CHAPTER 3

Jayde POV

I drag myself home two hours later, exhausted to my bones. The apartment is quiet - Mom should be home by now. She usually waits up for me, worrying like moms do.

The kitchen feels empty as I pour cereal into a bowl, trying to quiet my growling stomach. Maybe she's already asleep? It happens sometimes when she's extra tired from working the market all day.

A knock at the door startles me. This late, it can only be Heidi. She lives next door with her parents, but she's more like a sister than a neighbor. We share everything - food, clothes, secrets.

"Who is it?" I call out, even though I know.

"It's Heidi!"

I let her in and headed back to my cereal, but something was wrong. Heidi's face is twisted with worry, tears already forming in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I ask around a mouthful of cornflakes.

She starts sobbing, and my heart stops.

"It's mom," she manages.

For a second, I think she meant her mom - the one with the chronic illness she's always worried about losing, just like I lost Dad. But then she looks at me with red eyes.

"I'm talking about your mom."

The spoon clatters against the bowl. I grab her shoulders. "What happened?"

Cold fear grips my chest as I run through the apartment, calling for Mom. Her bedroom - empty. Bathroom - empty. My room - empty. The walls seem to close in with each door I open.

Back in the kitchen, tears blur my vision. "Where is she? Why isn't she home?"

Heidi's hand shakes as she holds out a small card. I recognize it instantly - Paul's loan shark ID. My stomach drops to the floor.

"Some men came," Heidi whispers. "They took her. They left this..."

The world spins. Mom's been taken by loan sharks. The worst kind of people in town, known for breaking bones when they can't break spirits. And now they have my mother.

I grab my coat, not even feeling the tears on my face. I can't lose her. She's all I have left. After Dad, after everything - I can't lose Mom too.

The taxi ride to Paul's office is a blur. It's almost 3 AM, but loan sharks don't sleep - they wait like vultures for desperate people like us. I throw money at the driver, not waiting for change.

Paul won't be here - he'll be home in his warm bed while my mother... God, I can't even think about it.

I pound on the office door until Steve, the night guard, appears.

"Where's Mr. Paul?" My voice sounds strange, desperate.

The world has taken so much from us already - my father, our security, my dreams. But they can't have my mother. I won't let them.

Tonight's humiliation with Declan feels like it happened in another lifetime. Funny how fast priorities shift - from protecting your dignity to protecting the only person you have left in the world.

I'll do whatever it takes to get her back. Whatever it costs. Whatever I have to give.

Because of losing my mother? That's not an option. Not today. Not ever.

"He's at home. If you want to speak with him, you had better come back by nine. He comes here very early in the morning."

" I'm going to wait for him!" I say and move to sit on the floor. I don't care how long it takes him. I just want him to release my mother to me.

There's nothing I can do without her.

Car horns jolt me awake. I've spent the night on the cold floor outside Paul's office, waiting like a beggar. Morning light streams through dirty windows, and my back aches from sleeping against the wall. The thought of Mom spending the night in this place makes me sick.

A car pulls into the lot. Paul steps out, and my heart jumps.

"Good morning, sir." I try to keep my voice steady.

He squints at me. "Have I seen you before?"

"Yes. The woman you're holding is my mother."

His laugh is ugly. "She has a grown daughter and still can't pay her debts?" The mockery in his voice makes my fists clench, but I swallow my pride. Pride won't save Mom.

I drop to my knees. "Please. Release my mom."

"Two hundred dollars and she walks." He says it like he's offering a bargain at the market.

I don't even have fifty dollars to my name. A woman approaches - probably his secretary - and they start walking toward the office.

"Wait!" I scramble after them. "Keep me instead. Let her go find the money."

Paul's smirk turns cruel. "Make the money yourself. Your mother stays until I get paid." The office door slams behind him, leaving me in the morning sun, shaking.

My last hope is Mrs. Maggie. She's always been kind, and always understood our struggles. The taxi ride to the bar feels like forever.

But when I walk into her office, something's wrong. Her arms are crossed, her face stern.

"Mrs. Maggie, I need your help-"

She hands me an envelope without a word.

The termination letter inside blurs through my tears. This can't be happening. I've never stolen, never been late, never caused trouble.

"What did I do wrong?" My voice sounds small, broken.

"You slapped Declan." These three words destroy everything.

Of course. He promised to ruin me, and he has. But Mrs. Maggie - she didn't even ask my side. Didn't want to know why a girl who's never caused trouble would slap one of the richest men in town.

"I'm disappointed in you," I tell her and walk out. The words taste like ash in my mouth.

Everything's falling apart. No job. No money. No, Mom. For the first time in my life, I'm angry - really angry - at fate, at God, at this whole cruel world that keeps taking and taking.

My phone rings. Paul's voice is smooth as oil: "One condition. Come to my office now."

The line goes dead, but hope flickers in my chest. Whatever he wants, I'll do it. I have to. Because the alternative - losing Mom like I lost Dad - isn't an option.

Some choices aren't choices at all. When you're drowning, you'll grab any rope thrown at you, even if it looks like a snake.

I flag down another taxi. Whatever Paul's condition is, I pray I'm strong enough to bear it. Mom protected me all these years. Now it's my turn to protect her.

Even if it costs me everything I have left.