Synopsis
Three years after I walked away from my parents for good, they hauled me into court, demanding “parental support” as repayment for the thirty years they’d spent raising me. It was never about the money. They wanted to gift their adopted daughter, Bella Vance—fresh out of law school and newly hired at the firm—her very first courtroom victory.
They knew exactly how broken I was. My father, the respected hospital director, had personally removed my right kidney and given it to Bella. My mother, a seasoned attorney, had framed me and sent me to prison in Bella’s place. Still, they sued me—because my father needed to preserve his image of impartiality, and my mother owed everything to Bella’s biological family.
The judge ruled in their favor, ordering me to pay fifty thousand dollars immediately—every cent I had scraped together just to stay alive. Outside the Evans County Courthouse, they stood proud and untouchable.
“You’ll never be free of us, sweetheart,” they said. “Not as long as you’re breathing.”
They were right.
When the System finally found me and told me I had stage four kidney cancer—with no money left for treatment—it offered me a way out. A chance to leave this world behind.
This time, I didn’t hesitate.
