26. You’re Insane
YOU’RE INSANE
CHELSEA
H umming to myself, I washed my hands in the hallway sink, checking my hair.
“You seem different,” Jesse appeared beside me, leaning on the wall with a weird look on his face.
I shrugged. “What about it?”
I wished he would stop hovering around me and leave.
“Why are you acting like a bitch?” Jesse sneered, leaning close.
Taking a step back, I leveled my stare at him. “If you want to act like a little boy, then get out of this house. You don’t get to disrespect me like that. We broke up months ago, Jesse. Grow up.”
His face turned red, his nose flaring when he entered my bubble. My back pressed on the sink. “I know you’re lying about your prissy rich boyfriend.”
My voice hardened. “I’m not.”
“Then why don’t you show me what he looks like?” He let out a chuckle and trapped me by placing his arms on either side of me. “Who would ever want to date you, Chels? Especially rich men. They like big boobs with implants?—”
“Move away before I kick you where the sun doesn’t shine.”
He was so disgusting and acting like a high-school bully. Doesn’t he have anything better to do? Like touch some grass and improve himself?
Jesse’s face twisted into anger as he turned the faucet on and splashed some water on my chest, making me gasp at the coldness.
“You deserve it, you bit— what the fuck is on your chest? ” He leaned close, but I moved swiftly, kneeing him in the balls and enjoying the high-pitched shrill he let out before dropping to his knees.
My mom and Karen appeared in the hallway, looking at both of us. I covered my chest and snapped at Jesse, “I hope you rot in hell.”
Ignoring my mom’s gasp, I went upstairs to change my tee-shirt. My eyes widened when I looked at my reflection. Oh shit . The top had turned sheer, making the words on my chest visible. Did he read it? No, I had covered myself quickly.
Calming myself down, I changed and went downstairs when I heard the front door close. Finally, they left. I braced myself for whatever Mom was going to say.
“How was the salad?”
I found her blue eyes weary as she looked at the dining table, avoiding meeting my face. She didn’t even ask me what had happened between me and Jesse.
My mom wore her heart on the sleeve. I could tell she was anxious, and seeing my parent worried about whatever she had to tell me made me nervous.
“It was good,” I said, amusing her in the small talk. Facing her, I asked, “What is it, Mom?”
She blinked up at me and held the back of a chair as if she was supporting herself for whatever she was going to say next. I held my breath when she opened her mouth.
“We’re in debt,” she stammered. “ I am. David, your father, h-he took a loan in my name and I-I just…”
I didn’t know what to feel. I kept staring at her, trying to process what she had just said.
“How much is the debt?” I asked, shaking my head. “When was this? You’re divorced, how can he take?—”
She closed her eyes. “He maxed out my credit cards, which I didn’t know he had and…”
“And what, mom?”
Her bottom lip quivered as she finally met my eyes. “He borrowed money from loan sharks and named me the guarantor.”
“ What? ” I could barely whisper the word.
My parents had a successful business of selling kids’ clothing, and we were well-off.
Even after the divorce, our family would go to a Michelin star restaurant every month.
That’s how I graduated from a private school.
But then Mom and I found out that dad was barely scraping by and had a terrible credit history.
Their business had stopped making a profit for over two years and went under, forcing me to get a student loan for university. I thought it was better now. But dad …
“I don’t know what to do,” my mom said, her eyes glassy. “I can sell my car and jewelry, but it won’t make a dent in the debt.”
“But this is illegal!” I argued. “How can he name you?—”
“They were here yesterday,” she said, clutching the back of the chair. “They threatened to trash our home, honey. Threatened to find you and hurt you.”
My eyes widened when she kept going. “They threatened to hurt my baby, Noah. They had pictures of him coming out of his school, and I don’t know where the hell David is.”
I cupped my mouth. If they hurt my brother, I wouldn’t know what to do.
“How much is the debt?” I asked her again. Surely, it can’t be that bad .
“Over five million dollars.”
My legs threatened to give out.
