You've found me,Mr billionaire

Sera pov "My father is innocent!" My scream cut through the sterile courtroom like a whip. "He couldn't hurt a fly! He was framed!" My voice trembled with rage and pain, but no one cared. The judge adjusted his glasses without even looking at me. "Order in the court," he said flatly, banging his gavel. "The case is adjourned until next week. Defendant will remain in custody until the final verdict is reached."

I barely heard him over the sound of my mother collapsing beside me. "Mum!" I shouted, rushing to catch her before she hit the ground. Her face was ashen, her breathing shallow. The bailiff called for help, and in moments, we were being rushed out of the courtroom.

.....

Everything blurred after that.

The ambulance. The hospital. The waiting room where time had no meaning. I sat with her hand in mine, watching machines breathe for her while fluorescent lights buzzed above our heads.

I didn't even notice Dr. Halbrook until he spoke my name.

"Sera?" I looked up slowly. His face was somber.

"She's stable," he said gently, "but not for long. Her lungs... the fibrosis is accelerating faster than we anticipated. She's starting to go into respiratory failure."

"What...what does that mean?" My voice was barely above a whisper.

"It means... without a transplant, she may not survive the month." The world narrowed to a single point of silence. Then I forced myself to ask the question I already feared. "How much does it cost?"

He hesitated, like he didn't want to say it out loud. But he did. "Three hundred and fifty thousand dollars." I nodded. Like that was a number I could pull out of my pocket. Like I wasn't barely scraping by with part-time jobs and student debt. Like my father wasn't rotting in a jail cell for someone else's crime.

"Thank you," I murmured. Then I turned and walked out of the room before I broke.

My body moved on autopilot, down the hall, past the nurses' station, until I found myself in the hospital's dim back corridor.

I pressed my forehead against the wall, eyes burning, fists clenched.

They destroyed us.

The Vales' son had been the one driving drunk that night. He hit someone, left them broken in the street. But the family needed a clean scapegoat. So they handed the crime to my father....the driver. The help.

We were nothing. Just shadows in their mansion. A maid. A driver. Their lives meant something. Ours didn't.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. Caleb. My boyfriend. The one good thing I still had. I wiped my face and answered. "Hey." "Sera," he breathed, "I heard what happened. How's your mom? What happened in court?"

"She collapsed," I said. "They don't think she'll make it without surgery." Silence stretched between us.

"I'm coming there," he said suddenly. "We'll figure it out. I can pick up more hours...maybe your aunt..."

"No," I interrupted. "Just... stay. Please. I'm tired."

He hesitated. "Sera.... We'll figure it out... i promise...I love you."

I closed my eyes. "I know. I love you too." I hung up before I could cry again.

And then, slowly, I opened the message I had never deleted. Sebastian Vale....."Be mine, and your father walks free."

I stared at it for a long time. The devil's offer. One I'd laughed at weeks ago, shaking with disgust as I stormed out of his office.

But that was before the hospital bill. Before the transplant. Before hope slipped through my fingers like water. My thumbs trembled as I typed. "I'm interested in your offer." The reply came instantly. "I knew you'd come to your senses. King's Bar. 11 PM." I stared at it.

And for the first time in hours, I let the tears fall freely. I was selling myself to the man who ruined my life. Tears fell silently.

I was selling myself to the man who ruined my life.

My knees gave out as I slid to the floor, back against the cold hospital wall.

I pressed my fists into my eyes, as if I could squeeze the truth out of my skull.

This isn't me.

I'm not the girl who bargains herself away like a pawn.

I'm not this desperate. This... shattered.

But I was.

I am.

My father was dying in a cell.

My mother was dying in a bed.

And no one... no one was coming to save me.

My phone trembled in my hand.

I wanted to throw it. Scream. Rip the world in half with the sound of my grief.

But all I could do was stare at the message again.

"King's Bar. 11 PM."

I buried my face in my arms and let the tears fall....slow, hopeless, silent.

And then...

A soft voice.

Small. Sweet.

"Mommy?"

A little boy stood there, no older than five, with the roundest eyes I'd ever seen. He was... beautiful. Big brown eyes, dimples, tousled curls. Something about his face tugged at my heart. I stared, startled. "I'm sorry?" His bottom lip trembled.

"Mommy... where were you? I looked everywhere."

"I think you have the wrong person, sweetheart," I said gently, crouching to his level. "I'm not-" Before I could finish, he threw his arms around me.

"I knew you'd come back," he whispered. "I told Daddy you weren't really gone." His tiny fingers clung to my shirt.

My arms moved on instinct, wrapping around him as something strange and warm tugged deep inside me. "I missed you so much," he whispered.

"I prayed everyday.... I said Mommy would come home." I swallowed, heart pounding.

He was mistaken. Obviously. But... Why did this feel so familiar? Why did it feel like... like holding my own? I gently pulled back, touching his cheek. "Sweetheart... what's your name?"

"Liam," he said proudly. "Liam Alexander Vale." Vale. My stomach twisted. That name. Again. My throat felt tight.

"Where's your daddy, Liam?"

"With the mean lady," he said. "She's always poking me and she yells a lot. I don't like her. But I told Daddy I was gonna find you, and I did!" His little face beamed up at me, innocent and pure. "Can you take me home now, Mommy?" I paused, heart breaking.

"Let's find your dad, okay?" He nodded quickly and grabbed my hand. As we walked down the corridor, I whispered, "Why do you think I'm your mommy, Liam?"

He looked up at me, frowning like the answer was obvious. "Because you look like a Princess" he said.

My breath hitched.

How adorable...

We rounded the corner, and that's when I saw him. The man. Tall. Commanding. Devastatingly handsome. Black suit sharp against the sterile white walls.

His gaze cut through the staff gathered around him like he owned the air they breathed. Liam let go of my hand and ran forward. "Daddy! I found Mommy!" The man turned. And froze. Time stopped.

His gaze locked on me like a lightning bolt straight through the heart. The noise around us faded. Everything disappeared. I didn't know him. But something in his eyes... It was like the world tilted sideways. Like he was staring at a ghost.

His lips parted, a single word slipping out, hoarse and broken. "Sarah?"