Hidden Heiress

Mella’s pov Three days. That was all I had left before I lost the only place I could call home. The bright orange eviction notice was taped to my apartment door like it was mocking me. I stood in the narrow hallway of the old Brooklyn building, staring at the words I had already memorized. FINAL NOTICE Rent overdue. Full payment required within seventy two hours. Nine hundred and fifty dollars. It might as well have been nine million. I let out a slow breath before carefully peeling the paper from the door. Tearing it into pieces would have felt satisfying for exactly five seconds, but it wouldn't change anything. Bills didn't disappear because you were angry. Landlords didn't accept frustration instead of money. "Morning, Mella." I looked up to see Mrs. Rodriguez stepping out of her apartment with two grocery bags hanging from her arms. She was well into her seventies, yet she somehow climbed three flights of stairs every day without complaining. Morning. Her eyes drifted to the folded notice in my hand, and the smile on her face faded. "Another warning?" I forced myself to smile. "I'll figure something out." "You always say that." "So far I've always managed to." She studied me for a moment before reaching into one of her grocery bags and pulling out two bright red apples. "Take these." "You need them more than I do." "I wasn't asking." I laughed softly and accepted them. "Thank you." She patted my arm. "One day life will stop testing you." "I hope it gets tired soon." She laughed, but there was sadness behind it. "So do I." I unlocked my apartment and stepped inside.Silence greeted me. Not peaceful silence. Empty silence. The kind that reminded me there was no one waiting for me when I came home,no parents,no family just me. My apartment wasn't much to look at. The wallpaper was peeling in one corner, the radiator barely worked, and the refrigerator made strange noises every night, but it was the only place in the world that belonged to me. For now. I placed the eviction notice inside the notebook where I kept every unpaid bill, then opened the refrigerator. Half a loaf of bread,three eggs and little milk. I smiled to myself,breakfast. That was enough. You learn something about life when you grow up with nothing. You stop measuring happiness by what you don't have. Instead, you become grateful for the little things other people barely notice. While my bread toasted, I opened my banking app. One hundred and forty three dollars and eighty one cents. After rent... I stopped myself. There was no point doing the math again. The answer never changed. My phone buzzed on the kitchen counter. Sophia: Don't forget movie night tomorrow. Despite everything, I smiled. Me: Only if you're buying popcorn. Her reply came almost instantly. Sophia: Obviously. Rich best friend privileges. I shook my head, laughing quietly. Sophia always joked that one day we'd both become rich. I usually reminded her that the only thing I was rich in was overdue bills. She always answered the same way. "Not forever." Back then... Neither of us knew how right she was.