Chapter 3

Emilia POV:

Life, I told myself, would once again settle into its quiet rhythm. The sudden appearance of Cameron Vinson was just a glitch, a momentary tremor in the otherwise calm landscape of my upstate New York existence. I would bury it, just like everything else.

But the universe, it seemed, had other plans for me. And for him.

One Tuesday morning, as I meticulously explained quadratic equations to a room full of glazed-over teenagers, my phone vibrated with an urgent call from St. Jude' s Hospital. My father. Gilbert.

He had suffered a massive stroke. A brain aneurysm. They were rushing him into emergency surgery, but the prognosis was grim. And the cost? A staggering $300,000, not including post-operative care. My meager teacher's salary and my father' s lost pension savings were a cruel joke against that number.

I emptied my savings, called every distant relative, and even considered selling the small, dilapidated house my father and I shared. Each avenue led to a dead end. Despair, a cold, heavy cloak, settled around me. I sat by his bedside, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest, the rhythmic beep of the monitors, knowing I was utterly, hopelessly powerless.

Then, my phone rang again. An unknown number. My stomach tightened with a premonition.

I answered, my voice hoarse from crying. "Hello?"

"Emilia."

The voice was unmistakable. Cameron. My breath hitched. How? How did he know? A cold dread seeped into my bones. His network, his reach, was far more extensive than I'd imagined. He was watching. He was always watching.

"How did you get this number?" I demanded, my voice sharper than I intended.

A sigh, soft and almost regretful, whispered through the line. "Does it matter, Emilia? What matters is that I know about Gilbert."

My jaw clenched. He was playing his games again. The smooth, calm voice that always managed to bypass my defenses, finding the cracks.

"He needs the best," Cameron continued, his tone shifting to one of concerned authority. "I've already arranged for Dr. Lena Hansen, the neurosurgeon from Mount Sinai, to be flown in. She's the best in her field. The surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning."

I gripped the phone, my knuckles white. A specialist from Mount Sinai? That was impossible. That kind of elite medical care was beyond the wildest dreams of my current reality. He was doing it. He was paying. The implications hit me like a physical blow.

"I don't need your help, Cameron," I managed to choke out, though the words felt hollow and weak even to my own ears. My father' s life hung by a thread. My pride was a luxury I couldn't afford.

His voice hardened, losing its veneer of concern. "Don't be foolish, Emilia. This isn't about you. This is about Gilbert. And you cannot afford this. Unless you want him to die."

The cruelty of his words, delivered with such clinical precision, sliced through me. He knew my weakness. He always had. My father, my last remaining anchor in this world, was now his pawn.

"I'll pay you back," I whispered, the words tasting like ash.

"We can discuss that later," he said, his tone dismissive. "For now, focus on Gilbert. I'll handle everything else." The line went dead.

I stared at the black screen of my phone, my body trembling. He hadn't asked. He hadn't consulted. He had simply acted, imposing his will, his money, his power, on my most vulnerable moment. My father' s life was being saved, yes, but at what cost to my soul? I was trapped, caught in his web once more, bound by a debt I could never truly repay. The weight of his "charity" felt heavier than any financial burden. It was a chain, forged in my desperation.