Chapter 1
464words
Later, due to my error during a catastrophic car accident, he became comatose, permanently confined to a hospital bed.
Consumed by guilt, I exhausted my savings and even offered my skilled hands as collateral for predatory loans—anything to heal him.
Then one day, while adjusting his pillow, I discovered a manufacturer's label at the base of his skull.
"You worthless bitch! It's your fault my son is ruined. He was this close to inheriting the Sinclair fortune!"
Victor's adoptive parents burst in with their ragtag relatives, hurling whatever they could grab at my head.
Caught unprepared, I was beaten until blood streamed down my face.
Several heavyset women pinned me down, forcing me to kneel before the hospital bed while they beckoned others to witness my "atonement," their mouths spewing vile obscenities.
I kept my head bowed silently, but inside I was seething, fantasizing about tearing the man on the bed to shreds.
Victor Sinclair, you manipulative bastard—how dare you deceive me like this!
"Patient in bed 36! Payment is overdue!"
The nurse rushed in, eyeing the crowd with undisguised contempt.
At those words, the mob scattered like cockroaches in sudden light.
"Ahem, actually..."
The young nurse discreetly gestured toward the bed, her eyes meaningful.
I let out a bitter laugh, pressed one hand to my bleeding forehead, and viciously kicked "Victor" off the bed.
"I know exactly what this is!"
AI humanoids—my literal specialty. How could I have been so blind?!
As I spoke, I ground my heel into the android's face, venting weeks of accumulated rage.
"He belongs to the Sinclairs. We're just—"
My phone buzzed with a video from the loan sharks.
My kitten lay bloody and barely breathing on my apartment floor.
My apartment was ransacked, electronics stolen, with "PAY YOUR DEBT" sprayed across the wall in crimson.
A final voice message promised they'd take my hand in three days if I couldn't pay.
My breath came in gasps as my knees threatened to buckle.
"Miss? Are you alright?"
The nurse caught me as I swayed, concern replacing her earlier irritation.
"The money—what about all the money I've been paying?"
I demanded, and she glanced away awkwardly, whispering that it was all gone.
Before I could press further, familiar voices drifted in from the hallway—a man and woman in intimate conversation.
"Vic, she still hasn't paid next month's 'treatment fee'? Tsk, I had my eye on that Birkin.
When are you dumping her, anyway? Don't tell me you've actually fallen for that pathetic engineer."
"Patience, darling. She's just my shield against those bloodsucking relatives. You're the only one I've ever truly loved."
