"I said don't."
He stops, but his jaw tightens. I can see the shift happening—desperation giving way to anger. The same anger I saw flashes of during our relationship, usually when he was drunk and I'd question him about money or his late nights.
"You think you're better off with him?" Adrian's voice takes on an edge. "With Dante Vitale? You think he actually cares about you?"
"I think he's honest about what he wants. Which is more than I can say for you."
"Honest?" He laughs, looking even more unhinged. "He bought you, Bianca. For the love of God, you're property to him. A transaction. At least with me, you were?—"
"What? Lied to? Used? Treated like a backup plan?" I shake my head. "You're right. Being with you was so much better."
His face flushes at my sarcasm. "You're acting like you're some kind of victim, but you're not exactly innocent, are you?"
My blood runs cold.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means Dante doesn't know the real you." His smile is cruel now, all pretense of regret gone. "Maybe I should tell him what he bought."
The room tilts.
No.
No, no, no?—
"I don't know what you're talking about." My voice sounds distant, like it's coming from underwater.
"Yes, you do." He moves closer, emboldened by my fear. "Did you tell him? About what you did before we met? About how you really survived?"
My grip on the phone is so tight my knuckles are white.
"That was different. I did what I had to do."
"Did you? Because from where I'm standing, you have no room to judge me." He leans against a desk, casual now. "What if I tell him the truth? Think he'd still want you representing him to his family?"
Terror claws up my throat.
This is what I've been terrified of since the moment I started teaching. That someone would find out. That my past would catch up to me and destroy everything I've built.
I did what I had to do to keep Mom alive. To keep us fed. To survive.
But no one cares about context. They just see what you did. Not why.
And if this gets out—if the school board finds out, if the parents find out—I'll lose my job. I'll lose the one good thing I have left.
And Mom... God, if Mom ever found out what I did to pay for her treatment, it would kill her faster than the cancer.
"You wouldn't," I say, but my voice shakes.
"Wouldn't I?" Adrian straightens. "Maybe Dante Vitale would be interested to know the truth about his new girlfriend. Maybe he'd even pay me for the information."
"He'll kill you." The words come out flat, certain. "If you go near him with this, he'll kill you."
"Maybe. But at least I'd take you down with me." He heads for the door, pauses with his hand on the knob. "Think about that. You want me gone? You want me to keep my mouth shut? Then help me. Otherwise, everyone finds out who you really are."
Then he’s gone and the door clicks shut.
And I'm alone in my classroom, surrounded by alphabet posters and children's artwork, with the weight of my past pressing down on my chest like concrete.
