The Billionaire's $500,000 baby

Liora

so hard I could barely get the words out. I felt like I was

tinum face caught the gross fluorescent light of the ho

d looking for a miracle is a second closer to your mother being loaded onto that

n't that stupid. But I believed in the small, gold-plated object tucked into the secret, zippered pocket of

her's watch.

old me it was a family heirloom. He said it was a piece of history that would always h

I was out of 'nevers.' I was

t from cold to just... tired. She looked like she wanted to go home and forget I existed. "Miss Hayes, I believe we've concluded our b

r strap was worn and smelled like old cedar. The gold casing still had a little shine to it. I pushed it through the teller slot. "Take

e glass like it was a dead bug someone had squashed. "We are a

father said it was valuable.

looking like she didn't want to get her hands dirty. She turned it over, sq

lid. And the movement inside is seize

know. I didn't want to

scrap metal. Maybe seventy if someone wants the parts. It's a

ther's greatest treasure..the thing he told me would save us...was worth a bag of grocer

credibly stupid for thinkin

ng, hot and fast. I hated that I was crying in front of her again.

oice wasn't even professional anymore. It was just

ted gurney toward the ICU elevators. It wasn't the nice gurney with the padded mattress. It was a metal one. On the back s

minutes early. If you want to say goodbye before she's moved

. I ran. My shoes were still wet, and I almost slipped on the tiles. I didn't care. I pushed past a doc

re push

nsive monitors that showed her heart rate and oxygen levels. Now, she was connected to a small, battery-operated pump.

the gurney. "Wait! I'm getting the money! I'm s

Sorry, miss. We have our orders. We've got six

d metal rail of the gurney, forcing it to a halt. My kn

ora

locked the room, honey. I tried to stall them, I really did. I told them her vitals were shaky. But the department head sig

he big one. The one they used to move the trash and the laundry

t" dark. But "end of the world" dark. I stood there staring at the closed elevator

dge of a hard plastic chair and stared at the floor. I didn't even feel the cold anymore. I was just nu

f the world was moving on. People were

went down while you were

illar. He looked perfect. His suit wasn't wrinkled. His hair wasn't m

pered. I didn't look

aid. He didn't sound mean. He just sounded like he was stating a fact, like the weather. He walked over

he medicine will be generic. The equipment will be thirty years old. If her heart s

body, but I tried to choke it back. I

you spend sitting here is a minute she spends losing ground. I have a car waiting outside. Right now. I have a phone in my pocket that can stop

urry from tears. "And the price

r did. A child who will be a Volkov. You aren't losing a life, Liora. You're saving two. Your mother's... and your own. Because let's be hon

. The steel core my mother talked about was a lie. I wasn't strong. I was jus

splashed me and didn't even look back.

could buy

oldness settle over me. It was a different kind of strength. Not the kind my mo

ce was cold. It didn't sound lik

on his lips. It made me want to hit him, but I d

ospital's sliding doors. "Let's go. We have a contract to

freezing. I didn't look back. I knew that if I looked back at the hospit

hed Xavier pull out his phone to make the call t

e just live. I'l

s already on. It was the most comfortable place I had e