Chapter Two
1182 Words
Isabella didn’t sleep that night.
She tried. She really did.
But every time she closed her eyes, she saw the black card sitting on the edge of her thoughts like it had taken up permanent space in her mind. Not because it meant anything good. Not because she trusted it.
Because she hated that she remembered it at all.
By morning, she had convinced herself she was being stupid.
Rich men left cards everywhere. It didn’t mean anything. It was just habit. Power. Ego.
She told herself she wouldn’t think about it again.
Until her phone rang.
“Is this Miss Isabella Reyes?” the voice on the other end asked.
“Yes,” she answered, already standing up without realizing it.
“There has been an emergency involving your grandmother. You need to come to St. Mary’s Hospital immediately.”
The world didn’t blur.
It stopped.
For a second, she couldn’t breathe properly.
“What happened?” she asked, already grabbing her shoes.
“She collapsed. She is stable for now, but we need you here.”
The line went quiet in her hand after that, but the damage was already done.
Isabella didn’t even lock her apartment properly. She just ran.
The hospital smelled like antiseptic and bad news.
She hated it immediately.
A doctor met her before she even reached the ward. His face already carried that expression people wore when they were about to take something away from you.
“Your grandmother has severe cardiac complications,” he said gently. “We need to act quickly.”
“How quickly?” Isabella asked.
He hesitated. That was worse than an answer.
“We require a ten thousand dollar deposit to begin the procedure.”
For a moment, she thought she misheard him.
“Ten thousand?”
“Yes. Without it, we cannot proceed.”
Her mouth opened, but nothing came out.
Ten thousand dollars wasn’t just money. It was months of work. It was survival. It was everything she didn’t have.
“I’ll get it,” she said quickly, even though she didn’t know how.
She left the hospital in a daze, walking faster than she should have, like movement alone could fix reality.
Sonia met her outside the hospital steps.
One look at Isabella’s face and she already knew.
“What happened?” Sonia asked immediately.
Isabella swallowed. “They need ten thousand dollars. Now.”
Sonia blinked once. Then again.
“Ten thousand?”
“I know.”
“I don’t even know where to start with that kind of money, Isabella.”
“I know,” she repeated, softer this time.
They stood there for a moment without speaking. Cars passed. People moved. Life continued like nothing had broken open.
But Isabella felt like she had.
“I’ll ask the club,” she said suddenly.
Sonia grabbed her wrist. “They won’t give you that much upfront.”
“I’ll beg then.”
“And if they still say no?”
Isabella didn’t answer.
Because there was no answer that didn’t hurt.
She tried anyway.
The club manager didn’t even look up properly when she asked.
“An advance like that?” he said, laughing under his breath. “You think this is a bank?”
“I’ll work extra shifts. I’ll—”
“We don’t do charity here.”
That was it.
Simple. Final.
She left without arguing because there was nothing left to argue with.
Sonia tried calling a few contacts. No one had that kind of money. Not for lending. Not for anything.
By evening, Isabella was sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at her phone like it might change its mind.
It didn’t.
Her grandmother was still in the hospital.
The clock was still moving.
And she was running out of time.
Her fingers moved before her thoughts caught up.
She found the card.
Black. Heavy. Unfamiliar in a way that now felt personal.
For a few seconds, she just stared at it.
Then she dialed the number.
It rang twice.
Then a calm voice answered.
“Dylan.”
Just that.
No greeting. No title. No unnecessary warmth.
She almost hung up.
But she didn’t.
“It’s me,” she said.
A pause.
Then, “I know.”
Her breath caught slightly. “You do?”
“Yes.”
Silence stretched between them.
Isabella stood up slowly, walking to the window without realizing it.
“I need help,” she said finally.
Another pause.
This one longer.
“Meet me,” he said.
That was all.
No questions. No conditions spoken out loud.
Just an address.
A hotel.
Luxury always sounded like distance to her.
She ended the call and stood still for a long moment.
Sonia was watching her from the bed.
“Don’t tell me you’re actually going to meet him,” Sonia said quietly.
Isabella didn’t answer immediately.
Because the truth was ugly.
She had no other choice.
The hotel looked like a different world.
Glass, gold, silence that cost money.
Isabella stood outside for a moment longer than she needed to, holding her bag tightly like it might protect her from what was coming.
Then she walked in.
The lobby alone made her feel like she was in the wrong place. Everything was too clean, too quiet, too expensive to touch.
A receptionist directed her upstairs without asking questions.
Of course they knew.
She didn’t belong here.
When she reached the room, her hand hovered over the door handle for a second.
Then she knocked.
It opened almost immediately.
Dylan stood there like he had been waiting the entire time.
He was still dressed the same way. Still calm. Still unreadable.
“Come in,” he said.
She stepped inside.
The door closed behind her.
And suddenly, the room felt smaller than it should have.
“I need ten thousand dollars,” she said without preamble.
He didn’t look surprised.
Instead, he walked past her toward the table and picked up a glass of water.
“You’re direct,” he said.
“I don’t have time not to be.”
He turned slightly, studying her again.
This time, it felt different.
Not curiosity.
Decision.
“You’re not asking for a loan,” he said.
Isabella’s jaw tightened. “No.”
A pause.
Then he set the glass down.
“Stay tonight,” he said.
The words didn’t land immediately.
When they did, her stomach dropped slightly.
She had expected many things.
This wasn’t one of them.
Her voice came out sharper than she intended. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
Her hands clenched. “I’m not that kind of woman.”
A faint shift in his expression.
Not anger.
Understanding.
But it didn’t soften the offer.
“Then don’t think of it like that,” he said.
“Then how should I think of it?”
His eyes stayed on hers.
“As a choice you don’t really have,” he said calmly.
Silence filled the room.
Isabella hated that he was right.
And hated even more that he knew it.
- Writer
