I stopped pacing and pressed my palms to my eyes.
There was only one place I made real money. Only one job that paid enough to keep me afloat. Only one person who might—might—be able to help if things got desperate.
Hector.
The thought made my stomach twist. He didn’t owe me anything. He barely tolerated me. And after today’s mishap, he probably wanted me gone.
But Lily…
Lily needed me.
And Hector would do anything for her.
I hated myself for even thinking about it. For considering using a child’s progress as leverage. But I wasn’t planning to manipulate him. I wasn’t planning to ask for anything. I just needed to keep my job. To stay employed long enough to figure out something else.
I took a shaky breath and grabbed my phone. The screen lit up, cracked lines spiderwebbing across Delia’s contact photo. My thumb hovered over her name. I wanted to call her. To tell her everything. To let someone else carry the weight for five minutes.
But I couldn’t. Not yet.
Instead, I opened my banking app. The numbers glared back at me, unforgiving. I closed it quickly before I could spiral again.
I changed into dry clothes and made myself a cup of tea with the last of the tea bags. It tasted like cardboard, but it was warm. I wrapped my hands around the mug and sat on the couch, staring at the wall.
The rain outside softened to a gentle patter. Cars passed on the street below. Somewhere in the building, someone was cooking onions. Life kept moving, indifferent to the fact that mine had just imploded.
I thought about Lily’s drawing—the ballerina with stars. The way she’d shifted closer to me on the couch. The tiny, fragile trust she’d given me.
I thought about Hector standing in the doorway, looking at his daughter like she was the only thing tethering him to the world. The pain on his face. The exhaustion. The weight he carried alone.
For a moment, I wondered what it would be like to tell him the truth. To say,I’m drowning. I’m scared. I need help.
But that wasn’t who we were. That wasn’t who he was. And I wasn’t someone who asked for help. Not anymore.
I finished my tea and set the mug down. My hands were steadier now. My breathing calmer. The fear was still there, coiled tight in my chest, but I could move again. Think again.
Tomorrow, I would go to work. I would apologize. I would keep my head down and do my job. I would be exactly what Hector needed me to be: consistent, reliable, unproblematic.
And then I would figure out the rest.
Because I had to.
Because Colin’s life depended on it. Because failure wasn’t an option.
I lay down on the couch, pulling a blanket over myself. The springs creaked beneath me, familiar and worn. I stared at the ceiling until my eyes grew heavy.
The last thing I thought before sleep dragged me under was Lily’s voice all those months ago, soft and small, whisperingHurray.
A reminder that even in the darkest moments, something good could still break through.
Even if it didn’t feel like it tonight.
CHAPTER 4
Sarah
The tray slippedin my hands for the third time in an hour.
I caught it before the glasses crashed, but barely. Water sloshed over the rim and soaked into my sleeve. The businessman at table twelve didn’t even look up from his phone, didn’t notice how close he’d come to wearing his entire order.
