Chapter 4 The Debt That Came Knocking

Presently.

Seraphina let out a scream so loud it scratched her throat raw. She punched the cold tile once. Twice. Three times. Her knuckles ached, but the pain couldn't touch the agony erupting in her chest.

"You're so stupid," she hissed. "So desperate. So pathetic."

She had become a ghost of the girl she used to be - bright-eyed, ambitious, someone who dreamed of studying law, of helping people like her parents, trapped in lives they couldn't escape from.

But Nate had looked at her once like she was everything - and that had been enough.

Until it wasn't.

Until she became the girl who skipped exams to watch him flirt with other women. The girl who laughed off lipstick stains on his collar. The girl who showed up at his apartment with a cake and candles, only to watch him kiss someone else's neck as she left through the backdoor.

She wiped her face with trembling hands, but the tears wouldn't stop. They were endless - like the regrets.

She pulled herself to her feet slowly, stumbling as she reached for the kitchen counter to steady herself.

Her eyes landed on the cake box.

Still open. Still desecrated by his smug fingers.

She moved toward it, robotic and slow, opened the fridge, and grabbed the first thing her hand touched.

A jar of crushed chili peppers.

Without a word, she twisted the lid off and poured the contents onto the cake - slowly, methodically, like she was performing a sacred ritual.

The red pepper flakes fell like ashes.

It was stupid. Childish.

But it made her smile, "I am so done with being an understanding girlfriend. Enjoy your dessert, Nate."

She sniffled, wiped her nose on her sleeve, and reached for her phone.

It vibrated before she could unlock it.

Dad.

She froze.

Her dad rarely called. He wasn't the emotional type - more of a quiet strength. So when he did call, it meant something.

Her thumb hovered over the screen.

She answered.

"Dad?"

"Where are you?" His voice was hoarse. Urgent.

The panic in his tone startled her upright.

"I'm at Nate's," she replied, wiping the streaks of mascara from her cheeks. "What's wrong? You sound-"

"Listen to me, Sera," he cut in. "No matter what, stay there until we tell you it's safe to come back ."

"What? Why?" she asked, a knot already forming in her stomach. "I just-"

"Don't argue! Stay there!" Her father whispered.

She could hear voices in the background. Her mother crying. A door slamming. The sound of furniture crashing.

Then another voice - louder, angrier, male.

"If they don't pay what they owe, we'll take something else!"

The voice wasn't her father's.

And it chilled her to the bone.

"Dad?" Seraphina's voice broke into a whisper as she pressed the phone harder to her ear. "Who was that?"

On the other end, there was a rustle. Her father hissed something - inaudible - maybe to her mother. Then another crash. A muffled cry. Something - someone - groaned in pain.

"Tell her to stay out of this!" a voice barked in the background. The feminine voice, awfully familiar belonged to her mother.

Seraphina's blood turned cold.

"Dad-what's going on? Who are they?! What's happening?!"

Her father's breath trembled through the receiver. "They... they came for the money," he whispered. "Sera, I tried. I thought I could keep them at bay a little longer, but they- they found out your mother went to the pawnshop. They said we broke the rules."

Her knees weakened. She grabbed the edge of the kitchen counter again.

"You-" she gasped. "You went to the loan sharks?"

"Only once," her father snapped defensively. "It was just once! When your mother got sick, and the pharmacy stopped giving her the discount- we needed the medicine, Sera. And then your tuition. The bills. The generator repairs. I thought-God, I thought we'd manage to pay them off once I picked up extra shifts-"

The rest of his words dissolved into a guttural cry of pain.

"DAD!" Seraphina screamed. "What are they doing to you?!"

A new voice came on the line. Calm. Icy.

Male.

"You're quite the little disappointment, Seraphina Vale."

She froze.

The voice was deliberate, smooth, laced with power and venom. Like a serpent in a suit.

A pause.

Then, "Look who is on the line. Miss 'boyfriend boot licker..."

Her lungs locked. "W- What?"

"You heard me," the man continued, almost amused now. "You've been a very entertaining subject of discussion for us. Such loyalty. Such sacrifice. You gave up everything for your little boyfriend. Gave up your best friend's life. Gave up your education. Your freedom. All for a man who spits on you."

She didn't reply.

She could only wheeze, "H- how did y- you-"

"Now, now dear. That's not important. How about this, let's make a deal." He paused, "hmm? What do you think?"

Her lips parted. Her voice came out raw.

"What kind of deal?"

An ugly cackle ran out, "you don't have to sound like this. Anyway, if by the end of the third day, your parents didn't pay me back my money, I'll have your hand..." The man paused earning Ragged breaths from Seraphina whose fingers trembled, "... in marriage."

Seraphina nearly dropped the phone.

"W- what?!"

The man grinned, "Oh don't be sad. That's how it works. Your family has three days. If by the third day, my money is not ready, then you will become my property."

Click.

The line went dead.

Silence.

Her phone slipped from her hand and clattered to the floor.

Marriage? To a loan shark boss? To someone who saw her as... what Collateral? Debt payment?

She blinked at her reflection in the microwave door.

Mascara smudged. Eyes swollen. Mouth trembling.

Seraphina Vale, daughter of nobodies, girlfriend of a cheat, now... soon-to-be wife to a criminal?

Her pulse pounded in her ears. "No," she whispered. "No, no, no-this can't be happening."

But it was.

It was.