Page 1 of Confusing Cade
CHAPTER ONE
BELLA
In the end, it only took a text message to change my life. One. That was it.
Nothing, really. Just a few simple words on the glowing screen of my ancient iPhone, the letters clear, underneath the long diagonal crack in the glass. A few bits and bytes compressed into a message from my sister, Lilly, at 7:23 PM.
Did you check your email? They said this semester’s tuition payment bounced...
I gulped and pushed the phone across my worn kitchen table.Ugh. They know.
After a few breaths, I got up from the chair, crossed the room to the sink, and filled a plastic cup with water. My heart raced as I flipped through my options. I didn’t have many. In fact, not any.Way to go, Bella.The money was gone, and most of it hadbeengone for almost six months. We were down to the last few thousand, some commercial real estate that hadn’t found a buyer, some boxes of mementos in storage across town, and the remains of my mother’s jewelry, which I stored in a fireproof safe in my bedroom closet. No matter what, I wouldn’t sell that. Ever.
Lilly will never forgive me if I do.
But also? I couldn’t let her down again. She didn’t deserve it. With an exhausted sigh, I braced myself against the counter andwilled my heart rate to slow as it throbbed against my rib cage and echoed in my ears. There still had to besomethingI could do, some last-minute option I could find. An extra job here, some good luck there...
People made more with less, didn’t they?
But less probably meant altering Lilly’s life irreparably by pulling her out of the school she loved and throwing her into a new one with only two years to go until graduation. And that would simply be... wrong. Lilly was thriving. She was doing better in every high school class than I ever had. She had a real chance at a full ride to college, or at least some substantial scholarships. It showed in her hard work how much she wanted them too. I wouldn’t let her dream become another nightmare.
Not on my watch.
I retrieved my phone from the table and opened the email app. Seventy-five unread emails stared back at me. I doomscrolled through ads, newsletters, and junk, my desperation growing as I looked for any reply to some of the résumés I’d sent out in the last week, any job interview requests, any sign of hope, anything I could grab onto as a tidal wave of anxiety threatened to envelop me.
There was nothing. No lifeboat.
And at the end of the stack was the follow-up email from Parkview Academy in Wessex, Massachusetts. Yes, the check had bounced. Yes, this semester’s payment was overdue. No, they couldn’t wait any longer. Call the office, please...
I studied the message for a long time. $20,596.82.Ouch.Tuition, school fees, uniforms, and the like. Not nearly as much as most East Coast boarding schools, but still not cheap either. And while I knew Parkview had need-based financial aid for students, admitting that we needed it, that Lilly didn’t have the means felt so painful, so degrading. We were Morettis, for God’s sake, and that still meant something.
Right?
Once, Moretti had been one of the most recognizable names in the country. With my great-grandfather at the helm of a railroad empire, my grandfather had used his capital to turn our name into a South Florida real estate dynasty. Morettis entertained ambassadors and built mansions that turned into museums. One or two married minor European royalty. But that was a long time ago.
So much for generational wealth.
I headed to my bedroom, my shoulders sagging. How long could I keep swimming? I was tired. So very tired. I took the white envelope holding my emergency Visa credit card from the desk drawer. I hadn’t used this account in years, and the balance was zero, but the fifty-thousand-dollar credit line had an eye-watering twenty-nine percent interest rate. Still, if there was ever a time to use it, it was now.
Here goes nothing.
Back at the kitchen table, I opened the school payment link in the email and typed in the information. I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat. I didn’t like putting a large amount like this on the card, but it was a fast and reliable way to make sure Lilly didn’t have to deal with the fallout of another Moretti mess. Sure, the balance would come due before I knew it, and the monthly payments would be significant.
I’d have to dig deep.
The charge went through without a hitch, and I exhaled when the confirmation email landed in my inbox. One fire contained. Barely. I grabbed the phone en route to the bedroom, collapsing onto the creaky queen-size bed. The mattress groaned and sagged under me, despite my slight frame. I lay face down, praying my mind would quiet its racing thoughts.I can get out of this hole. I am strong. I am resilient. I won’t let this sink me.
Then my phone buzzed. Kyra, checking in on me. I read her message and let out another heavy sigh. She’d reached out a few times over the past two months, suggesting drinks or dinner, but I’d dodged her. If we talked, she’d see right through me, and I wasn’t ready for her sharp, probing questions.
Still, Kyra wasalsomy best friend and had been loyal despite the turmoil of the last few years.
I fumbled with my phone, the screen’s harsh light cutting through the gloom of my cluttered room and jabbed at the button next to Kyra’s name. Her voice pushed through the speaker. “Hey, oh my God, I’ve been losing my mind. You didn’t answer my texts, and... is something going on?”
Kyra’s urgency wrapped around me like a too-tight hug, and I tried to respond. I wanted to brush it off with anI’m fine, but the words felt unnatural, even as they formed in my mouth. I pressed my lips shut and swallowed the lie I’d never be able to sell to her.
“You’re right. I’m crashing out. The payment bounced for Lilly’s tuition,” I said instead.
Kyra sucked in a breath so loud it crackled through the phone, making me wince. “You’re kidding, right? No, I know you, and you’renotkidding.”
