Chapter 7°
She rushed into the bathroom, her breath quickening. The cup, towel, and razor–gone.”
For the first time, real fear gripped Sabrina, making her heart tremble. She frantically redialed Zach’s number, but the mechanical female voice responded coldly:”
“Sorry, the number you dialed is busy.“”
An hour later, she sat on the sofa, staring blankly at the divorce agreement on the table, regret creeping in like a shadow.” Zach wasn’t just threatening–he truly wanted a divorce. Worse, he had transferred all the demolition money into a trust fund, set to be donated annually to poor communities and orphanages.”
Sabrina hugged herself tightly, curling up on the couch. Fear crept into her chest–one she hadn’t felt in eighteen years.
She had been this scared once before.\
Back then, her mother had lost everything to gambling–including her. She was sold off to a forty–year–old bachelor.” The memory clawed its way back. His foul breath, his rough hands. The way he had pinned her down, his stench suffocating her. In desperation, she grabbed a stool and smashed it against his head.”
Her mother had been furious, cursing her for ruining the deal. Instead of protecting her, she went out searching for another buyer–offering her even to a sixty–year–old widow. But even he refused, disgusted by her “bad reputation.“}]
Then came Mickey’s mother. She cleared the gambling debt in exchange for Sabrina. But she wasn’t rescued–just relocated.
Mickey was still a child back then. Sabrina wasn’t taken in as a daughter, but as a servant.
From that day on, she not only did housework but chopped firewood, pulled weeds, and tended the fields–working like a laborer to repay a debt that was never hers.
Then Zach entered her life.\
She still remembered the high school freshman party–the moment she danced the peacock dance she had taught herself.”
And Zach had noticed her.”
He spent his own savings to pay for her dance lessons. He worked tirelessly to help fund her tuition, ensuring she had enough to eat so she could focus on her studies. Without him, she wouldn’t have graduated high school, let alone been admitted to the dance academy and become a dancer.
He even broke ties with his family for her.”
A sudden ringtone yanked Sabrina back to the present.
She inhaled sharply before answering.
“Sabrina, Mike isn’t feeling well. He’s restless, says his head hurts. He’s calling for you.”
Then, a small voice chimed in, soft but accusatory.
.“@
“Mom, I feel sick and dizzy. It’s all because of that bad guy. I want you to hold me to sleep.” Listening to the father and son playing their scripted roles, Sabrina clenched her fists.
For the first time, she regretted being soft–hearted.”
Mickey had always been charming–fair–skinned, sweet–talking, good at making people laugh. But he had been raised by his aunt to be a gigolo, unable to hold a steady job, unwilling to work hard.”
By the time he was in his twenties, no woman wanted to marry him.”
That day, when she visited the village, Mickey had clung to her, sobbing like a child, saying he had failed his mother. That he couldn’t let her die without holding a grandson.”
His mother had dropped to her knees, begging, reminding Sabrina that she had once saved her.”
They had promised her–sworn, even–that it would be just once. That she could leave afterward, and they would be
even.!
And she believed them.”
She had thought she was settling an old debt. That after this, she could finally walk away.
But then, things spiraled out of control.”
The moment she held the first baby–then the second, then the third–something inside her cracked.”
They were so small, so warm. They clung to her, calling her Mommy.!!
And she had gone back, again and again.”
She had fed them, played games with them, taken them to and from school.”
Then, at some point, she had entertained the idea of taking them into her own life–of raising them as her own.”
