Chapter 3Call Me A Gold Digger

After finishing the call, I took the train straight to my parents’ townhouse on the outskirts of the city.

The moment I turned onto their tree-lined street, a knot of dread tightened in my stomach. A crowd had formed in front of their small front garden.

A middle-aged woman in a faded track jacket was sitting directly on the pavement, wailing at the top of her lungs.

"Look at them! Come see the respectable family that raised a monster!"

"They’re all grifters! She took everything my boy had, and now the little thief is hiding behind her mommy and daddy!"

Pushing my way through the onlookers, my heart fractured at the sight before me.

My parents were standing on the front steps, trapped and trembling under the weight of neighborhood scrutiny.

Shane’s mother was flailing on the concrete, putting on a grotesque spectacle.

My father, Thomas, a retired machinist who had spent forty years doing honest labor, was sweating through his flannel shirt, his chest heaving with distress.

"Ma'am, please," my father pleaded, his voice cracking. "There has to be a mistake. Our Lila has always been a good girl. She wouldn't take a dime that didn't belong to her."

My mother, eyes red and swollen, knelt down to take the woman’s arm, trying to coax her off the cold stone. "Please, let’s go inside and speak like civilized people. It’s freezing out here."

Shane’s mother violently shoved my mother’s hands away, collapsing flat on her back with an exaggerated shriek. "Assault! She’s attacking me! You see how these criminals operate?"

"If I don't get my son’s seventy-five thousand dollars back today, I’m dying on your doorstep!"

The whispers from the neighbors cut through the cold air like razor blades.

"I always thought the Michell girl was so polite... who knew she was running scams?"

"You never can tell with these ambitious corporate types. Anything for a designer lifestyle."

"The quiet, innocent ones are always the most calculating behind closed doors."

The suffocating shame proved too much for my father. Terrified for my future, his knees buckled, and he dropped down onto the damp pavement in front of the screaming woman.

"I’m begging you, ma'am," my father choked out, tears breaking over his weathered cheeks. "If there’s money owed, I’ll sell my tools, I’ll take a second mortgage on this house. Just don't ruin my daughter’s life. Please."

Seeing my father on his knees broke the last remnant of restraint within me.

I dropped my box on the grass and surged forward, hauling my father up by his underarms.

"Dad, stand up!" My voice rang out with absolute authority. "Get up right now. We don't owe these people a single cent, and you will never kneel to extortionists."

My father looked at me, tears streaming down his lined face, his hands trembling against my shoulders. "Lila... tell me the truth. Did you take anything from them?"

I looked him directly in the eyes. "Never. Not a single penny. I swear on my life."

Seeing me arrive, Shane’s mother scrambled to her feet with shocking agility, pointing a crooked finger at my face. "You little viper! You finally showed up!"

"You drained my boy dry, and you dare look me in the eye?"

I held her gaze, my expression carved from ice. "You’re claiming I conned your son out of seventy-five thousand dollars?"

"Every single cent! And we want it back in cash!"

I let out a low, dry chuckle. "Your son works odd jobs as an unpaid extra and makes less than five hundred bucks a week when he’s lucky. Where did he find seventy-five grand to lend anyone?"

The woman’s expression stiffened for a fraction of a second, her gaze darting sideways. "That... that’s his inheritance! His wedding fund! What business is it of yours where it came from?"

"Take your third-rate street theater somewhere else," I said flatly. "My parents have heart conditions. If you step onto our property again, I will have you removed in cuffs."

Seeing that her intimidation wasn't working, the woman threw herself back into another hysterical tantrum, shrieking at the sky. "Lord take me now! The thief is threatening an old woman! Someone call the news! The criminals are running the town!"

Right on cue, Braden emerged from the fringe of the crowd, adjusting the lapels of his tailored wool coat like a savior arriving to restore order.

He stepped smoothly between me and the screaming woman, lowering his voice into a tone of patronizing concern. "Lila, look at what this has escalated to. Is this really worth putting your elderly parents through?"

"An old woman’s health is on the line. Settle the balance right now, and we can make this disappear before the precinct gets involved. Otherwise, your family will never be able to show their faces in this county again."

I studied the calculating predator behind his sympathetic mask. "And what number would make this ‘disappear,’ Braden?"

Braden’s eyes darkened, a predatory gleam flashing beneath the surface. "Given the public exposure and emotional damages? A hundred and fifty thousand. Wire it to an escrow account today, or by tomorrow morning, your parents’ names, home address, and medical records will be plastered across every neighborhood forum and local news tip line."

I looked at him, and against all expectations, I smiled.

"A hundred and fifty grand? In your dreams."