“I-I didn’t want you to worry, sunflower,” she said, walking towards me. “I know you’re working hard in LA, but they threatened to—I got scared and asked you to come here.”
I nodded numbly, letting her hug me. I had at least a million dollars in my bank account. I was planning to save up, put it in a high yield savings account, pay off my student debt and send a few grand to my mom so she could buy herself new clothes.
But that wasn’t possible.
“I-I’ll pay it off,” I said, squeezing her shoulders. “You don’t have to worry about it, mom. Nothing will happen to you, Noah, or me. We will find Dad too.”
He must have gone into hiding.
“I don’t want you to shoulder the burden alone, honey,” she looked worried. “Noah is staying at his friend’s house, and I’ll go get him during the weekend.” That made sense . Dad lived an hour away in the main city. I was glad Noah was not at his place.
I needed to make more money to pay it off.
“I will leave in two days,” I said with a forced smile and lied. “I have a job interview coming up, so I can pay it off quickly.”
My mom looked weary and thinner than the last time I had seen her.
She was working part time as a server and selling home-baked cakes and cookies to keep the roof over her head.
I knew she was doing better than the past two years, but she would do anything to pay off the debt.
Even starve herself. I couldn’t let her do that.
“Will you be safe, sunflower?”
“Of course, I’ll be safe!”
* * *
My chest felt heavy when I got out of the shower. It was my last day of stay at my mom’s place and my bags were already packed. I had called the manager at the club and asked her when the next auction was.
I didn’t want to burden Sean with my financial situation. He was generous enough.
I stared at the blurred words written on my breasts. The dark pink ink looked striking against my pale, flushed skin as the pads of my fingers brushed over each fading letter.
It was strange. The feeling of being owned by him. Sean . It should have bothered me. I was independent and my own person. But I didn’t hate it. Instead, I enjoyed it.
My mood dulled, thinking I’d have to go back to that strip club and stand half-naked in front of horny men.
Shuddering at the thought, I changed into pajamas. My phone dinged with notification and I smiled, seeing my screen.
Sugar Daddy: are u free?
no, my sugar daddy paid 3 million dollars for a date so hed say im expensive
Sugar Daddy: brat.
I jumped when he called me, and I answered it without seeing it was a video call.
We had called on the phone before, and I was being a good girl, answering his every call and ignoring him whenever he asked me if the conversation with my mom went well.
He knew I had rushed to Coral Springs for an important talk with Mom, but I didn’t want to tell him about the massive debt.
“You didn’t call me when you were showering?” He said with a pout. “I’m wounded.”
By the looks of it, he seemed freshly showered with damp dark hair and was sitting on a bed with dim lighting.
“Why would I do that?” I asked, snuggling into the bedsheets.
He raised his brow. “Why wouldn’t you, Princess?” His praise made my stomach warm. “Show me your tits. I want to see if I need to re-write?—”
“ Shameless ,” I interrupted him. My face looked flushed in the video call. And yet, my panties were getting wet. “What? You’ll come back here to re-write it?”
I hadn’t told him I’d be back in LA by tomorrow. If I did, he’d stay by my side and I wouldn’t be able to enter the auction to earn the money for debt.
It might get messy, so I would tell him everything once the debt was paid off and my family was safe.
What if I told him and loan sharks went after him? No, I couldn’t let him get hurt.
“Yes, I will,” he said, his tone sincere and eyes dark. “I’ll drive all the way to you to see your perfect tits, label you as mine, and then drive back.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Keep talking and I will start jerking off, Princess,” Sean said, his eyes hooded. “I miss you.”
I bit my lip. “It has been a while.”
“Two days and three hours since I last saw you in person.”
I raised my brows. “You’re counting down the hours?”
He nodded. “Three days and twelve hours since I made you cum.”
“You’re insane,” I breathed out, squirming on the bed, wondering why I found that attractive.
“You haven’t seen me go insane, Princess.” His voice lowered an octave, and he purred, “Why don’t you be a good girl for Daddy and show me how wet my pretty pussy is, hm ?”