4:
I was out for three days.
The nurse said the maid found me and sent
me to the hospital
く
She also said that I needed to pay up as soon
as possible.
My leg was bandaged, but I was worried.
The treatment and the scar removal, plus the
money for school..
Then there was Michael.
Until a strange number called.
“Hi, is this Hayley Jones? You know the house
your parents left you?”
The house had burned down.
It wasn’t worth anything.
I listened anyway.
<
Then, Michael texted me.
I froze.
“How could you? The maid said there was
blood everywhere. Said you nearly died. The
hospital gave you gallons of blood. But guess
what? I didn’t see a drop!”
“Lynn said not to blame you for what
happened, but now you and the maid think it’s
okay to lie to me. Do you really think it’s okay
to act like that?!”
“You faked this? Well, I’m going to use this as
an excuse to get you kicked out. You’ve been
playing around and not acting in a
appropriate manner, so I’m going to put a
stop to it here.”
“I wish I never brought you home!”
I texted back: “I don’t know what you’re
talking about! I didn’t lie! I cut myself! There
was blood! The maid must have cleaned it!
Why are you doing this?”
No response.
Then my guidance counselor called: “Hayley,
your guardian said you had an accident and
can’t go to college anymore. Is that true? Do
you know what the next steps in dealing with
your current situation?”
I’d liked him, but I would never do something
like that.
Why did he think he could do this to me?
All the love I had for him vanished.
I laid in the hospital for a week, nobody
asking about me or looking after me.
When I got out, I went back to the house to
get my stuff.
The code had changed.
I tried a few times.
No luck.
I knocked for a long time.
Nobody answered.
All my things were inside.
<
I hobbled to the security booth.
The guard looked shocked. “Hayley! What
happened to you?”
He cared more than Michael.
I forced a smile. “I fell. Do you know where
my uncle is?”
“He went on vacation a few days ago with his
family! Didn’t you go?”
I looked at him, laughed, and shook my head.
Family…
He’d changed the code. He really did hate
- me.
<
I stared at the house for a long time.
Then, I wrote a note and stuck it on the door:
“Uncle Michael, thanks for everything. I’ll pay
you back. We are strangers now, just like you
wanted.”
I deleted his number and Lynn’s.
Then, I sent him the money back.
I would pay him back for the things he had
given me.
I got my ID, bank card, passport, and visa.
Then, I left town.
Michael Thompson, you are not my uncle or
my love.
I’m forging my own path…
As I got on the plane, a local number called.
I knew who it was. I didn’t want to answer.
It hung up and called back.
I took a breath and answered.
There was anger in his voice. “Hayley! Where
are you?”
Chapter 2
I didn’t say anything.
He made an annoyed “tch” sound.
Then, the phone hit the ground, cutting the
call
I didn’t know what he was so pissed about, I
blocked the number and got on the plane.
Dragging my suitcase through the college
gates, I saw him, Michael, standing there.
Tall and lean, he cast a long shadow.
Black coat, broad shoulders, handsome face.
He looked less like a businessman, more like
a model on a runway.
I imagined Lynn beside him and had to admit,
they looked good together.
I froze. Michael came to me.
He was annoyed. “Why’d you run off to
Europe?”
I took a step back. “Studying abroad has always been my dream.”
I loved to dance, and I’d always wanted to
study overseas.
But Michael had said I could dance here.
He promised he would always take care of
- me.
I was an idiot, I stayed, and now I was here to
fix my mistakes.
Michael seemed caught off guard, he said
nothing.
I sighed. “You’re trying to get me expelled.
What’s the point of staying?”
“You’re the one who wants to be done with
me.”
Michael almost laughed. He grabbed my arm.
“You think I want you kicked out? And when
did I say I wanted to break up?”
“You left a note and ran! I raised you all these
years!”
“If you hadn’t hurt Lynn, I wouldn’t have done
that! I just wanted to teach you a lesson.”
People were staring.
I looked at him. “I’m thankful for you,
everything you’ve done for me.
“I’ll pay you back the money. Your actions
made me realize who we are to each other.”
<
“I won’t have these crazy feelings. I won’t
bother you. Lynn got hurt because of me. I’m
sorry. But don’t worry, I won’t do anything to
Lynn. I want to chase my dreams.”
Michael squeezed my arm. “Chase your
dreams? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Wasn’t staying with me your only dream?
How did you change your mind?”
He sounded like a jilted lover.
We weren’t anything.
He didn’t even adopt me legally. He just
brought me to his house and said he was
taking me in.
I pulled away. “Mr. Thompson, you don’t get
it.”
“We aren’t anything. You’re not my uncle, and
I’m not your niece. We don’t have blood.”
His face went white.
I stepped back. He tried to grab me, but his
phone rang.
Lynn’s voice.
She said it was important.
Michael looked at me, then left. “We’ll finish
this later.”
My phone buzzed with a message.
Another number I didn’t know.
<
Rich people and their burner phones…
It said, “I know you love Michael. Please let
him go. I’m pregnant.”
“He’s your uncle. It’s wrong. Your dead
parents wouldn’t want you to be so
shameless.”
I stared at the ultrasound.
She was going to be a mom, but she used my
dead parents as a weapon.
I blocked the number.
She texted from another one.
“Just stay overseas.”
<
I turned off my phone.
Before I left, I saw the footage.
She set the knife where I would trip over it.
She mentioned my parents.
She knew everything.
Was it an accident?
I looked at the scar and sent the story to a
tabloid.
She was pregnant and getting married.
This wouldn’t hurt a normal person, but Lynn
was a socialite.
<
It would affect the family business.
I couldn’t make her feel the way I felt.
I could make her lose money.
