Lila's P.O.V
The next morning arrived soft and golden, the kind of light that sneaks through cheap blinds and makes even cracked walls look almost intentional. I woke before the kids for once, not because of nightmares or lawyer dread, but because something warm had settled in my chest overnight—like a small animal finally uncurling after years of being clenched.
The cheque.
I’d left it on the nightstand instead of hiding it again, like leaving it out made it more real. Five figures. Not Monopoly money, not a fantasy. Actual numbers that could pay the overdue electric bill twice over, cover preschool registration for Shayla next fall, buy new shoes that actually fit Lucas’s growing feet instead of the hand-me-downs with holes in the toes. It could buy time—breathing room so I didn’t hav
