Chapter 4 She Had No Right To Give Up

“Really?”

Eric’s smile was cold, dripping with scorn.

“So, this is about money, isn’t it? Not even a month has passed. What’s the hurry? Rest assured, you’ll receive your due. Just be patient. Surely, you don’t think we’d let you go hungry?”

He paused briefly, his tone becoming terse. “Avoid calling me unless it’s urgent. I’ll get in touch if there’s any need.”

With those final words, the conversation abruptly ceased.

Clasping the phone tightly, Hadley’s shock was evident.

To such an extent, Eric despised her.

“Absurd.”

With a frail chuckle, Hadley’s face turned ashen. Requesting money from him had left her feeling profoundly demeaned.

In silence, she lifted her hand to her unchanged stomach, closed her eyes, and allowed tears to escape quietly.

Eight months had passed.

Hadley was sleeping peacefully in her modest room, her pregnant belly prominently displayed.

The arrival of her child was approaching. Despite the doctor’s recommendation for an early hospitalization due to the baby’s backside position, Hadley merely smiled and

remained silent.

Her pockets were empty.

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Chapter 4 She Had No Right To Give Up

Eight months earlier, following that call with Eric, he had spewed nothing but cruelty.

Yet, the financial support he promised never materialized.

Hadley had drained her savings. With no way to afford her apartment anymore, she ended up in a run–down neighborhood.

She never reached out to him for financial help again.

The thought of being labeled a parasite was unbearable.

After moving, Hadley managed to secure some part–time work, balancing it with her

studies.

Her earnings were limited, but through careful budgeting, she made enough to sustain herself.

As she drifted in sleep, the night erupted with cries of alarm.

“Fire!”

The shout pierced the air.

“Escape!”

Roused abruptly, Hadley leaped from her bed and threw open her door to a scene of utter chaos. Smoke engulfed the corridor as flames danced violently.

Her complexion drained of color in an instant.

“Hadley!”

Her neighbor, a fellow student, was frantic with worry as he caught sight of her.

“Why haven’t you fled? It’s a fire! Get out now!”

“Right, got it!”

In a rush, Hadley spun around to snatch her backpack.

She moved to venture deeper into her apartment, but her neighbor’s firm grip stopped her. “Are you out of your mind? Why are you heading back in? Leave immediately!”

“I must!”

Hadley’s frustration was clear as she stamped her foot.

Inside, her savings lay–every single penny she had painstakingly gathered for her baby’s

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4 She Had

bills, diapers,

to

that moment, a flaming beam from the

“Ah!”

stepped back, narrowly avoiding

was

“Hadley! Escape now!”

“No!”

couldn’t consider leaving Breaking

“Ah!”

fire closer to her. Turning swiftly, Hadley felt the flames lick at her lower

“Hadley!”

and yanked her to safety. “Are

her head, even as coughs wracked her body, spurred by the engulfing

“Let’s go, now!”

arm, her neighbor pleaded, “You can’t return

“But…”

child! The smoke alone could kill you both! If you go back, it might cost both your

neighbor, Hadley managed to flee

her savings. Powerless, she watched as her

she

31.0%

19:06

O

<

“Ah!”

sudden, intense pain struck her, causing

the matter? Are

crowd formed

“She’s having her baby!”

ambulance! We need to get her to a

“Ah!”

“Stay strong!”

Hadley was transported to the hospital and positioned on a delivery table. She withstood a harrowing and dangerous labor for

she delivered her

newborn in her arms, and tears welled

Here was her child…

Her own family…

wasn’t alone in the world

the outrage of the moment,

consciousness.

infant close, her gaze fixed

She had come to discuss the outstanding hospital bills. Hadley had managed to pay a fraction, yet it was far from

Hadley lowered her head, at a loss

felt utterly defeated, with nothing left

and noting Hadley’s youth, assumed

47.6%

+4

x+

19:06

ок

by an uncaring

you? Call them the nurse gently suggested, and then moved

began to brim with

She

and could not

bag, she retrieved

She called Eric.

phone echoed unanswered

the call was

“Eric…”

“Hello?”

was Linda’s voice that responded, smooth and slightly

feel free to

truly

Linda harbor resentment toward

Hadley had no

non–existent

pride, Hadley hesitated, and then said, “I was wondering if

framed her request carefully, not as charity but

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