Despite the business failure, I had built a network. Outsourced projects started coming in. The profit margins were decent.
I became a machine.
Intense schoolwork and freelance projects blurred together. I woke up working and collapsed into bed working. Even in the shower, my mind raced with data models and code.
My mother, unable to reach me by phone, eventually ambushed me at the school gate. She brought Aunt Lucy as a mediator.
"Isabella, why are you living in a dorm?" Mom's eyes swept over my tired face. "You hate living with other people. Why did you give up your apartment?"
I checked the time on my phone. Twenty minutes until my meeting.
"Because I can't afford rent. The dorm is free aside from utilities."
Her eyes reddened.
Aunt Lucy chimed in. "Isabella, you and your parents need to talk this out..."
"Talk about what?" I snapped. "Aren't I doing exactly what they wanted? I'm avoiding suspicion. Mom, you shouldn't be seen here. People might say I used connections to get into this school, and we wouldn't want to smear Professor Swanson's reputation, would we?"
I brushed past them and ran for the bus.
If I missed this one, I'd have to take a taxi. Until my debt was paid, every penny had to be spent with surgical precision.
A shout rang out.
"Watch out!"
*BANG.*
An electric scooter whipped around a blind corner and slammed into me.
Instinctively, I curled around my laptop bag, taking the brunt of the impact. The pavement rushed up. I rolled.
My laptop was safe.
Fire shot up my left leg. My ankle—twisted. The pain so sharp I couldn't stand.
"Daughter! Are you okay? Don't move!" Mom screamed, rushing over. "I'm calling an ambulance! You—watch where you're going!"
I gritted my teeth against the agony. "Give me the phone first. I need to send the files for the meeting."
My phone had skidded across the ground when I fell. Mom snatched it up before I could reach it.
"At a time like this, you're thinking about work? About money?" She glared at me, trembling with indignation. "Is money more important than your life?!"
She held my phone out of reach and ended the call.
My voice cracked, raw and ragged.
"Because I'm *drowning* in debt! Because my parents would rather throw a lavish banquet for a stranger than lend their own daughter a single cent!"