Chapter 57
I wandered over to my apartment, convinced that Edwin was pulling a bluff on me.
I didn’t even get inside the main building, though, because the fob that I had used did not work to grant me entrance. The front desk saw me, came to me, and shook their head.
“We’ve evicted you, Chance,” the woman said. “I’m sorry.”
Jesus.
“Morgan has your stuff. I would get in touch with him about it.”
Oh, yeah, I’m sure that’ll go over great. Go see my Judas of a brother whom I punched in the nose and demand my stuff back. That will be a pleasant conversation.
“OK,” I said, turning away quietly.
I had no home. I had no friends. I had family.
I had nothing.
I sat on the edge of the curb, looking up at the sky, watching all of the cars go by for some time. I had nothing.
I looked at my phone. Morgan’s phone had still not received my texts. Sarah was nothing more than a figment of my imagination. Claire and Layla wanted nothing to do with me romantically. I had nothing.
MCH would soon becoming ECH, which would soon dissolve into Hunt Industries, leaving me, at best, with a few hundred thousand dollars, nothing more. I had nothing.
And yet…
As strange as it sounded, as perhaps delusional as I might have felt, as crazy as I might have seemed, I felt free.
I didn’t have to account for Morgan in my actions anymore. I didn’t have to account for Edwin Hunt anymore—at least not after three months—because he had nothing left to take for me. I didn’t have to account for any romantic interests.
I had long sought freedom from the Hunt name, and while it had come at the cost of everything, it hadn’t been truly everything, because I still had my life, my self-respect, and my freedom.
Perhaps, then, things would turn out fine. It would take some time to pull myself up by the bootstraps, but I could finally operate as Chance Givens in full. No more Chance Hunt. No more connection to a Hunt of any kind. Just Chance Givens.
I just needed a place to spend the night. I pulled out my phone and dialed the one number of the person I knew who would help me. It wasn’t dependence, but rather, an active step toward getting myself right.
“Hi, Layla?” I said, wearing an odd smile. “Would you mind if I crashed with you tonight? Funny story, I’m homeless now. Edwin evicted me.”
I heard her shocked and talking dramatically, but when she calmed down, I just reassured her with two short words.
“I’m free.”