Chapter 3

My hands were shaking so badly that it took me several tries to get Luke on the line.

"Luke, why did you move the money out?"

He let out a short, contemptuous laugh.

"Nanette, and here I thought you were so tough."

"Turns out I just had to move the money and you couldn't keep up the act anymore?"

"That's my grandmother's surgery money!"

My voice broke, panic flooding through me.

"What gives you the right to take it?"

"The right?"

He gave a cold snort.

"Thanks to Eva reminding me, yesterday was the last day of the contract."

"You walked away before fulfilling the agreement. You didn't finish the agreement, so that two hundred thousand? You're not getting a cent of it."

A vast absurdity rose up in me.

Even if I didn't marry him,the three years I spent caring for him were real. Curing his depression was real, something I'd actually done.

What gave him the right to treat me like this.

I swallowed the anger burning in my throat, forcing myself to lower my voice , and begged.

"Luke, my grandmother can't wait any longer for the surgery. Please, just give me the money first…"

Before I could finish, Eva's coy voice came through the other end.

"Mr. Henson, we're relighting our spark today. Don't waste your time talking to her anymore."

The call cut off.

I called again and again, but all I heard was the cold, mechanical busy tone. Luke had blocked me without hesitation.

I scrambled to my feet, ready to go straight to Cheryl and beg her to help.

A nurse came running.

"Miss Pruitt, it's bad, your grandmother's had a sudden heart attack,the doctors are trying to resuscitate her!"

I rushed into the room, only to see doctors and nurses surrounding the bed, fighting desperately to save her.

Her face was pale, and every breath came with painful effort.

A nurse handed me a phone, her voice choked.

"Someone just sent your grandmother a video and a message. She collapsed the moment she finished watching."

My hands trembled as I took the phone from her.

On the screen was yesterday's wedding footage, and one vicious line of text.

Broke old woman, sending your granddaughter to wait on Mr. Henson, dreaming she can marry into money. Keep dreaming!

My grandmother forced her eyes open, tears sliding down from the corners.

"Nan, I'm sorry, your grandmother was useless, I put you through so much…"

My heart shattered at those words.

"No, Grandma..."

I grabbed her hand tightly, shaking my head as tears blurred my vision.

"It's not your fault, it's them, they're the bad ones, you're the best grandmother in the whole world!"

I pressed my face against the edge of the bed, crying so hard that my entire body shook.

"Please, Grandma… don't leave me."

"Please, I only have you…"

The doctors and nurses fought for her until the very last second. They tried everything they could.

But in the end, the sound I feared the most still came.The long, piercing beep from the monitor cut through the room.

It felt like a knife slicing through the last piece of hope I had left.

My grandmother was gone.

The only person in this world who had never abandoned me was gone.

I didn't know how long I stayed there, holding her hand, unable to accept that I would never hear her call my name again.

Then my phone rang.

"Nanette, since you only got close to me for the money, I'll give you a chance. A hundred thousand a year, and from now on you serve me personally."

"A woman like you, who can't do anything but wait on people, a hundred thousand is already a sky-high price. Don't be ungrateful."

A hundred thousand a year?

For three years, when his depression struck he couldn't sleep a single night, and more than once he tried to kill himself.

I racked my mind to soothe him, sat with him through to daybreak, and pulled him out of the dark inch by inch.

And in the end, in his eyes, I was worth only a hundred thousand a year, fit for nothing but being a servant who waited on people.

My heart had already been broken too many times that day. This time, I felt nothing.

Without a single expression on my face, I blocked Luke's number and deleted all our messages.

Then I picked up my phone and called my university advisor.

"Professor, three years ago I gave up the chance to do my graduate studies abroad. Is it still open to me now?"

There was a brief silence on the other end before his voice filled with surprise and happiness.

"Nan, of course, I've kept your place for you all along."

"I always believed in your talent for psychology. Someone will come to take you to leave tomorrow."

After hanging up, I lowered my head and gently held my grandmother's hand.

But the hand that had held mine my entire life was already cold.

I held back my tears and whispered softly,

"Grandma, we're leaving this place, and we're never coming back."