Chapter 3 - The First Crack
267 Words
Three days after the gala, I got a call from the hospital.
"Miss Carter, your mother is asking for you."
I was at the penthouse alone. Ethan was in meetings.
I took a cab. When I got there, Mom was awake. But weaker.
"The bills..." she whispered. "Who’s paying?"
"I am, Mom. Don’t worry."
She touched my hand. "You’re a good girl, Ava."
When I got back to the penthouse, there was a bank alert on my phone.
$50,000. From E. Blake Group.
Memo: Hospital Bill.
My hands started shaking. He paid it. Without telling me.
That night he came home late. Tie loose. Tired.
"Did you pay my mom’s hospital bill?" I asked.
He poured whiskey. "Did the contract say I had to?"
"No."
"Then why are you asking?" He drank it in one shot.
"Because you didn’t have to," I said. "And you did."
He finally looked at me. Really looked.
For a second the CEO mask dropped. He looked... human. Tired.
"My grandfather was sick too," he said quietly. "Before he died.
I couldn’t help him. So consider this... charity."
Then he walked to his room and closed the door.
I stood in the kitchen holding an empty plate.
Charity. Right.
The next morning there was a note on the fridge.
In his handwriting: "Take the car. Driver will take you anywhere. -E"
He never called me Ava. Just Mrs. Blake.
But that note had an E.
That afternoon, his ex showed up at the door.
"Ava, right? Can we talk? About Ethan."
My heart sank. Clause 7.
But I opened the door anyway.
- Writer
