Chapter 4

4: 4

Maxwell lunged forward, grabbed my wrist, and dropped his voice into a snarl:

"Alice! What kind of garbage are you spouting? Who took out a loan shark deal? Have you lost your mind?"

"I've lost my mind?"

I wrenched my wrist out of his filthy grip.

"Three in the morning yesterday, when you took my phone and pried my eyelids open to scan my face for the loan, you didn't say I'd lost my mind then, did you?"

Carolyn jabbed a finger at my face, her voice all vinegar. "Max already told me all about you. You're just a broke leech who won't stop clinging to him!"

"Now you see he's buying me a place, and you're so jealous you're losing it, so you come here to throw a fit, is that it?"

"Let me tell you, that money is what Max earned himself! Don't go flattering yourself!"

Watching her carry on like that, I almost couldn't keep a straight face.

"He earned it himself?"

I looked at Carolyn with something close to pity. "He makes eight thousand a month and owes five thousand of it to his car loan. What's he going to earn two million with? His kidney?"

"You—"

Carolyn spun toward Maxwell for help. "Max! Look at her!"

Right then the doors of the sales office flew open with a kick.

The bang was loud enough to set the glass humming across the whole lobby.

Five big, thick-set men, arms covered in tattoos, came storming in.

The bald one leading them was carrying a baseball bat.

They barreled straight through, heading right for the VIP room.

"Which one of you is Alice Harding?!"

My stomach dropped.

The collectors had come straight here.

The live feed blew up:

[Holy crap! The collectors actually showed up!]

[Don't panic, you've got the case receipt in hand, you win this.]

When Maxwell saw the five thugs with their murderous faces, his legs buckled and he nearly dropped to the floor.

He ducked behind Carolyn on instinct.

Baldy walked into the VIP room with the bat, ran his eyes over the three of us, and finally settled on me.

"You're Alice Harding?"

He pointed the bat at me and smirked. "Got some nerve, don't you, freezing our money?"

"Two million principal, plus two hundred thousand in penalties. If I don't see that cash today, I'm smashing your kneecaps."

Before I could get a word out, Maxwell jumped out from behind Carolyn.

He pointed at me and shouted at Baldy:

"Boss! Boss, you've got the wrong person!"

"She's the one who borrowed it! The name's hers! The ID is hers!"

"You want the money, go get it from her! It's got nothing to do with me!"

Carolyn chimed in from the side:

"Exactly! Every debt has its debtor. Don't go grabbing the wrong people! We're about to get married, this has nothing to do with us!"

Baldy looked at Maxwell, then at me, and suddenly grinned wide.

"Fine. If neither of you has anything to do with it, then get lost."

He turned back to me, his eyes vicious enough to swallow me whole.

"As for you, you're not going anywhere until you cough up that money today!"

Maxwell grabbed Carolyn's hand and headed for the door, then glanced back at me on his way out.

"Alice, you eat my food and use my stuff all the time. What's the big deal about carrying a little debt for me now?"

"Just call it what you owe me for the years I wasted. Stay here and pay it off nice and slow!"

I let out a cold laugh and pulled my phone out of my pocket, swiping the screen open.

"Maxwell, do you think you're really clever?"

I held the phone up, screen facing Baldy and Maxwell.

"Then take a look at this."