Not in a Million Years

The phone buzzed, a jarring sound, and it was Liam. His voice, once a comfort, was now a broken mess, choked out words about losing everything in a high-stakes poker game-including his grandma' s house. I abandoned my college dreams, moved to the coast, and spent five grueling years as a nightclub hostess, saving every dollar to pay off his million-dollar debt.

But then, the final payment made, I overheard a conversation. It wasn' t a mistake. It was a five-year-long, cruel game orchestrated by Liam and my high school rival, Ashley Thompson, to punish me for being a scholarship student who always came first.

Heartbreakingly, a familiar voice, his, dripped with malice: "It was Ashley's idea. She wanted to punish her. And I owed Ashley a favor." My world tilted. The love, the sacrifice, all a twisted lie. When I confronted him, his voice, stripped of pretense, confirmed my worst fears, "You gave them. Don't pin your bad choices on me. You liked being the hero, didn't you?"