“Late,” he repeats, and there’s a small crease between his brows. “You left this early?”
“I had to,” I say.
My throat tightens around the next part, but it slides out anyway, like my brain is grabbing the nearest excuse and clinging to it. “I had an appointment at the bank.”
He goes still for a second.
I feel it, even without looking. The shift in him. The tiny change in the air when you say the wrong word.
Bank.
Loan.
Surgery.
The way those things have been circling us for months, like a storm that won’t move on.
Dad’s voice softens, and that makes it worse. “Erica, you don’t have to keep doing that. We’ve been over this.”
I swallow. “I know.”
He pushes off the counter, coming closer, and I can feel him trying not to lean too much on anything. “They’re not going to suddenly decide we’re worth the risk,” he says. “Don’t spend your mornings begging strangers to pretend to care.”
My chest squeezes hard enough that it hurts.
I turn the heat down under the pot. I grab a ladle and lift it, letting the broth fall back in slow ribbons so I have something to do.
“Actually,” I say, forcing the word out, “I spoke with a new loan officer this morning.”
Dad’s eyes narrow. “A new—”
“And…” My voice catches. I clear my throat. “And I got it.”
His face doesn’t change at first.
Then his eyes widen.
“Erica,” he says, like he doesn’t want to believe it. Like belief is dangerous.
“I got the loan,” I repeat, and the lie swells bigger in my chest, pressing against my ribs. “Approved. Signed. Done.”
His mouth opens, then closes.
He grips the edge of the counter, and I see his knuckles go pale for a second.
“Why now?” he asks quietly. “They’ve been denying us. Over and over.”
My heart bangs against my sternum.
Because I stood on a stage and let men with money decide what I’m worth.
Because I let my body become a bargaining chip.
Because seventy thousand dollars is sitting in my entryway, and I can’t tell you where it came from.
“Because I had proof,” I say instead, letting the lie grow because it has to.
His eyes stay locked on me. Not suspicious. Not yet. Just… searching.
