“I got the money and went looking for you, so happy I could barely think straight. But you were gone.”
“Then the whole school found out you'd been expelled for getting pregnant. Unwed. And I didn't even get an explanation. Joyce, how is that fair to me?”
Lance's fists were clenched so tight his whole body trembled with the effort of holding himself back.
“I'm sorry.” I never raised my head, but I heard him let out a cold, scornful laugh.
“Sorry doesn't fix anything. But karma does. Looking at you now, I feel a whole lot better.”
He tilted my chin up with one finger. “I'm going to give you a chance. Be my mistress. I'll make sure you never have to worry about money again.”
I stared up at him, stunned.
“What? You had the nerve to cheat, but you don't have the nerve to be a side piece?”
His thumb traced slowly across my cheek. “Let me tell you something. I have money. I have power. Women throw themselves at me. They'd kill for this offer.”
“Joyce. Do you want it or not?”
A wad of cotton filled my throat. I couldn't speak, but the tears came anyway.
We stayed like that, locked in a silence neither of us would break, until a nurse's shout cut through it.
“The patient in room two, Mike Simmons, he's gone!”
I shoved Lance aside and ran into the room. The IV line was on the floor. The bed was empty.
My hands shook as I pulled out my phone. A text from my father.
He said: “Joyce, I know you're never coming home. But I raised you. You owe me something for that.”
“Five million dollars. Then I give the kid back.”
Then another message: “This is family business. Calling the police won't help.”
I forced myself to stand straight. The first thought in my head was Lance.
“Lend me five million dollars. Please.”
He looked at me, smiling. “I already gave you a chance.”
I let go of the last scrap of pride I had and walked into Lance's enormous house.
“Can you give me the money first? Mike still has his exam……”
“Joyce, when you were betraying me, you seemed to be having a pretty good time.” Lance raised an eyebrow. “Why play innocent now?”
I bit down on my lower lip and reached out, wrapping my arms around his waist.
“There's only half an hour left. Any later and he won't make it.”
Lance's eyes were ice. “You don't get to negotiate with me right now.”
The moment I closed my eyes and pressed my lips to his, something inside Lance came undone.
He kissed me like he wanted to consume me, urgent and relentless, his mouth everywhere.
“Please……”
“Lance, Mike can't miss his exam.”
Lance stopped. He sat back on the couch and lit a cigarette.
“That bastard means this much to you?”
“Who's his father? Who could possibly be worth you nearly dying to bring him into the world?”
“Answer me!”
Rage burned in Lance's eyes. I bent my knees and knelt in front of him.
“Save Mike first. Please.”
Lance froze. Ash dropped onto his hand and he didn't even feel it. Then he laughed.
“Since he matters so much to you, I want to watch you lose hope.”
He glanced at his watch. “Two forty-five. Too late.”
“Even if he'd made it, that idiot would've come in dead last.”
“Accept it, Joyce. He was never meant to take the SATs.”
I collapsed to the floor. All I could see was Mike's goofy smile. He had a speech disorder, but when it came to English, something just clicked for him.
And the last exam was English. He missed it.
Lance took out his phone and made a call. Mike was brought back to the hospital.
In the car, I asked him: “So you'd already found Mike. You waited on purpose. Until the SATs were over.”
“That's right.” Lance's lips curved into a smile.
“I wanted you to know what it feels like. To want something you'll never have.”
I smiled bitterly, wiped the tears from my face, and walked numbly into the hospital, only to find Mike unconscious.
“The patient has severe anemia and needs a transfusion, but the blood bank doesn't carry his type.”
My lips trembled. “He's Rh-negative?”
The doctor nodded, and my legs gave out beneath me.
Lance Stephens had never given Mike a single day of fatherly love, yet his blood ran through every part of him.
I dropped to my knees in front of Lance. “Please. Get tested for Mike.”
He laughed. “You think some bastard deserves to have my blood in his veins?”
I slammed my forehead against the floor. “I'm begging you. I'll do anything.”
When he didn't answer, I kept bowing, again and again. Lance softened. He reached down to help me up, but his phone rang.
Ina's voice came through the speaker. “Dad, I twisted my ankle. It really hurts.”
“Don't worry, I'm on my way.”
He hung up and pressed the elevator button.
“Lance……”
“Ina's delicate. I need to see her first.”
“You forgot—I have a rare blood type. There's no way your son matches mine. That whole thing just now was me messing with you.”
He touched my hair. “Joyce, I could take care of you. But I won't accept that bastard. If he's gone, it's better for both of us.”
He stepped into the elevator. “We'll talk about us when I get back.”
The doors slid shut, and Lance disappeared in front of me.
I stayed at Mike's side until the monitors started screaming.
I knew then—it was time to end things with Lance for good.
