Chapter 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Mom died, she left me the house and her savings\u00a0<\/p>\n
The day Dad remarried, my stepmother pulled me into a hug, all smiles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSweetheart, from now on, I\u2019m gonna take care of you.*\u00a0<\/p>\n
Six months later, my house got transferred into her son\u2019s name.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A year after that, she drained eight hundred thousand from the account\u2013called it an \u201cinvestment.*\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once I started college, she started whispering in Dad\u2019s ear:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFive hundred bucks a month? That\u2019s way too much. You\u2019re gonna spoil her rotten.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, Dad cut me off. Said he wanted me to learn independence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I called Grandpa on an empty stomach, crying so hard I couldn\u2019t get the words out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The next day, three black Maybachs pulled up outside our building.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The dining hall was closed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood outside the gate, watching the ladies inside wipe down tables.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My phone showed a balance of three dollars and seventy cents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dad hadn\u2019t sent this month\u2019s money.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He hadn\u2019t sent last month\u2019s either.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I called him. Two rings, then he hung up. I tried again\u2013straight to voicemail.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So I called my stepmother instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She picked up, voice dripping like honey: \u201cRenee, sweetie! Your dad\u2019s in the shower. What\u2019s up?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe money\u2026 this month\u2019s money\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh your allowance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She stretched the words out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRenee, your dad and I talked it over. He says you\u2019re twenty now\u2013time you learned to stand on your own two feet. Five hundred a month isn\u2019t teaching you anything except how to blow through cash.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at other kids your age. They work part\u2013time, earn their own way. That\u2019s real character. All you do is hold your hand out. How\u2019s that gonna help you grow up, sweetheart?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t say anything\u00a0<\/p>\n
She kept going. Plus, it\u2019s not like your mom\u2019s money disappeared. Bryson\u2019s investing it for you. We\u2019re thinking about your future here. Can\u2019t you try to understand where your dad\u2019s coming from?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bryson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her son. Bryson Cash.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The house Mom left me? In his name now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The eight hundred thousand Mom left me? Gone without a trace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what am I supposed to eat-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDoesn\u2019t the dining hall have cheap options? Anyway, eating less is good for you. Girls look better when they\u2019re thin.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She hung up, still smiling, I could tell.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I leaned against the pillar by the dining hall entrance, stomach twisting in on itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No breakfast. No lunch. And now dinner\u2013doors locked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I dug through my backpack and found a pack of saltines from last week. Three crackers left.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I crouched under a streetlight and chewed them slowly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They were soft. Stale.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mom had been gone three years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Three years ago, by the time they caught it, it was already stage four.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She held my hand and said:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRenee, I\u2019m leaving you something. The house, the savings\u2013enough to get you through college, enough for your wedding\u2026 I\u2019m so sorry, baby. I won\u2019t get to see you walk down the aisle.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
We both cried.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said, \u201cyour grandpa\u2019s getting old\u2013don\u2019t make him worry. And your dad\u2026 your dad will take care of you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After she died, Dad sort of collapsed in on himself for six months.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then he met Melinda Cash.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Forty\u2013five, well kept, soft\u2013spoken. Always smiling at people.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had a twenty\u2013five\u2013year\u2013old son, said her ex\u2013husband had passed, and it was just the two of them now, barely scraping by.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dad fell for it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dad said, \u201cRenee, your mom\u2019s gone. I can\u2019t do this alone. Just try to understand.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
2.70%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
I asked, \u201cwhat about her son?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBryson\u2019s a good guy. He\u2019ll be like a brother to you. He\u2019ll look out for you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t need him to look out for me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dad sighed. Didn\u2019t say anything after that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Three months later, they were married.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the wedding, Melinda wore a red dress and pulled me into her arms, grinning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRenee, I\u2019m your stepmom now. And I\u2019m gonna take such good care of you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her hands were not cold.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But when she touched me, I got goosebumps all over.\u00a0<\/p>\n
(0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
(0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
The Sky Waited for Answers by Orin Flux 1 Chapter 1\u00a0 When Mom died, she left me the house and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-billionaire-grandpas-secret-weapo-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23903\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}