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Chapter 1 The Last Dollar

Riley's POV

"Ma'am, you need to move that car now or I'm calling the tow truck!"

The security guard's voice cut through the rain as I fumbled with my keys, my hands shaking so badly I could barely grip them. The Honda's engine turned over once, twice, then died with a final wheeze that sounded like my last hope disappearing.

"Mommy, I'm hot," Lily whispered from her car seat, her small voice barely audible over the storm.

My hands shook as I counted the crumpled bills in my wallet. Again. Twelve dollars and thirty-seven cents. The same amount as five minutes ago, no matter how desperately I wished for a miracle.

"I know, baby. We're going to see the doctor now."

The security guard was already walking toward us, his yellow raincoat making him look like a walking caution sign. I grabbed Lily and ran for the emergency room entrance, my worn sneakers splashing through puddles that soaked through to my socks.

"Ma'am, you can't leave that vehicle there!" he called after me.

"Five minutes!" I shouted back, pushing through the automatic doors.

The hospital lobby hit me like a wall of antiseptic and air conditioning. Everything was gleaming white and chrome, from the marble floors to the reception desk where a woman in perfectly pressed scrubs looked up at me with barely concealed disgust.

"I need to see someone about my daughter," I said, shifting Lily's weight in my arms. "She has a fever and she's been sick for two days."

The receptionist's eyes traveled from my soaked hair to my thrift store jeans. "Insurance card?"

"I don't have insurance right now, but I can pay"

"How much can you pay today?"

The question hung in the air between us. I could feel other people in the waiting room staring. A woman in a Chanel suit pulled her purse closer when I walked past.

"I have twelve dollars," I said quietly.

"The emergency room fee is four hundred dollars before any treatment." Her voice was flat, rehearsed. "I can give you information about free clinics."

"Please." The word came out cracked. "She's only four. I'll figure out how to pay you back."

The receptionist's expression didn't change. "I'm sorry, but we can't provide treatment without payment or insurance. There's a free clinic on"

"They're closed until Monday!" My voice rose, causing several heads to turn. "My daughter has been sick for two days. She needs help now."

Lily stirred in my arms, her small hand pressing against my chest. Her fever was getting worse. I could feel it through her thin pajamas.

"If you can't pay, I'll have to ask you to leave," the receptionist said. "Or we can call social services to discuss your daughter's care."

The threat hit me like ice water. "No. No, please don't call them."

I backed away from the desk, my heart pounding. Social services meant losing Lily. They'd take one look at our situation-living in a car, no job, no home and decide I was unfit.

"Mommy?" Lily's voice was small and scared.

"It's okay, baby. We're going to figure this out."

I walked toward the seating area, my mind racing. There had to be something I could do. Someone I could ask for help. But my family had disowned me months ago, and I'd burned through every friend's goodwill already.

That's when I heard the whispered conversation from two nurses near the coffee cart.

"Did you see Brett Graham is here again?" one said, stirring sugar into her coffee.

"The billionaire? What's he doing here?"

"Charity event in the west wing. Though after that scandal with his ex-fiancée, I'm surprised he shows his face anywhere."

"I heard he's looking for a new girlfriend. Someone to clean up his image."

"A fake girlfriend, you mean. Like those Hollywood contracts."

My feet stopped moving. Brett Graham. Everyone knew that name. The tech mogul who'd built an empire from nothing, worth billions, cold as ice and twice as ruthless.

"How much do you think someone would pay for that kind of arrangement?" the first nurse asked.

"With his money? Probably enough to solve anyone's problems."

The second nurse laughed. "If you could survive six months with that man. They say he's impossible to please."

I clutched Lily tighter, my mind spinning. It was insane. Desperate. The kind of idea that only occurred to someone who had absolutely nothing left to lose.

But as I looked down at my daughter's flushed face and felt her fever burning through her clothes, I realized that was exactly what I was.

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Chapters
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1

Chapter 1 The Last Dollar

09/07/2025

2

Chapter 2 Desperate Measures

09/07/2025

3

Chapter 3 The Proposition

09/07/2025

4

Chapter 4 The Decision

09/07/2025

5

Chapter 5 The First Test

09/07/2025

6

Chapter 6 The Servant's Quarters

09/07/2025

7

Chapter 7 Impossible Standards

09/07/2025

8

Chapter 8 The Supporting Cast

09/07/2025

9

Chapter 9 The Panic Attack

09/07/2025

10

Chapter 10 Hidden Kindness

09/07/2025

11

Chapter 11 The Fountain Incident

09/07/2025

12

Chapter 12 Testing Boundaries

09/07/2025

13

Chapter 13 Electric Tension

09/07/2025

14

Chapter 14 The Almost Kiss

09/07/2025

15

Chapter 15 The Thunderstorm

09/07/2025

16

Chapter 16 Intimacy

09/07/2025

17

Chapter 17 After the Storm

09/07/2025

18

Chapter 18 Dangerous Territory

09/07/2025

19

Chapter 19 The Other Woman

09/07/2025

20

Chapter 20 Victoria's Entrance

09/07/2025

21

Chapter 21 The Maid Treatment

09/07/2025

22

Chapter 22 Revelations

11/07/2025

23

Chapter 23 The Comparison

11/07/2025

24

Chapter 24 Jealousy's Sting

11/07/2025

25

Chapter 25 The Betrayal

12/07/2025

26

Chapter 26 The Choice

12/07/2025

27

Chapter 27 The Photographer

13/07/2025

28

Chapter 28 Public Humiliation

13/07/2025

29

Chapter 29 Family Rejection

14/07/2025

30

Chapter 30 Lily Crisis

14/07/2025

31

Chapter 31 The Breaking Point

16/07/2025

32

Chapter 32 The Ultimatum

16/07/2025

33

Chapter 33 The Fightback

16/07/2025

34

Chapter 34 Shifting Dynamics

17/07/2025

35

Chapter 35 The Realization

17/07/2025

36

Chapter 36 The Contract Questioned

18/07/2025

37

Chapter 37 The Fall

20/07/2025

38

Chapter 38 The Benefactor

20/07/2025

39

Chapter 39 The Surgery

21/07/2025

40

Chapter 40 The Watcher

21/07/2025