Page 43 of The Pakhan's Secret Baby

Armed men destroyed my apartment and threatened to kill us.

The refund won't come fast enough to save us. I am not okay and I don't pretend to be.

I take a tissue and wipe my face, ignoring her questions. There's nothing she can do anyway and telling her would just put her at risk too. "Just process the cancellation, please."

She nods and types for a few minutes while I sit there trying to pull myself together.

When she finishes she prints a confirmation sheet and slides it across the desk for me to sign.

I sign it and push it back without reading it.

Shame is so heavy in my chest it feels suffocating. Batya will be so disappointed, especially if this money comes too late. It's already too little.

"I'm sorry about your situation," she says as I stand up. "If you're ever in a position to re-enroll, your credits will transfer."

I thank her sadly, but walk out knowing I won't be back.

Whether I'm dead or just destitute somewhere raising my son on my own, I'll never be able to afford this school again.

I scrimped and saved for the first classes and Batya paid for the successive ones, probably with stolen money, and now that dream is dead.

The hallway's empty as I take the stairs down and push through the front door into the cold.

The wind cuts right through my coat and I pull my hood tighter as I dig my phone out and hold the power button.

The screen lights up and I wait for it to boot while I walk toward the street, watching the loading bar crawl across the screen.

When it loads, the notifications come in one after another.

I've got four missed calls from Irina, two voicemails and a text that just says CALL ME NOW in all caps.

My chest tightens and I tap her name to call back. I've never had any issues with her watching Lex, but she sure knows how to get my attention.

I'm panicked as the line rings once before another call comes in over it, and I see Irina's number flash on the screen again.

I swipe to answer.

"Irina, I'm sorry, my phone was off. What's?—"

"Emory, listen to me." She's breathless and frantic. "Someone came to the apartment. A man. He had men with him and they had guns and he took Lex."

I stop walking, watching traffic pass on the street at the end of the courtyard. She's not making sense. "What do you mean he took Lex? Who took him?" He couldn't...

"He said his name was Rashid Krasnov. He left his business card, Em."

Everything pauses around me as if suspended in time.

The traffic noise, the wind, my own breathing.

All of it just stops, and the phone feels like it weighs a hundred pounds in my hand.

"He said to give it to you so you'd know where Lex is. Emory, Remmy wanted to fight him but there were too many of them and they had guns pointed at us. I'm so sorry. I tried to stop him but I couldn't?—"

Her voice keeps going but the words stop making sense.

My knees buckle and I grab a nearby bench to keep from going down on the concrete.

Rashid has my son.