ANOTHER'S TREASURE

CHAPTER 7

I stared at it for a while, the wind teasing its corners. two weeks. Two weeks before I had to leave the only home my son and I had. My fingers trembled as I pulled the notice down, reading it again and again as if repetition would soften the blow. It didn’t.

My mind raced. Fourteen days. That’s all I had. Fourteen days before the world I had painstakingly built for Jamie and me would be ripped away. I tried to breathe. Tried to calm myself. But how do you calm a storm inside you that has nowhere to go? It had been building for days, since I’d realized just how deeply I’d been betrayed by the man I once trusted.

I walked back inside, barefoot, holding the slip of paper like it weighed more than all the mistakes I’d ever made. The world felt too big, too heavy. I could feel it pressing down on me, in every corner of the empty apartment, in every inch of the hallway, the rooms that used to be filled with laughter. And then, there was Jamie—still asleep in the next room, completely unaware and peaceful.

I closed my eyes, willing the tears back. Not today. Not now. I couldn’t break down. Not when he needed me to be strong.

I moved to the kitchen, I had to prepare breakfast. I set the pan on the stove and just before I could turn it on, I heard a calm knock. I walked to the door, pulling it open.

“You Ms. Collins?”

The voice startled me. I turned sharply, and there he was—a man in his late forties, dressed in a blue shirt and khaki pants. He looked like a child who was dressed for by a blind elderly, his huge glasses sitting on his face.

“Yes,” I managed, my voice hoarse, barely above a whisper.

“I’m from Gatlin Recovery Services,” he continued. “I came to inform you that there are some outstanding debts under Marcus Collins’ and repayments have been defaulted. We tried reaching out to him through the contact he gave but there's been no response. You were listed as his guarantor, do you know his whereabouts?.”

I paused, fear holding me in place. So he took loans from companies?

"Ms. Collins? Do you have any information on the location of your husband?" He called, pulling me to reality.

"N...no" I stammered "he... Uhm he and I are no longer together"

"I'm sorry to hear that but you have been listed as his guarantor, so you have to take responsibility for the debt"

I blinked at him, the words hanging in the air like smoke. “I—I don’t understand. I never signed—”

Just as the words dropped I remembered the documents Marcus gave me to sign one morning when I was in a hurry to get to work. I didn't read it, he told me it was a petition for some charity.

God, Marcus.

“we are expecting full payment in twelve days before we take legal action" he said "Do have a wonderful day ms. Collins"

I felt the ground shift beneath me, my knees weakening. . The feeling in my stomach twisted, like I was choking.

I wanted to scream. To throw something, anything, and let the anger out. But I didn’t. All I could do was nod.

The man handed me a business card and walked away, his steps slow, as if he knew I was too stunned to even move.

I stayed on the porch for a few moments after he left, holding the card like it might explode in my hands if I looked at it too long. I didn’t look at it, though. I didn’t need to. The words had already been burned into my brain. The debts were mine now. The weight was mine to carry.

When I finally went inside, I didn’t sit down. I didn’t cry. I simply stood there, feeling the quiet of the apartment swallow me whole. I stared at the walls like they could offer me answers. But they didn’t. They never did.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. A message. An email, to be exact. I pulled it out, dreading what I might see, expecting more bad news. But it wasn’t bad news. It was... an offer.

The subject line read: Job Offer—No Interview Required. My heart skipped a beat. I opened it.

There it was, neatly written. A job offer. From one of Cai’s inherited companies. A full-time role in operations. Good pay, flexible hours, benefits. Everything I needed. Everything I’d been desperately searching for.

Except, it wasn’t just a job offer. It was a lifeline. A hand being extended from Cai. I could almost hear his voice in my head, offering help, offering support, as if this was his way of “saving” me. Of fixing what Marcus had broken.

And I couldn’t take it. Not like this. Not when it felt like I was just a name on his list of people he saved.

I shut the phone off. I couldn’t accept it. Not this way. I didn’t want to owe him anything. Not after everything. After all the years of distance, the way things had ended. No. I couldn’t do it.

Instead, I pulled out my notepad. I wasn’t going to rely on anyone else. Not Cai. Not anyone. I’d been on my own for years now. I could do this myself. If I was going to get a job it'd be by my own effort. After what felt like year's of searching my phone for vacancies I found one and funny enough I got an interview appointment. For the next day.

So I pushed the email from Cai aside, the small flicker of temptation dying with it. I felt a bit proud that I had found another way.

—

The interview room downtown smelled like printer ink and stale coffee. I had worn a shirt—It was a cheap one, but it was mine. It was the best I could do with what little I had left.

I had rehearsed the questions in my mind a thousand times. I had swallowed my nerves. Told myself I could do this. Told myself I had to.

But it didn’t go well.

The man interviewing me barely looked up from my résumé. His eyes scanned it like he was reading the morning newspaper, uninterested, detached.

“You’ve been unemployed for how long?” he asked, his voice flat.

“A few weeks but I was officially let go by the company 2 days ago,” I replied, trying to keep my voice steady. I could feel my heart racing.

“And before that?”

I explained the layoffs. I tried to sound confident, capable. I told him about my experience in operations, about the work I had done before everything had fallen apart. But I could see it in his eyes. He had already made his decision.

He didn’t care.

“We’ll be in touch,” he said, his tone dismissive, like he was already onto the next applicant.

And I knew, in that moment, they wouldn’t be in touch. Not with me.

I left the interview room with my head held high, but my heart was heavy. I walked through the lobby, my footsteps echoing in the empty hallways.

When I stepped outside, the world felt too loud. The city stretched out before me, cars honking, people rushing, the noise assaulting my senses. It felt wrong. It felt like everything was moving too fast, and I was standing still, stuck in place.

But I didn’t cry. I didn’t break down. Not yet.

I couldn’t. I had to keep going. For Jamie.

I had to do this.

And I would.

I went home and Jamie wasn't there, I found a note on the counter, picking it up my hands trembled. It was folded the exact way Marcus folded the notes he left.