Chapter 2

The day I was discharged after my first injury, the manager handed me only three thousand.

"The venue already covered your medical bills. Consider the rest your base pay for the month."

I didn't take it.

"Mr. Delgado left a hundred and eighty thousand."

The manager's face shifted.

"Who fed you that nonsense?"

"I saw it myself."

That day, when I reached the ER, I hadn't fully lost consciousness yet.

When Daryl Delgado handed the manager the check, what he said was, You handle it.

At the time, I thought the rest was for my treatment and compensation.

Only later did I learn the hundred and eighty thousand was hush money for the manager.

They'd decided I was poor enough to just take it.

But this time I wasn't going to swallow it.

The manager rushed in, and when he heard me, the smile froze on his face.

Nanette Delgado turned to him at once.

"Didn't I tell you to give her all the money?"

"Mrs. Delgado, the venue already covered her hospital costs."

The manager dropped his voice.

"And she couldn't work while she recovered, so the venue had to find someone to cover her shifts."

"If we pay out everything she's asking, every employee will learn to make a scene like her. How is anyone supposed to run a business?"

I let out a bitter laugh.

"So? I fell and got hurt, I got slapped, I got left hanging in an elevator shaft, and that was all a scheme to shake you down for money?"

The manager frowned.

"Lisa, you pressed your own thumbprint on that settlement agreement. It says right there, plain as day, that you got dizzy from low blood sugar and fell by accident, that you couldn't keep hold of the cable."

A sharp stab of pain shot through my right hand.

Desiree Delgado stayed curled against Nanette, her eyes flickering.

She said nothing.

I looked down at the splint.

"If I fell on my own, then why did you make me sign a confidentiality pledge?"

The room went quiet.

"That's enough, drop it!"

Daryl's face was dark.

"Lisa, we've already agreed to cover your tuition. Ending it here is better for everyone..."

"I don't agree,"

I cut him off and lifted my head.

"A hundred and eighty thousand means I don't have to work part-time. I can finish my studies with a clear mind."

"It's what was supposed to be mine. Why shouldn't I get it?"

The manager rushed to explain.

"That was Mr. Delgado's compensation to the venue for the shutdown. It wasn't for you personally."

I looked at Daryl.

He kept his head down and didn't argue.

"This time, the money doesn't go through the manager."

With my left hand I pushed the confidentiality pledge back at them.

"Tuition goes straight to the school. Living expenses go into my account. The amounts, the dates, all of it written into the agreement."

The manager's expression darkened.

"You've really got the nerve to ask."

"It's hers by right."

Nanette cut him off.

She looked at me, guilt in her eyes.

"Lisa, don't worry. This time no one will take a cent of your money."

Her voice was too gentle.

Like twelve years ago, when she stood in the rain calling my name over and over, Sweet-pea, Sweet-pea.

My nose stung, but I still asked.

"And the conditions?"

Her lips moved, but no words came.

Daryl answered for her.

"No police, no media. Once you've healed, you come back to work at the venue and cooperate with Desiree."

Of course.

My mother was willing to pay my tuition.

But first she wanted me to bring the person who hurt me back to my side.

"And if she sets off another trap on me?"

Nanette held Desiree tighter.

"Desiree just wants so badly to find her sister. She wouldn't really hurt you."

"But I'm already lying here."

Desiree's eyes suddenly went red.

"Sis, I didn't mean to."

She lifted her head from Nanette's arms, and in the blink of an eye the resentment in her stare turned to hurt.

"I only wanted a clue about my sister. I was just too anxious."

"I don't know why either. Every time I lose control and hurt someone, all I get is a blurry image."

"And it just happened to be you I hurt, and the clue I got was the most important one of all."

"I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to."

Nanette wiped her tears at once.

"Lisa, you heard her. Everything Desiree does is to save someone."

To save me, she hurt me again and again.

It was beyond absurd.

But I really did need the money.

I needed to make something of myself, enough that I could live well without needing anyone at all.

I swallowed the taste of blood in my throat and held out my left hand.

"The agreement. Hand it over."