Chapter 4

Charlotte’s pov

He didn’t wait for me to recover from the shock of his words before he turned and walked away, leaving me alone in the empty room.

I didn’t know what to expect. Hell, I didn’t expect to bump into my one-night stand, but at the same time, I didn’t expect this coldness from him.

After class, I walked back to my apartment in a daze, with my knees still shaking from the double dose of humiliation. First Lucas, then Zade. It felt as if the entire universe had conspired to strip away my worth in a single weekend.

I unlocked my apartment door, looking forward to decaying in my bed all night, but instead, the heavy scent of cheap gin and cigarettes hit me the moment I stepped inside.

My breath caught as I slowly pushed the door open wide, with my gaze landing on the living room sofa.

Oh no.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up," a voice slurred.

My mother, Leora Willy, sat on my couch like she owned the place. Her bleached-blonde hair was tangled, her clothes were wrinkled and stained, and her dark-circled eyes were wide with a desperation I knew too well. She had been gone for months, leaving me to pick up the pieces of her abandonment, and now she was sitting in my living room like she didn’t ruin me.

This was her regular pattern of draining me and disappearing, and it was one of the reasons Lucas hated me.

"How did you get in here, Leora?" I asked, my voice shaking with a mixture of anger and exhaustion. I refused to call her mother because she had forfeited that title years ago.

"I still have a key, Charlotte," she said, swinging her legs off the table and standing up but staggering a bit. "Listen to me, I don’t have time for your attitude. I’m in real trouble and I need some money, now."

Oh wow, I should have known.

"I don't have any money," I said flatly, while crossing my arms over my chest to hide my trembling hands. "And even if I did, I wouldn’t give you a single dime. You disappeared for months, Leora, and I had to pay off the landlord and your debts by myself. I work two jobs just to eat."

Leora took long strides toward me, before grabbing my arm.

"You don't understand! They are going to kill me, Charlotte!” she snapped. “I owe them fifty thousand dollars and I don’t have a penny to my name. You should know this! Just give me whatever you have in your savings. Help your mother!"

"No!" I screamed, tearing myself out of her grip and shoving her backward. "You stopped being my mother the day you started gambling away our money! Get out of my apartment right now, or I am calling the police."

Leora’s desperate expression instantly twisted into anger as she snarled.

“You selfish little brat! You think you’re so much better than me?” she asked, coming up in my face. “You wouldn't even have this roof over your head if it weren't for me! Keep your pathetic pennies, but don't say I didn't warn you when the bill comes due."

Before I could form a response, she grabbed her purse from the counter, slammed her fist against the wall, and stormed out of the apartment before slamming my already weak door after her loudly.

Releasing a shaky sigh, I sank to the floor, burying my face in my hands. An hour passed and I was still on the floor as my mind couldn’t stop reeling. I knew my mother doesn’t give up easily. I knew she was going to ruin me before leaving one more time.

Just when I was about to crawl into bed, I heard a loud bang.

Screaming at the top of my lungs, I spun around and saw my door had burst open and I screamed louder when I saw three large and heavily built men stepped into my living room.

They wore dark leather jackets, with their expressions grim and devoid of mercy. The man leading them had a scar running down his jawline and he was also holding a gun.

The moment their eyes settled on my small form, I felt like peeing myself.

"Charlotte Willy?" Scarface asked in a scary tone.

"Who... who are you?" I stammered, while backing away in fear. "You are in the wrong place, please leave!"

The two men behind him didn't say a word as they immediately began tearing my apartment apart. They kicked over my kitchen chairs, dragged my cushions to the side, and turned my room upside down.

"Stop it! Please, stop!" I sobbed, tears spilling over my cheeks. Without being told, I already knew my mother was the cause of this.

Scarface closed the distance between us in a single stride and his large hand clamped around my arm as his eyes bored into mine.

"Leora owes us a very large sum of money, sweetheart," he hissed, with his grip tightening until I whimpered in pain. "And since she doesn't have the cash, she gave us your name. She signed over this apartment and your information as collateral, so you belong to us now."

My face went pale.

"No... no, she couldn't have," I gasped out as I began to tremble in fear. "I don't have her money, I swear it. I have nothing to do with her debts!"

"We don't care," Scarface growled as he pointed his gun to my forehead. I stiffened immediately as my eyes widened like saucers. "You have forty-eight hours to produce the fifty thousand dollars Leora owes us. If the money isn't in our hands by Wednesday night, we won't just ruin this apartment, we will take your life."

He didn’t wait for a response before shoving me away roughly and making me fall hard to the floor with a whimper.

"Let's go, boys."

The three men strode out of my apartment with dark laughter following after them.

Panic filled me as I began to gasp for air, so I wouldn’t pass out. I didn’t have time to panic as I scrambled for my phone, with my hands shaking so violently I could barely type. I dialed my bank, but my credit was already ruined from a previous student loan. I called every local lender, every small loan shark I had ever heard of in the city, desperately begging for an advance or anything.

But Leora’s reputation hovered over me everywhere because the moment I gave them my last name, the answers were all the same.

"Leora Willy's kid? Absolutely not, your family is ruined and doing business with you is a waste of time and loss of money."

How the hell was I supposed to raise fifty thousand dollars in forty-eight hours when I barely had a good-paying job? The little savings I had left was what I used in preparing for our anniversary that went down the drain.

I began to cry bitterly as I realized I was out of options. There was no one left to call. No savings, no friends, no boyfriend.

As I cried, my mind finally drifted to my new professor. My one-night stand. He was the only option I had left.