Chapter 1: The Last Dollar

Riley's POV

"Ma'am, you need to move that car now or I'm calling the tow truck!"

The security guard's voice cut through the rain as I fumbled with my keys, my hands shaking so badly I could barely grip them. The Honda's engine turned over once, twice, then died with a final wheeze that sounded like my last hope disappearing.

"Mommy, I'm hot," Lily whispered from her car seat, her small voice barely audible over the storm.

My hands shook as I counted the crumpled bills in my wallet. Again. Twelve dollars and thirty-seven cents. The same amount as five minutes ago, no matter how desperately I wished for a miracle.

"I know, baby. We're going to see the doctor now."

The security guard was already walking toward us, his yellow raincoat making him look like a walking caution sign. I grabbed Lily and ran for the emergency room entrance, my worn sneakers splashing through puddles that soaked through to my socks.

"Ma'am, you can't leave that vehicle there!" he called after me.

"Five minutes!" I shouted back, pushing through the automatic doors.

The hospital lobby hit me like a wall of antiseptic and air conditioning. Everything was gleaming white and chrome, from the marble floors to the reception desk where a woman in perfectly pressed scrubs looked up at me with barely concealed disgust.

"I need to see someone about my daughter," I said, shifting Lily's weight in my arms. "She has a fever and she's been sick for two days."

The receptionist's eyes traveled from my soaked hair to my thrift store jeans. "Insurance card?"

"I don't have insurance right now, but I can pay"

"How much can you pay today?"

The question hung in the air between us. I could feel other people in the waiting room staring. A woman in a Chanel suit pulled her purse closer when I walked past.

"I have twelve dollars," I said quietly.

"The emergency room f*e is four hundred dollars before any treatment." Her voice was flat, rehearsed. "I can give you information about free clinics."

"Please." The word came out cracked. "She's only four. I'll figure out how to pay you back."

The receptionist's expression didn't change. "I'm sorry, but we can't provide treatment without payment or insurance. There's a free clinic on"

"They're closed until Monday!" My voice rose, causing several heads to turn. "My daughter has been sick for two days. She needs help now."

Lily stirred in my arms, her small hand pressing against my chest. Her fever was getting worse. I could feel it through her thin pajamas.

"If you can't pay, I'll have to ask you to leave," the receptionist said. "Or we can call social services to discuss your daughter's care."

The threat hit me like ice water. "No. No, please don't call them."

I backed away from the desk, my heart pounding. Social services meant losing Lily. They'd take one look at our situation—living in a car, no job, no home and decide I was unfit.

"Mommy?" Lily's voice was small and scared.

"It's okay, baby. We're going to figure this out."

I walked toward the seating area, my mind racing. There had to be something I could do. Someone I could ask for help. But my family had disowned me months ago, and I'd burned through every friend's goodwill already.

That's when I heard the whispered conversation from two nurses near the coffee cart.

"Did you see Brett Graham is here again?" one said, stirring sugar into her coffee.

"The billionaire? What's he doing here?"

"Charity event in the west wing. Though after that scandal with his ex-fiancée, I'm surprised he shows his face anywhere."

"I heard he's looking for a new girlfriend. Someone to clean up his image."

"A fake girlfriend, you mean. Like those Hollywood contracts."

My feet stopped moving. Brett Graham. Everyone knew that name. The tech mogul who'd built an empire from nothing, worth billions, cold as ice and twice as ruthless.

"How much do you think someone would pay for that kind of arrangement?" the first nurse asked.

"With his money? Probably enough to solve anyone's problems."

The second nurse laughed. "If you could survive six months with that man. They say he's impossible to please."

I clutched Lily tighter, my mind spinning. It was insane. Desperate. The kind of idea that only occurred to someone who had absolutely nothing left to lose.

But as I looked down at my daughter's flushed face and felt her fever burning through her clothes, I realized that was exactly what I was.