"Sweetheart, have you saved up the five hundred thousand for the surgery yet? The doctor said the sooner we pay, the sooner your mother can have the operation!"
A wave of bitterness washed through me. I didn't know how to tell him the truth.
I'd scrimped and saved for years, putting away four hundred thousand. I'd been counting on my hundred-thousand-dollar year-end bonus to make up the difference.
But now Blair hadn't just refused to pay me—I'd spent a hundred thousand of my own money to take her down. I only had three hundred thousand left.
This plan had to succeed. Failure wasn't an option.
After seeing my parents off, I called the finance department.
"Since the company's already terminated me, shouldn't you return the hundred thousand I transferred?"
Avery Cole's voice was flat and final. "What hundred thousand? The records show ninety-five. Ms. White says it's considered a personal gift."
Hearing that, something in me settled into certainty.
If Blair had just refused the money—if she'd returned it—she might have had a fighting chance.
But endless greed would be her undoing.
A few days later, I dressed carefully and walked back into the company.