Chapter 3

Aria's arms were so thin they were barely the width of an adult's wrist. Yet as she stood in front of me, she looked ready to put her life on the line.

Leyla released her grip on Kamryn's arm.

She took two steps forward but froze the moment she realized her movement was scaring Aria.

She slowly crouched down, softening her expression. "Aria, I'm your mother. I'm not a bully."

"I don't have a mother!"

Aria's small face flushed with anger as she held her ground stubbornly in front of me.

A flicker of shock passed through Leyla's eyes.

She instinctively reached out to wipe the tears from Aria's cheeks. But before she could touch her, Aria recoiled a step back.

Leyla's hand froze in midair.

Kamryn hurried over. "Mr. Kirk, how could you teach a child to reject her birth mother just for money?"

Leyla stood up, tucking a strand of long hair behind her ear as her eyes went cold again. "Jason, you've miscalculated."

Using my uninjured hand, I pushed myself off the ground and shielded Aria behind my back to cut off any sight of the two of them.

"Move."

Leyla didn't budge.

I looked down at her and delivered every word with deliberate weight. "I need to take Aria to the doctor."

Only then did she step aside.

I needed seven stitches across my palm.

The moment the doctor finished tending to the wound, before the anesthetic even had time to wear off, I was called out into the hallway.

"Aria's coagulation levels are extremely unstable. She'll need a bone marrow aspiration and genetic testing. With the costs for room and medication, you need to prepare at least 20 thousand dollars as a deposit."

20 thousand dollars.

I had less than 100 bucks left in my bank account.

Leaning my back against the wall, I tilted my head up and closed my eyes. My throat worked through a heavy swallow.

When I opened them, Leyla was standing at the entrance of the ward. She held that same supervision agreement in her hand.

"I'll pay the hospital directly. You don't need to worry about the money."

She paused. "But every single expense goes through Kamryn."

I raised my bandaged hand. "He shoved me on purpose just now, and now you want him calling the shots on Aria's life?"

Leyla frowned. "That was just an accident. Kamryn said he felt dizzy all of a sudden and bumped into you. Besides, he's just keeping an eye on things for me so you don't inflate costs under the guise of treatment."

I stared at her for a long time before letting out a soft laugh.

Five years ago, Kamryn made me sign a stack of documents.

Five years later, he was deciding whether Aria got her lifesaving funds.

And Leyla always took his side.

"I'm not signing."

Leyla slid the agreement back into her handbag, her tone as businesslike as ever. "Then raise the money yourself."

She turned and walked away. The clicking of her heels faded down the corridor.

I didn't chase after her.

Back in the ward, I searched through my belongings. The only thing of any value was a worn-down men's wedding ring.

It was the one we bought when Leyla and I got married.

Neither of us had money back then, but I didn't want Leyla to feel shortchanged. After scraping together savings for a year, I bought her a diamond ring, and this was the matching band.

Back then, Leyla had held me crying, promising she would love me forever.

Later, when we made money, she brought up replacing it with something more expensive a few times, but I never agreed.

Not because of what it was worth. But because that ring held so many of our memories.

But right now, memories weren't going to save Aria.

While Aria was asleep, I went to a pawnshop near the hospital.

After examining the ring, the owner offered only 200 dollars.

Without hesitation, I filled out the form, signed, stamped my thumbprint, and rushed back to the hospital as soon as I got the cash.

Just as I reached the entrance, a black sedan pulled up, blocking my path.

The door swung open, and a pair of black stiletto heels touched the pavement first.

Leyla stepped out from the back seat.

The night breeze rustled her long hair. Her slender fingers held that old wedding ring.

"Jason."

Her crimson lips curled into a mocking smile. "You pawned your wedding ring on purpose just to remind me how much I used to love you, didn't you? You're running out of cash, so you're resorting to nostalgia to force me into dropping the supervision?"

Looking at her confident face, I finally realized one thing.

In Leyla's eyes, every move I made was a calculated scheme.

Selling the ring wasn't an act of desperation. It was a play on past feelings to force her hand.

I strode over to her, snatched the ring from her grip, and slapped it right back onto her palm. "Since you bought it back, keep it. I don't need your pity."

Leyla's hand instinctively tightened around the ring.

Without a second look, I turned and headed inside the hospital.

Those 200 dollars barely covered the most urgent tests and medication.

At noon the following day, the charity assistance center sent their decision.

My application was denied.

The reason stated that five years ago, I possessed five million dollars in assets but had since exhausted my wealth on overseas property, luxury cars, and other extravagant purchases. They deemed it irresponsible personal spending and ruled that I was ineligible for assistance.

As I stared at the screen, every muscle in my arms tensed up.

A sum of money that had never touched my hands almost cut off Aria's life five years ago, and now it was doing it again.

I immediately submitted a request for an asset audit, asking to pull the registration details, login logs, linked phone numbers, and transaction trails for that five-million-dollar account.

Then, I dialed a public charity hospital in a neighboring state.

After reviewing Aria's medical records, they quickly gave me a response.

"Mr. Kirk, we can waive most of the treatment fees. We have a transport vehicle heading to your city in three days. As long as the child's vitals are stable, we can bring her over."

I held the phone tight, my shoulders finally relaxing after days of tension. "Thank you. We'll be waiting."

…

That evening, Kamryn knocked on the door to Leyla's office. "The financial aid got rejected. Jason's bank balance is under 20 dollars."

Leyla leaned back in her chair, saying nothing.

Kamryn passed her the data on his tablet. "There's no way he can raise 20 thousand dollars. Three days at most, and he'll come crawling back to sign the agreement."

Remembering how I looked outside the pawnshop, Leyla's brow twitched slightly. "He sold his wedding ring."

Kamryn lowered his voice. "He did that on purpose because he knew you'd soften up. It's always been his playbook. Play the victim, look miserable, and wait for you to make a move. The more you pity him, the more he demands."

Leyla stayed silent for a moment before finally nodding. "He won't last long out there. He'll come back."

…

Inside the ward, I had already signed the transfer paperwork and stashed our packed bag under the bed.

Aria woke up, rubbing her eyes. "Daddy, where are we going?"

I tucked the blanket around her shoulders. "Aria, I'm taking you to a better hospital in three days."