Marry me, Miss Hargreeves

"LAST month, I lost a lot of money at the casino. There, I met Mr. Gideon Henry. He lent me a huge amount of money without asking for collateral… He said he's confident that I could win back all the money I lost…"

I was pacing back and forth in front of Dad as I listened to his explanation.

"But that didn't happen… I didn't win. I lost every penny I borrowed from him. Gideon Henry… gave me one month to pay off my debt. He said that if I didn't pay him on time, he would send me to jail."

"Dad…" I stopped in front of him. I shut my eyes as my hand went to my forehead. "Why did you only tell me about this now?" We just talked on the phone last week, and he didn't mention anything to me. "Why did you keep me in the dark, Dad?"

"I didn't want to give you problems, Bianca."

I wanted to get mad at him. For hiding things from me. But somehow, I wanted to blame myself for not being perceptive enough. I thought he was doing fine here. I had no idea he was already dealing with something.