The spoon clattered on the floor, the sound too loud in the silence that followed. My heart thundered as Alexander Carter's gaze fixed on me, sharp enough to slice through the thin walls of my heart "I asked you a question," I managed, my voice low, strangled. "What are you doing here?" His expression didn't flicker. "You already know." Lily appeared at my shoulder before I could stop her, her curious eyes darting between us. "Elena? Who is this?" Panic surged in my chest. The last thing I wanted was my sister dragged into this. "No one. Just—someone from work. Go back inside, Lily." But Alexander's voice cut through, steady and commanding. "I'm not no one." Lily stiffened, her gaze narrowing on him. "Then who are you?" I turned, desperate. "Lily, please—" But Alexander, of course, ignored me. He extended a hand toward my sister, his tone surprisingly polite. "Alexander Carter. A business acquaintance of your sister." Lily didn't move. She only studied him with the wary sharpness of someone who had grown up learning that people with power were rarely friends. Her silence stretched long enough to make his hand fall back to his side. I stepped between them, my pulse thrumming. "You shouldn't be here. This is our home." "Exactly why I came," he said smoothly, as though barging into our lives was perfectly reasonable. "To remind you of reality. Seventy-two hours is generous, Miss Dawson. But generosity doesn't suit me. I prefer efficiency." Lily glanced at me, confusion and fear flickering in her eyes. "Elena… what's going on?" I bit my lip hard enough to taste blood. What could I say? .....That this stranger had offered me marriage like a business deal? That he was dangling our survival over my head like bait on a hook? Alexander's gaze softened—if such a word could even apply to him—when it shifted to my sister. "Your father's medicine runs out in five days, doesn't it? And tuition notices don't wait forever." My knees nearly buckled. He knew. Of course he knew. "Stop it," I snapped, my voice cracking. "Don't talk to her. Don't drag her into this!" He turned his attention back to me, utterly unshaken. "Then give me your answer." The room tilted. Lily's lips parted, her eyes widening in alarm. "Answer? Elena, what is he talking about?" Heat flushed my face. Shame, anger, fear—they all tangled together until I could barely breathe. "Nothing. He's mistaken. He needs to leave." Alexander's jaw tightened. For the first time, irritation broke through his calm mask. "I don't make mistakes." He stepped closer, and instinctively I stepped back, pressing against the wall. His voice lowered, steady as ice. "You're running out of time, Miss Dawson. And so is your family." My chest ached, my breaths shallow. Every word was a dagger, but each one landed on truths I couldn't deny. Papa's failing health. Lily's fading hope. The unpaid bills stacking higher than I could ever climb. He was the answer. He was the trap. "Get out," I whispered, though my voice trembled. "Please. Just… get out.
with a faint sigh, he stepped back toward the doorway. "Three days," he said softly. "I'll return for your decision. Pray you've made the right one." And then he was gone, his footsteps fading down the hall, leaving behind a silence so thick it pressed on my lungs. I sagged against the wall, shaking. "Elena," Lily whispered, her voice small. "What did he mean? What decision?" Tears burned hot at the back of my eyes. I forced a smile, fragile and broken. "Nothing you need to worry about." But Lily's eyes glistened, and in that moment I knew—she didn't believe me. --- That night, sleep never came. I lay awake, staring at the cracked ceiling, Alexander's words carved into my thoughts like stone. Three days. Pray you've made the right one. How could there even be a right choice? I turned toward the sound of Papa coughing in the next room, his frail body fighting battles he couldn't win alone. My chest tightened until it hurt. If I said no, I'd lose everything. If I said yes, I'd lose myself. --- The next morning, I dragged myself to work, though my legs felt like lead. The café smelled of coffee and sugar, but even that comfort couldn't reach me. Every clang of a cup, every laugh of a customer, sounded distant. My hands shook as I carried trays. "Hey, Elena," one of my coworkers said, eyeing me curiously. "Rough night?" I forced a laugh, hollow and weak. "Something like that." But even as I moved through the motions, I felt it — a shadow watching, waiting. And when I glanced up, I saw him. Alexander Carter. Seated calmly at a corner table, a newspaper in one hand, coffee untouched in front of him, as though he belonged in every space I entered. His eyes lifted, catching mine, and a faint curve touched his lips. Three days, his gaze seemed to remind me. But in that moment, I realized something chilling. He wasn't giving me three days. He was taking them from me, piece by piece, until there was nothing left. ---