what I wanted. Like I was furniture they were moving to another room.
What about Sophie? I asked.
My mother scoffed. What about her?
Why can’t she go?
Because she has a future ahead of her.
Those words hit me like a truck, I actually felt my body rock back.
And I don’t? I said, My future doesn’t matter?
She didn’t answer, she didn’t need to. The silence said everything and it said it clearly.
I turned to my father. Dad?
His eyes filled with tears and that hurt worse than anything my mother had said. Because my father always fought for me, always, but today, he couldn’t even look me in the eye. Not because he didn’t want to because he felt like this was his fault.
I’m sorry Claire, he whispered.
My throat burned. Why are you sorry?
Because this is happening because of me.
Before I could say anything else, my mother picked up her phone. My heart started slamming against my ribs.
Mom, what are you doing?
Ending this.
She dialed. Someone answered on the other end.
We’ve made our decision she said, calm as if she was ordering food. “My eldest daughter will marry your son.”
My father jerked up in bed. Grace!
She ignored him completely.
The wedding can go ahead.
I felt the blood drain out of my face, my life had just been handed away over a phone call. Like I was a debt getting paid off, like I was nothing more than a signature on a contract.
When the call ended I finally found my voice again.
What about Dad?
Nobody answered.
I stepped closer to her “Dad can barely walk. Who’s going to take him to the hospital?” My voice was shaking now, Who’s going to help him bathe? Who’s going to help him eat?
Still nothing.
My eyes filled up. My mother finally turned around and for one second, one small stupid second, I actually hoped she would change her mind.
Instead, she said the cruelest thing I have ever heard in my life.
Your father spent years spoiling you over everyone else, It’s time he learned to take care of himself.
My father’s shoulders started shaking, I had never seen him look so small.
My mother walked out without another word. Sophie followed her, neither one of them looked back at us.
The room went quiet. Just me and my father now. The machine kept beeping, louder than before, like it was counting down something.
“Dad…”
He wiped his eyes with a shaking hand, I’m sorry.
I sat beside him and took his hand in mine, his skin was cold.
You don’t have to say sorry.
Yes, I do. He looked away from me, If I made better choices, you wouldn’t be paying for my mistakes.
I swallowed the lump sitting in my throat. For years I had fed this man, carried him, bathed him, loved him without ever asking for anything back. And now I was the one being carried away.
A few minutes later, he fell asleep. I pulled out my phone with hands that wouldn’t stop shaking, and I searched the name I had heard my whole life.
Ryan Foster.
Billionaire heir, CEO, Business genius, Ruthless negotiator. Feared by everyone who crossed him.
My mouth went dry, I opened his photo.
The man staring back at me was young, handsome, Powerful. But something about him scared me his eyes, they were cold. Empty, like he had never once cared about another human being in his life.
I stared at that photo for a long time.
Then my phone buzzed.
Unknown Number.
My hands trembled as I opened it.
Prepare for your wedding tomorrow, a car will arrive at 8:00 AM. Do not be late.
—Ryan Foster
I read it again, and again.
They weren’t asking me, they were informing me.
The phone slipped out of my fingers and landed on the floor. I looked at my father sleeping there helpless, and one thought crawled through my mind like a cold hand on my neck.
What if leaving tomorrow means I never come back home again?
