SARAHI blinked, my breath catching in my throat. I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. Surely, I had misheard him. There was no way Marco was serious. “A… a what?” The words barely slipped out of my mouth, my voice shaky, unsure. It felt like I was caught in some kind of sick joke.Marco just stood there, his expression completely unbothered. That stupid grin still plastered on his face as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on me. “You heard me, Sarah,” he said calmly, almost too casually. “I want a kid. Seems like a fair trade, don’t you think?”Fair trade? My mind was racing. My legs felt weak, and the walls of the room seemed to be closing in on me. What the actual fuck? What kind of twisted choices were these? This wasn’t real. He couldn’t be serious. This was just another one of his sick games.I swallowed hard, trying to push down the panic rising in my chest. “I know you’ve always had a thing for bad jokes, Marco,” I managed, forcing a nervous laugh, hoping—praying—that this w
SARAHI stared at him, my mind racing, trying to comprehend the situation. It felt like everything had shifted in a matter of seconds. Just moments ago, I’d been desperate, but now I felt cornered—trapped in a way I hadn’t expected. Marco wasn’t just dangling money over my head anymore; he was stripping me of my dignity, of any remaining sense of control I thought I had.I swallowed hard, my throat dry. “You’re sick, Marco.” My voice cracked, barely above a whisper, but there was a fierceness behind it that I couldn’t hold back.He tilted his head, amused. “Am I? Or am I just being practical? You want something from me, and I want something from you. It’s a fair trade.”“A fair trade?” I repeated, my anger rising with every breath. “You think I’m just going to sleep with you for money? You think that’s how this works?”“It’s not about what I think, Sarah,” he said smoothly, as if the idea of this transaction was something I should’ve already accepted. “It’s about what you need. You ca
SARAHIt had been two days since I turned down both of Marco’s ridiculous offers. Two days of waking up to the same empty feeling, knowing that I still didn’t have a way to help my dad. I couldn’t believe I was still here, stuck in the same situation, running in circles with no way out. Every time I thought about Marco, anger boiled inside me. But no matter how much I wanted to push him out of my mind, the problem still lingered.I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the phone in my hand. The idea of calling Nicole had crossed my mind more than once. She had always been there for me when we were younger, always knew how to help. But things were different now. I hadn’t spoken to her in… what? Months? Maybe more. And now, out of the blue, I was supposed to call and ask her for a favor?I shook my head, tossing the phone onto the bed. That’s wrong. I couldn’t just show up in her life after all this time and expect her to help. It wasn’t fair. I sighed, rubbing my temples, trying to thi
SARAHI stared at the phone in my hand, my father’s name still flashing on the screen. My thumb hovered over the green button, but I just couldn’t bring myself to answer. What was I going to say to him this time? That I still hadn’t managed to help him? That everything I’d promised him was still out of reach? The lies, the false hope… it was all starting to weigh on me.With a heavy sigh, I decided I wasn’t going to pick up. Not right now, anyway. “I’ll call him back,” I muttered to myself, trying to ease the guilt in my chest. “It’s temporary. I’ll get back to him soon.”I tried to justify it in my head. I was tired of giving him empty promises when nothing was actually changing. Every conversation with him was a reminder of how helpless I really was, and I didn’t need that today. Not with everything else weighing me down. Not with Marco breathing down my neck.Shoving the phone into my pocket, I sighed again and pushed myself off the bed. I didn’t want to go. The last thing I wanted
SARAHI stood there, staring at Marco, unable to process what he had just said. My head was spinning, my heart pounding in my chest. Had he really paid off all my father’s debts? I felt like I was caught in a dream, or maybe a nightmare. This couldn’t be real.“Wait… did I hear that right?” I asked, my voice shaky. “You… you paid off all of it? All the bills?”Marco just stood there, leaning casually against his desk, a smug smile on his face like he was waiting for me to catch up. He didn’t say anything at first, just watching me with that glint in his eye, as if he was amused by my shock.I shook my head, trying to make sense of it all. “When? How? Why would you do that?”He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it with a slow, deliberate motion. The flicker of the lighter briefly illuminated his face, casting shadows across his features.After taking a long drag, he exhaled, smoke swirling around him, before finally respondin
SARAHMarco’s lips crashed against mine with an urgency that caught me completely off guard. For a moment, I froze, my mind racing to catch up with the sudden onslaught of emotions. His hands cupped my face, holding me steady as his kiss grew more intense. My heart pounded wildly, and I found myself responding, my body melting into his embrace.His kiss was insistent and demanding, as though he had been waiting for this moment for far too long. I could feel the heat radiating from his body as he pulled me closer, his breath mixing with the faint scent of cigarettes that clung to him. The intensity of the kiss made it hard to think clearly.I should have pulled away, should have stopped this, but every part of me was betraying that instinct. It felt as if all the tension and unspoken words between us were finally finding an outlet in this kiss. His hands roamed down my back, his fingers grazing the curve of my waist, sending shivers through me.I was bewildered by the whirlwind of emot
I woke up to a warm sensation, the heat of a body pressed up against mine. For a moment, I felt disoriented, unsure of where I was. My head was pounding, and I squinted against the sunlight filtering into the room. It wasn’t until I shifted slightly that I realized I wasn’t alone.Marco’s arm was draped over my waist, holding me close, his breath steady and calm against my neck. My heart rate spiked, and I quickly scanned the room, piecing together the unfamiliar surroundings. The luxurious dark wood furniture, the heavy curtains, the scent of him lingering in the air—it hit me all at once.I was in Marco’s bed.What the hell?My eyes widened as I jolted upright, trying to shake the fog out of my brain. The movement sent a sharp pain through my skull, and I winced, my hand shooting up to rub my temple. "Ouch..." I muttered, my head pounding as if it was punishing me for the shock.Just then, I felt Marco stir beside me. Before I could make any sort of escape, his arm tightened around
SARAHIt had been a few days since that night with Marco, and honestly, I still hadn’t figured out how I felt about it. Every time I thought about it, a knot of anxiety tightened in my stomach, and it didn’t help that I’d been doing everything in my power to avoid him since then. It wasn’t like me to act this way—shy, nervous, practically hiding—but here I was, avoiding eye contact, making excuses, and ducking into rooms whenever I thought he might be nearby.It wasn’t just the awkwardness that made me steer clear of him. It was the fact that, for once, I didn’t know where we stood. That night had shifted something, and I wasn’t sure I liked the way it made me feel. Vulnerable. Exposed. I didn’t do well with either of those things.I mean, what was I supposed to do? Walk up to him and casually say, “Hey, remember that time we slept together? Yeah, let’s just forget about it.” That wasn’t going to happen.I sighed as I paced the length of my room for what felt like the hundredth time t