from Liam, the fifty thousand dollars feeling both like a lifeline and a lead weight. Ev

dictated by a machine. He looked so small in the big hospital bed, a shadow of the strong, loving man who had raised me. Y

m. He was beaming with pride, his arm around my shoulders. "You did it, Chloe," he'd said, his voice thick with emotion. "You build dre

p of the heart monitor was the only sound. I sat by hi

money. I'm going to get you the surgery. You're

d in, his face grave. He held a clipboard, and

id softly. "We

tle but firm. "Your father' s condition... it's more aggressive than we thought. The fifty thousand will cover the initial procedure, but his lo

t wasn't a solution, it was just a delay. A stay of execution. The hope that had been a tin

" I stammered, the words g

aid, his eyes finally me

I felt like I was going to be sick. This was Liam's game. He knew. He mus

ay, a familiar voice c

a sister. Her face was a welcome sight in this sea of despair, but seeing the c

t are you d

" she said, wrapping me in a hug that I de

nk." I told her everything. About Liam, the fifty thousand

om shock to pure rage. "That bastard," she

" I said, my voice hollow. "I was young and stupid,

t. "No, Chloe. It's not about that. You h

lking about?" I

cture school? The one that won you the nationa

wning achievement, the design that

that was about to go bankrupt right before he

ck feeling growing in

your design was just good. You won because the prize money was huge. You sold the rights to your award-winning design, yo

done it, yes. I had loved him then, believed in him. I thought he was a genius who just nee

knew," I

it. You broke up with him afterward because you couldn't stand the guilt of your secret, and you were exhausted from supporting him. You tol

as based on a complete misunderstanding, a lie I had allowed to fester. He was punishing me for a crime I didn't commit, while being completely ignorant of the gift I had