Life didn’t stop just because she was tired.Bills didn’t wait. Rent didn’t care. Tuition deadlines didn’t bend for the poor.
Jessica woke up each day with the same ache in her chest, a mixture of hunger, fear, and determination. She’d gotten used to that feeling by now. It was the rhythm of her survival.
Tambay Table had become her second home, or maybe the only place where she felt like she had some control. The black uniform hung a little loose on her frame now, the apron always smelling faintly of oil and garlic, the kind of scent that stuck even after three showers. It wasn’t glamorous, but it paid for rice and Wi-Fi and the thin illusion that she was holding her life together.
Except she wasn’t. Not really.
Her tuition balance still sat like a weight in her head. ₱18,000 left.Her
