My heart sank when I saw the paper hanging on my door with " Eviction notice " boldly scrawled across in red.
Mr Smith's warning about my overdue rent had felt distant but this notice made it real.
My mothers cough echoed in my ears as I folded the paper. She had been getting weaker and weaker by the day and the hospital bills were pilling, on top of this rent. I could barely manage.
Frustration boiled inside me , and by evening I found myself in a dimly lit bar, nursing a bottle of beer I could barely afford.
That was when I met him. Sharp suit, cold eyes. The type of man who owned the room without even saying a word. He slid into the seat beside me and introduced himself.
My friend Diego was the one who introduced us. Honestly, I thought this stranger only wanted a night of distraction, nothing more. Then he leaned in, his voice low and husky and far too serious.
"Marry me, for just a year. I'll pay you more money than you could ever need."
For a moment, I thought he was joking. Then I realized he wasn't. My cheeks burned, not with flattery but with insults. As if my struggle and pain was something money could buy. I pushed my chair back leaving my drink untouched.
He didn't even flinch. He just leaned back into the chair like he owned the world. That arrogance made my skin crawl.
"You think I'm desperate enough to marry a stranger for a paycheck" I asked my voice sharp.
His eyes didn't even move, didn't show any emotions. "I think you're smart enough not to starve when there's another option on the table."
The room felt too small, the music too loud. My hand tightened around the strap of my bag.
I didn't argue, I didn't scream. I just left the bar. My mother was still sick rent was still overdue but I walked out with my pride.
The hospital smelled like bleach and bad news. Mom had another crisis so I had to rush her to the hospital. I sat by her bed, staring at the way her chest rose and fell, too slow, too weak. The doctors kept throwing words at me. Complications, chemotherapy, close monitoring. But all I could hear was the sound of the monitor beeping steadily and the sound of my own heartbeat.
I didn't even have a home to go back to. The eviction notice took care of that. So I stayed. Curled up in the chair with my bag under my feet, pretending everything was okay, like my Life wasn't falling apart.
Every minute in that room felt like money slipping through my fingers. Bills I couldn't pay, medicine I couldn't afford. And yet what else would I do?, walk away and leave her here?
Work the next morning felt heavier than usual, like the weight of the night had followed me there. I moved through the motions, taking orders and clearing tables. My body was present but my mind still trapped in that hospital room. By the time Diego slide into his usual spot at the counter, I was barely holding it down.
"You look like hell" he said, not unkindly.
"Thanks" I muttered dropping a cup of coffee in front of him. "By the way, what the hell was that last night? You introduced me to some stranger like I'm an actress he can cast in whatever role he wants?
Diego's grin was tired but knowing. "That stranger was Adrian Cole, not just anybody trust me. And I wasn't playing match maker, I was giving you an opportunity."
"An opportunity?" I scoffed "He literally offered to buy me for a year, that's not good opportunity Diego, that's an insult."
Diego didn't even flinch at my words, he just stirred his coffee like we were having a normal conversation.
"Depends on how you look at it." He said finally. "Call it buying, call it helping, call it surviving. Bottom line? you need money, he has money. End of story."
I thought about mom, I thought about the eviction notice folded in my bag.