Love's Redemption (Chris and Maddie)

Chapter 646

Demi's call came in while I was in the bathroom, wiping Ron's splash attack off my face.

"Keira." Her voice was flat, almost hollow-so unlike the Demi I used to know. She used to talk like every sentence was lit with fireworks, sharp and alive. Now? That fire was gone.

I didn't know every detail of what happened, but her suicide attempt had left a mark. She wasn't the same, and it broke my heart to hear it.

"If you didn't call me soon, I was about to come hunt you down myself," I said, trying to inject some levity into my tone.

"Don't come. I'm fine," she cut in, her tone shaky.

I tossed the crumpled paper towel in the trash and leaned against the sink. "Fine? Sure, because that sounded convincing. Spill, Demi What's going on?"

She went quiet for so long I thought the call dropped. Then, finally, her voice cracked through the silence. "I have nothing left. Nothing And now I'm stuck with almost $500,000 in debt."

Wayne had mentioned her boyfriend before, so the pieces clicked fast-she'd been played. Scammed by someone she trusted.

I gritted my teeth. "And your grand solution was to kill yourself? Is that what your life is worth-half a million

• dollars?"

payday loans... and loan sharks. When I couldn't pay, they started harassing

second I asked, it clicked-I smashed my phone back then. Maybe she had tried to reach me. Maybe

I'd picked up, if I'd been there to loan her the money, maybe she wouldn't have tried to end her

about how far she'd fled, I asked, "So,

I wasn't buying it. Lindale? With no connections and only a high school diploma?

or $4,000 a month-which was a stretch-that was barely $36,000 to $48,000 a year. Half a million in debt? That'd take her ten years. And that's if she didn't spend a dime on herself. That kind of endless

survive the stress of her being so far

before I could overthink it. "Work for me. I'll pay you $500,000 upfront as an advance on your salary." As soon as I said it, I

the people you love

answer hit me like a

I

said, her voice shaking "I can't just take yours to pay it off. And

asking for repayment, Demi! There's no deadline, no pressure. Just let me help

final. I'm not doing anything stupid again.

but she wouldn't