Chapter 4

“Sophia, I love you,” Isabel whispered, clutching the edge of the stretcher. “You are a daughter to me.”

I finished adjusting the oxygen flow. “Then you should have protected me. But you chose to lie. This conversation is over.”

Her pulse was steady. The emotional tether I had held for six years was not.

“Let me give you the beach apartment,” she pleaded. “I can make sure you never have to depend on Victor again.”

“Pay the final invoice and every documented on-call hour still owed under my contract. Nothing more.”

“That isn’t enough.”

“My labor has a price. My…