Chapter 4

It was pouring rain outside.

Fiona helped me into her car, slammed her foot on the gas, and sped toward the municipal hospital.

The heater was blasting, but I was still shivering violently, my body freezing.

The wound on my left shoulder had gone completely numb.

I gripped the check like it was my sister’s very last breath.

"Ethan, are you insane? She wanted to use you as a dartboard and you just let her?" Fiona yelled as she drove, her voice trembling with suppressed tears.

I stared out the window at the blurred city lights.

"Fiona, I had no choice."

"The hospital gave me a final ultimatum. If I didn't pay the overdue bills tonight, they would take Lily off the ventilator."

"My mother already died in prison. I can't lose Lily too."

Fiona slammed her hand against the steering wheel, her eyes rimmed with red.

"I told you I was getting the money together! Why won't you just take my money?!"

"Because I can never pay you back," I said softly.

Three years ago, when the Reed family went bankrupt and my mother was imprisoned, everyone avoided me like the plague.

Only Fiona, a poor student I had once sponsored who was now a brilliant elite lawyer, braved Serena’s heavy suppression to help me in any way she could.

I already owed her far too much.

The car screeched to a halt in front of the hospital lobby.

I pushed the door open and stumbled inside.

"Nurse! I have the money! One million! Set up my sister's surgery right now!"

I rushed to the billing window and slammed the blood-stained check against the glass.

The night nurse took one look at the check, then at my bloody clothes, and gasped in shock.

She quickly took the check to verify it.

A few minutes later, she walked back, her expression incredibly grim.

"Mr. Reed... this check has been frozen."

My brain went completely blank.

"What? That's impossible! That's a Vance Corporation corporate check!"

"The bank just notified us. The issuer has canceled the payment order," the nurse said, looking at me with pity.

Serena Vance.

It was her.

She really was never going to let me go.

All the strength left my body in an instant. I slid down the cold wall, collapsing onto the floor.

"Ethan!" Fiona rushed over to support me.

I grabbed Fiona’s arm, my teeth clattering.

"Fiona... she stopped the payment... she stopped the check..."

"What about Lily? What is going to happen to Lily?!"

Just then, my phone buzzed.

It was a voice message on Snapchat from Christian.

With trembling fingers, I tapped it.

"Ethan, Serena says if you want the money, crawl back to the Vance mansion."

"Start from the front gates, and beg on your knees all the way to the living room."

"If you beg loud enough, she’ll release the million dollars immediately."

In the background of the voice message, I could hear Serena’s cold, uncaring chuckle.

I gripped my phone so hard my knuckles turned white.

"Ethan, don't go! I'll call some people right now to get a loan!" Fiona tried to snatch the phone from my hand.

I pushed her away gently and stood up, leaning against the wall.

"There's no time."

"Fiona, watch over Lily for me."

I turned and ran straight into the pouring rain.