Chapter 4

When I heard that, I felt cold all over, like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on me. My hand clutching the suitcase wouldn't stop shaking.

"Why?" Barely keeping my anger in check, I asked her, "If you want me to leave, just say so. Why do this to me?"

My dad was still lying in the hospital, hooked up to tubes, unable to move.

Dad's employees were counting on me to earn enough to pay their wages and put food on the table for their families.

The creditors and banks were still bombarding me with dozens, sometimes…