Chapter 2 - The Transaction

Elara walked.

She didn't know where she was going, just away from the hotel, away from Sebastian Vale's cold eyes and colder proposition.

The city blurred around her. Lights. Noise. People laughing, living, unburdened by impossible choices. She passed couples holding hands, groups of friends stumbling out of bars, a street musician playing guitar for spare change. Everyone seemed to exist in a world where choices were simple.

Her phone buzzed.

Unknown: Three hours left.

Elara stopped walking and stared at the message. Three hours to decide if she would sell herself. Three hours to choose between her mother's life and her own dignity.

She almost threw the phone into the street. Almost watched it shatter against the pavement and disappear under the tires of a passing taxi.

Instead she turned and found herself walking toward the hospital.

The building loomed ahead, lit up against the night sky like a beacon. Or a prison. Elara had spent so much time here over the past months that she knew every corridor, every vending machine, every squeaky tile in the oncology wing.

She found a bench outside the main entrance and sat down, staring up at the fourth floor where her mother lay dying.

Room 407.

Elara closed her eyes and let the memories wash over her.

Her mother had sacrificed everything for her. Worked three jobs to keep Elara in school when her father died. Went without meals so Elara could eat. Wore the same coat for five winters so Elara could have new shoes. Smiled through exhaustion and pain and never, ever complained.

She had been Elara's entire world.

And now, when it was Elara's turn to save her, she had nothing.

Nothing except a devil's bargain from a man who looked at her like she was a transaction to be completed.

Her phone buzzed again.

Unknown: Two hours.

Elara's hands were shaking. She pressed them against her thighs, trying to steady herself, trying to think clearly.

What would her mother say if she knew?

The answer came immediately: Don't do it, sweetheart. Don't sacrifice yourself for me.

But her mother had sacrificed herself for Elara a thousand times over.

Wasn't this just... returning the favor?

Elara stood abruptly and walked into the hospital. The fluorescent lights were harsh after the darkness outside. A few nurses glanced at her as she passed, they recognized her by now, the girl who visited every day, who read to the patients, who never gave up hope even when hope was foolish.

She took the elevator to the fourth floor, her heart pounding with each passing level.

Her mother was awake when she entered the room, propped against pillows that seemed to swallow her shrinking frame. Her skin pale as the sheets. But when she saw Elara, she smiled, that same soft, familiar smile that had been Elara's anchor her entire life.

“You're late,” her mother teased weakly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Elara crossed the room and took her hand. It felt too light, too fragile, like holding a bird with broken wings.

“I know. I'm sorry.”

“You look tired, sweetheart.” Her mother's eyes, still sharp despite everything, studied Elara's face with concern.

“I'm fine.”

Her mother squeezed her fingers with what little strength she had left. “How did the interviews go?”

The question landed like a stone in Elara's chest, heavy and painful.

“They went well,” she said, the lie tasting bitter on her tongue “I think one of them will call me back.”

Her mother sighed in relief, her whole body relaxing into the pillows. “I knew they would. You've always been so strong, Elara. Just like your father.”

Strong.

The word echoed painfully in Elara's mind.

If she was strong, why did she feel like she was breaking into a thousand pieces? If she was capable, why couldn't she save the one person who mattered most? 

“Tell me about your day,” Elara said, desperate to change the subject, to focus on anything except the impossible choice waiting for her.

Her mother talked slowly about the nurses, about the terrible hospital food, about the soap opera she had watched that afternoon. Elara listened and nodded and smiled, all while her phone sat heavy in her pocket, counting down the minutes.

She stayed until her mother drifted to sleep, brushing her hair gently, memorizing the lines of her face, the small scar above her eyebrow from when Elara was six and learning to ride a bike, the laugh lines around her eyes that had deepened over years of smiling through hardship, the way her lips curved slightly even in sleep.

I'm doing this for you, Elara thought. I'm doing this so you can live.

