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.

19.06

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 No

hospital bills, diapers, and baby

to

further, but at that moment, a flaming beam

“Ah!”

stepped back,

forward was

“Hadley! Escape now!”

“No!”

she couldn’t consider leaving Breaking

“Ah!”

blast of wind propelled the fire closer to her. Turning swiftly, Hadley felt the flames lick at her lower back, eliciting a sharp wince of

“Hadley!”

yanked her to

fine.” Hadley dismissed his concern with a shake of her head, even as coughs wracked

“Let’s go, now!”

her neighbor pleaded,

“But…”

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

forcibly by her neighbor, Hadley managed

seared Hadley’s back, and she had ed to retrieve her savings. Powerless, she

was she to

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19:06

O

<

“Ah!”

struck her, causing Hadley to

matter? Are

formed around

“She’s having her baby!”

to get her to a

“Ah!”

“Stay strong!”

on a delivery table. She withstood a harrowing and dangerous labor for more than ten

she delivered her

and tears

Here was her child…

Her own family…

wasn’t alone in the world any

outrage of the moment, she

consciousness.

held her infant close, her

nurse, empathetic in her demeanor, was nearby, observing Hadley. She had come to discuss the outstanding hospital bills. Hadley had managed to

her head, at a

felt utterly defeated, with nothing left

by compassion and noting Hadley’s youth, assumed she had

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+4

x+

19:06

ок

an uncaring

perhaps friends, who could assist you? Call them the nurse gently suggested, and then moved away, careful not

to

She had no

and could not ignore her obligations,

bag, she retrieved

She called Eric.

phone echoed

call

“Eric…”

“Hello?”

was Linda’s voice that

Eric? He’s unavailable at the moment. But feel free to talk to me,” Linda continued, her voice carrying a hint

truly offer

Linda harbor resentment

however, Hadley had no room for such

non–existent

then said, “I was wondering if he might…

framed her request carefully, not as

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