‘I swear I never loved Jackson, and I never will. Thaddeus Winfield, you're the only one in my heart.’
The moment I heard my own voice,
every drop of blood in me turned to ice.
‘This... this recording, how did you get it...?!’
My voice shook.
Jackson stared at me, smiling like a man who'd lost his mind.
‘Camila, so this is the thing you swore you never did to me?!’
‘On the SATs, I turned in a blank answer sheet for one whole section, just so I'd end up at the same college as you.’
‘After we started working, that sicko boss of yours tried to take advantage of you, and I beat him into the hospital to get even for you. I got locked up a month over it, and lost the best job offer I ever had.’
‘Eight years together, I handed you every paycheck, just so I could earn faster and give you a home.’
‘And it turns out you never loved me?! It was my best friend in your heart the whole time?! Well done. Really.’
Jackson's eyes were bloodshot, his chest heaving with rage.
‘But I'm pathetic. I can't stop loving you!’
‘I couldn't help it! All I could do was marry you! And then do everything I could to grind you down! Only that way could I feel a little better!’
‘Camila, what you owe me, you'll spend your whole life paying back!’
‘For the rest of your life, I want you to taste that heartbreak every single day!’
I stumbled backward, unable to get out a single word.
Three years ago, Jackson's mother had been critically ill and needed a heart transplant right away.
A matching donor heart was found,
but even after we emptied every last dollar of our savings, we were still five hundred thousand dollars short.
At the worst of it, Jackson's best friend, Thaddeus, came to me.
He slapped a bank card down in front of me,
looked at me, one corner of his mouth curling into a strange smile.
‘Camila, I've been in love with you for four years, and you wouldn't so much as give me a second glance.’
‘Today, all you have to do is admit it to my face, that you don't love Jackson and never will, and say you love me, and this five hundred thousand is yours.’
‘Not only that, I'll make sure Jackson's mother gets the best treatment there is.’
‘But one condition. No third person can ever know about this.’
One sentence, one life.
I said it without a moment's thought.
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine
that every gift fate hands you comes with a hidden price tag,
and whatever you came up short on before,
you always have to pay back in the end.
‘Camila, explain yourself!’
Faced with Jackson's demand, I couldn't force out a single word.
His mother was still in the hospital, receiving the best treatment plan Thaddeus had paid for...
‘Heh...’
A bitter laugh escaped Jackson as he turned and walked away, despair filling his eyes.
He'd just reached the living room when the front door was pushed open from outside.
My stepsister stood in the doorway, dragging a suitcase, her belly swollen large.
Stepsister, I called her,
but enemy would be the more accurate word.
Ten years ago, Naomi Stewart's mother took up with my father,
and just like today,
she showed up outside our door, leading Naomi by the hand.
On that pouring-rain day, my mother ran out of the house in heartbroken pieces, and a truck bore straight down on her and shattered her to nothing. She died on the spot.
Looking at Naomi's brows and eyes, the very image of that woman's,
I felt as if a huge hand had lifted my heart and clenched it tight.
‘What are you standing there for?’
Jackson's cold voice sounded behind me.
‘Help your sister bring her things inside.’
Jackson shoved me toward the door.
When I still wouldn't step forward, he spoke, soft and low.
‘Camila, take good care of Naomi. Help her raise the child.’
