Chapter 003

(MALDIE POV)

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The notice fluttered to the ground like a dead leaf.

I watched the light disappear from my mom's eyes, we held on to each other……..two ghosts in a home that doesn't belong to them anymore, we were waiting for the cold world to swallow us whole. The kitchen smelled of nothing. For a woman who had spent her life surrounded by the scent of cinnamon, roasted garlic and ambition……….”Mom!” I screamed, my voice cracking as I stumbled over a box of silverware that had been packed with shaking hands

I found her slumped against the counter, her hands weren't just shaking , they were vibrating with a frantic,rhythmic tremor as she clutched that stack of eviction notices………….”Maldie,” she sobbed

She didn't even look up as she pulled me into her arms

“I'm so sorry. I tried…… I thought if I just worked a little harder, if I took one more job I would have give you the life you deserved but I failed you I'm so sorry my daughter”

I buried my face in her shoulder, the dampness of my rain soaked uniform seeping into her clothes. I wanted to tell her about my scholarship……I wanted to tell her that the one thing I was supposed to contribute “My Future” had been snatched away because some board of directors decided I wasn't “Profitable” enough anymore 

After I've won multiple awards for them.

But I couldn't. Not when I felt the frantic beat of her heart against mine, like a bird slamming itself against the bars of a cage……. “It's okay Mom,”I lied, my own tears finally spilling over. “We'll find a way”

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“There is no way, Maldie,” she whispered into my hair, her voice dead and flat. “The bank took the van. The equipment is being seized tomorrow. We have nowhere to go.” 

“Then Richard appeared”

Dressed in a polished shoe and shimmering suit 

He was my mom's client……. A wealthy, powerful widower who had seen her struggling and had offered more than a tip to her, he offered a life raft…A month later they were engaged. It happened so fast it made my head spin….it wasn’t a fairy tale, it was a reality. My mother married him to save me, to give him a roof, to pay for my college. I had just lost my scholarship.

But the price of that safety was moving into the cold, fortress of the Richard's Estate and the price of my new life.I remember when I first stepped foot into that house.i was wearing my best thrifted dress……….trying to look like I belonged to in place where the chandeliers cost more than my mother’s soul..

I saw David, immediately I set my eyes on him 

I fell in love with him………he was leaning against the grand staircase, his hair perfectly tousled,his “Ocean Eyes" narrowed into slits of pure ice.

“So" he drawled, his voice dripping with a cruelty I had never encountered before “This is the charity case? The one my Dad is buying a degree for????

“I'm Maldie,” I said, my voice trembling but my chin held high…….. “And my mom isn't a charity case”

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David stepped down,closing the distance until I could smell his expensive cologne. It was suffocating, trust me……. “Listen to me Gold digger,” he whispered so low that only I could hear. “You and your mom might have fooled my father with that ‘Struggling saint act of yours’ but I see you. You're pathetic…….dont get to get too comfortable or try to fell among you're just a help that got lucky..David didn't see a sister he saw an intruder 

He leaned in closer,his lips almost brushing my ear…..

“I repeat don't get too comfortable. Don't try to do anything funny. Even if you were to be the last girl on earth, I wouldn't touch you. You're not my type.. you're just a mistake my father made get that in your skull 

Charity girl”  

I had spent two years swallowing those words. Two years of acting like his insults didn't burn. Two years of "hating" him back because it was the only way to protect the shred of dignity I had left.

And last night, when he whispered "finally" into my skin, I actually believed the hate had turned into something else. I thought I had finally been “seen.”

Instead, he was just finishing what he started two years ago. He didn't just want to humiliate me. He wanted to own the "charity case" just to throw her away.

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THE PRESENT…………

I managed to step out from the bed, went to

The bathroom freshened up, after that I headed to the kitchen…....I stood in the kitchen, the memory of last night burning in my mind like acid. I looked at David, who was drying his hair with a towel looking bored as if he hadn't destroyed my whole life for a few bills and a laugh with his friends……

The anger I felt was not just about betting but about the two years of pretending…It was the fact that I let the guy who called me a ‘Gold Digger’be the one to take everything from me….. “You really are as disgusting as I thought you were the first day I met you.” I said my voice steady, though my insides were screaming.

David stopped rubbing his hair, he looked at me, the smirk fading into something darker, something more complex…But then he laughed. With a cold and hollow sound..”Maybe,” he said, stepping towards me. “But you're the one who forgot who I was,Maldie.You're the one who let the brother you hate into your bed. So tell me…..who's the real loser here?? Me with my thousand dollars, or you with your broken heart?”

"The loser," I whispered, leaning in just like he had two years ago, "is the guy who thinks a thousand dollars is enough to pay for what I'm going to do to you."

I walked directly to the fridge, pulled out water, and without a single word, without pausing, I walked up to him and dumped the entire water ice and all directly over his head…….