Page 11 of Whispered Desire

Like it's some kind of recompense for saving his life.

Maybe it is.

The transaction looks legitimate, and based on my fifteen minutes on this website, he certainly has the money to spare. Blackchapel Inc. is an internationally renowned billion dollar company.

Perhaps this is Mathias’s way of making us square. Of subtly letting me know that our connection is severed. That there won’t be repercussions for inserting myself into his dangerous life.

Bailey’s cat slinks between my legs with a plaintive meow. No help at all. “Not now, Pretty Kitty. I’m in the middle of a minor freak out.”

I don't plan on blowing a million dollars in the next month, but what if I relieve part of the burden on my shoulders by paying off my student loans, and then it comes out that there was a mistake, and Mathias wants the money back?

I don't have twenty grand lying around. That's why I still have the freaking loans.

You can try calling him.There's a number listed on the site below the address of the company headquarters. It probably goes straight to a receptionist who has never even met her boss's boss's boss.

Maybe if I leave a paper trail confirming the deposit’s veracity…

Even if he doesn't respond, it'll prove that I tried to fix the error but was ignored, taking the blame off me if anything goes awry in the future.

As the best plan I can come up with, I draft an email to the corporate address listed, along with a personal one to Mathias. First initial, last name, atblackchapelinc.comseems to be their email formula.

Fingers crossed he receives a copy of the message.

With that done, I immediately head over to the student loan site and pay off the $20,000 before chickening out. Athank youconfirmation appears on the screen.

And just like that, I'm debt-free.

Excitement fights for supremacy—a million dollars can do a lot for a person. But any emotion lately has been hard to hold on to.

Waking up in that Parisian hospital alone, save Mathias. Receiving a cold welcome on my visit home. Dealing with Bailey’s unchanging attitude. It’s what I feared would happen before the trip, which is nothing.

Nothing’s changed.

Nothing will ever change.

Numbness weaves around me again to dull the sensation of everything else when the front door bangs against the entry wall before slamming shut.

Bailey’s home.

Tucking my phone in my pocket, I walk out to the living room with Pretty Kitty hot on my heels, still whining for food because she’s always a starving little gremlin. A cat and two dogs—Bailey’s trio of pets that have also fallen under my care.

“Bad day at work?” It’s a loose term for Bailey’s current delivery driver position since she barely puts in the effort to earn much from the gig. For the amount of time she works each week, it’s better classified as a hobby versus a part-time job.

“It's always a bad day.” She stomps around the kitchen like an angry rhino before grabbing one of my Gatorades from the fridge.

I don't bother calling her on it because it would start a fight. One she's itching to have with her obvious attitude.

Sighing, I rub a hand over the tightness in my chest. Every day is a fight with her, and it wears on my psyche.Woreon my psyche.

These days I feel like I’ve finally broken.

Bailey. My family. They finally won.

But my current situation could soon be a distant memory. Because I have enough money to get out. Disappear from all of this.

You don't have to stay here.A voice sing-songs in my brain.You don't have to live this way.

Then a whisper of defiance.

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