Chapter 39
The morning light filtered through the thin curtains of Serenity’s apartment, landing on the stack of hospital invoices she had left on the nightstand. She had spent the night counting zeros and calculating how many days she had left before the "Past Due" stamps turned into "Final Notice."
The digital trill of her phone was the first sound to penetrate the heavy silence of Serenity’s apartment. She lunged for it, her heart hammering against her ribs as she saw the Unknown Number flashing on the screen.
"Hello?" she answered, her voice raspy.
"Is this Serenity? I’m calling from the executive offices of Meridian Strategic," a woman’s voice said, sounding clipped and professional. "We’ve reviewed your application for the Administrative Lead. We had a last-minute cancellation of