When she stepped back into the corridor the doctor was waiting, his expression kind but firm.

“Miss Moore.” He glanced at his watch. “We need the payment confirmed by tonight. The surgical team is scheduled for next week, but without confirmation…”

“I know,” Elara interrupted quietly, unable to hear him say it. Unable to hear that her mother's name would be removed from the list “I'll have it.”

The doctor studied her for a moment, then nodded. “I hope so, Your mother is a fighter, but she's running out of time.”

Elara waited until he walked away before checking her phone.

Unknown: One hour.

Her hands were shaking so badly she could barely hold the device.

One hour to decide.

One hour to choose.

She thought about running. She thought about ignoring the message and finding another way though what other way could there possibly be? She'd already begged, borrowed, and exhausted every option.

This was all she had left.

---

At 11:47pm Elara walked back into the Grand Vale Hotel.

The lobby was quieter now, the guests fewer. The same waiter appeared and led her back to the private lounge without a word.

Sebastian was still there, standing by the window, staring outside the city lights.

He turned when she entered.

“You came,” he said.

“I came,” she whispered.

He studied her for a long moment. “Are you sure?”

It was the first hint of humanity she had heard from him.

Elara lifted her chin. “Transfer the money first.”

Sebastian's mouth curved, not quite a smile. “Smart.”

He pulled out his phone and typed quickly. A moment later, Elara's phone buzzed.

She opened her banking app with trembling hands.

Transfer Complete: $517,000

Five hundred and seventeen thousand dollars.

Elara stared at the number until it blurred.

“It's done,”  Sebastian said quietly.

She looked up at him. “Why so much?”

“The surgery. Recovery. Whatever else she needs.” He slipped his phone into his pocket. “I don't do things halfway, Miss Moore.”

Elara's throat tightened.

She had done it.

Her mother would live.

And all it cost was this.

Sebastian stepped closer. “We don't have to do this if you've changed your mind. The money is yours regardless.”

Elara blinked, shocked. “What?”

“I'm many things,” he said quietly, “but I'm not a monster.”

For a moment, she almost believed him.

But she had already come this far.

And some part of her, some broken, reckless part wanted to see if he was lying.

“No,” she said. “I agreed.”

Something shifted in his expression. “Elara..”

“Don't,” she interrupted. “Don't say my name like that. Just… let's just get this over with.”

Sebastian went still. Then he nodded once and gestured toward the door. “This way.”

The suite was on the top floor sprawling, luxurious, impersonal.

Elara stood in the center of the room, her heart pounding so loudly she was sure he could hear it.

Sebastian poured two glasses of whiskey and offered her one.

She shook her head.

He set both glasses down. “We can talk first.”

“I don't want to talk.”

“Elara…”

“I said don't.” Her voice cracked. “Please. Just… don't make this harder.”

For a long moment, Sebastian simply looked at her and really looked at her and something in his expression softened.

Then he crossed the space between them and kissed her.

It wasn't rough. It wasn't cold.

It was careful. Almost gentle.

And that made it so much worse.

---

At dawn Elara woke alone.

The suite was silent. Sebastian was gone.

On the nightstand, a note lay beside a glass of water.

The money is yours. No strings attached. Delete this number.

Elara stared at the words until they stopped making sense.

Then she grabbed her clothes and ran.

She ran to the hospital like she could still fix everything.

But when she reached Room 407, the bed was empty.

A nurse met her eyes with pity.

“I'm sorry,” she said softly. “She passed an hour ago. We tried to call you, but…”

The sound that tore from Elara didn't feel human.

Her knees gave out.

She pressed a hand to her chest, disbelief crashing into terror.

No.

No, no, no.

“We did everything we could,” the nurse was saying. “But the infection spread too quickly. Even with the surgery scheduled, her body just… couldn't fight anymore.” 

Elara couldn't breathe.

She had the money.

She had done the impossible.

And she was still too late.