Chapter Five: The Devil Returns

Renata

After three straight days in the hospital, I had not taken calls from anyone. I had stayed off social media, away from school, and away from everything else. Just sitting beside my mom and watching over her, hoping she would be alright.

I had applied for a job at Tinnies, a fast food spot nearby, and they told me to resume today. The pay was not much, but I planned to work triple shifts on weekdays and Wednesdays, then attend school on the remaining days. It was not going to be easy, but it was the only way I could raise enough money for her surgery.

I had been lying beside her and had drifted into a deep sleep. I had not eaten anything in three days. The appetite simply was not there. Then I felt a hand tap me softly. I sat up and stretched my already exhausted bones, and when I opened my eyes, my mom was awake.

"Mom," I cried out, wrapping my arms around her carefully. Her hands were still connected to the drip lines. She was still fragile. I could see her eyes fighting to stay open, heavy and drowsy.

"Mom," I whispered, holding her arms gently. "Please say something." She could not. She just smiled. I leaned softly against her chest and fought back the tears. Seeing her like this was breaking me from the inside out.

"I will not let you die, Mom. I will find the money for your treatment. I promise." My voice cracked as the words came out. I looked up at her. She was still holding that smile, and she reached for my cheek, which had already turned red, and wiped the tears from under my eyes. I knew she wanted to say something, but she could not.

Slowly, she drifted back to sleep. I watched it happen with a weight pressing hard against my chest. The doctors came in shortly after and asked me to step out so they could attend to her. I stood, took one last look at her, and walked out.

I was supposed to resume at Tinnies today, so I headed straight there. I stood outside under the sun, waiting for a cab, when Edwina's message came in. A voice note. I played it.

"Hey girl. You need to be in school right now. We are running screening for our final exams. You cannot miss it or you will not graduate next year. See you there."

I let out a scream under my breath and shoved my phone back into my bag. Why did the screening have to fall on the same day I was supposed to start work? I grunted in frustration. I could not afford to miss either one.

I checked my watch. It was nine ten. I was supposed to resume at Tinnies by eleven sharp. If I headed to school now and got through the screening quickly, I could still make it in time.

I sighed with a thin thread of relief and started making my way to school, even though the pressure of balancing both was already sitting heavy on my shoulders. I just hoped they would not keep me there for hours.

The drive to school was fifteen minutes. I paid the cab driver and rushed in, trying to make every second count. I spotted Edwina and ran straight to her.

"Hey. I am here. Hope I am not late."

"Woah. Calm down, girl."

She reached out to steady me. She noticed how hard I was breathing, how the sweat running from my hairline had turned my hair into a damp, curly mess.

"I am calm. I am calm," I said, trying to slow my breathing down.

"It has not even started yet," she said, arranging her books like she had all the time in the world.

"What do you mean it has not started?" I said sharply. "I need to be out of here by eleven."

"Relax. It starts at ten. Just breathe."

She said it casually, but my heart refused to settle. I checked the time. Nine thirty. I swallowed and tried to pace myself. I stood there watching the clock like it owed me something. With every minute that passed, my patience wore thinner.

"There she is!" Coach Peterston's voice rang out across the space. He was pointing directly at me. I turned and saw him walking toward me, flanked closely by two police officers.

The whole school went quiet. Every head turned, every set of eyes following the scene, all of them wanting to know who the officers had come for. And then, to my complete shock, all three of them stopped right in front of me. Coach Peterston wore a look of deep disappointment. I stood frozen, confused.

"What is going on?" I asked. Everyone was already staring.

"What did you do this time, Renata?" Coach asked, his voice heavy with something between disbelief and shame.

Before I could answer, the officers stepped forward. One of them turned me around and snapped the handcuffs onto my wrists.

"Hey. Let me go. I did not do anything." I struggled against them, turning my head to look at their faces. "At least tell me what I am supposed to have done. I am not a criminal."

One of the officers spoke evenly. "Miss Renata, we received a report from Glassy Hotel regarding the impersonation of a spa service agent and the unauthorized entry of the premises."

The entire school gasped.

"The report states that you entered Mr. Drent Ardent's private hotel room without permission. That is a serious offence." Every eye in the building was now fixed on me. Whispers spread like fire. Mocking looks and low laughter followed. Coach Peterston stared at me with something I could only read as quiet disgust. I wanted to explain myself, but the officers were already dragging me out like I had stolen something. They put me in the back of the van and drove off.

Panic flooded through me. Had Drent reported me? How did they even find out? This day had already been falling apart piece by piece, and now my name was ruined in front of the entire school. On top of that, I was going to miss both the screening and my first day at work.

We pulled up at the station and they interrogated me. The officers moved through my case with quiet efficiency. They had evidence of me entering his hotel room, and they informed me that the offence carried a minimum of one week in a cell.

One week. That meant losing the job before I had even started. It meant missing the screening and falling behind on graduation. All because I had snuck into Drent's hotel room. And I had absolutely no one who could bail me out.

It was too much to hold at once. A dull ache began pressing against the inside of my skull. I laid my head down on the table and did not know when sleep pulled me under.

One of the officers shook me awake. I lifted my head slowly, certain he had come to take me to my cell.

"Someone is here to bail you out," he said flatly, then turned and walked toward the door.

I blinked. Who would come to bail me? It could not be my mom. She was in the hospital, barely holding on. It could not be Edwina. She was as broke as I was.

My mind scrambled for an answer.

"Officer. Who bailed me?"

He sighed. "Just follow me."

I stood and followed him without pushing further. I was getting out of here. That was what mattered most.

"Here she is, sir," the officer said, stepping aside.

And the person standing there was the last one I expected.

Drent Ardent.

He stood with one hand tucked in his pocket, the corner of his lips pulled into a slight smile.

"You," I said. I genuinely could not tell whether seeing him made things better or worse.