The text was from Stella Delgado.

I hailed a cab to Westhill Residence.

Five years. I'd assumed the single-family villa in Fort Valor Military District had changed hands long ago. Instead, it stood before me, ablaze with light and decorated like a fairy-tale castle.

The lawn was packed with guests, the air thick with expensive perfume and glittering jewelry.

Stella stood at the center of it all, wearing a diamond tiara and a custom white couture gown. She clung to my uncle's arm.

They stood before a six-tier cake, surrounded by adoring onlookers.

Stella clasped her hands together, her voice dripping with sugar. "My wish is to be the only princess in Uncle Sebastian's heart. Forever and ever."

Uncle Sebastian smiled and retrieved a square blue velvet box from his uniform pocket.

The lid snapped open.

My blood turned to ice.

Inside sat a pair of jade bangles.

The James family heirlooms, passed down for generations. Tradition dictated they were reserved strictly for daughters-in-law of the house.

I remembered my eighteenth birthday. Uncle Sebastian had placed those very bangles in my palm. Savvy, whether you accept me or not, you will always be my most precious princess.

I had guarded those bangles with my life. Even in my darkest moments, I'd protected them.

Now, those lustrous bands had been resized. Inside, a new name was etched: Stella Delgado.

To thunderous applause, he solemnly slid them onto Stella's slender wrists.

"Congratulations, my little princess. Your wish is granted."

I didn't remember leaving. I only became aware of myself again when my phone buzzed incessantly.

I saw you at The Regent, sis.

Did you get a good look? The bangles are mine. And so is Uncle Sebastian.

You looked like a stray dog. Pathetic.

Why don't you just die? Save us the trouble. Hee hee.

Oh, and I had Uncle prepare a "birthday surprise" for you. Enjoy.

I wandered the freezing streets like a ghost, numb to the cold.

Night had fallen by the time I returned to my dilapidated apartment block. That was when I realized what Stella meant by "surprise."

My front door stood wide open.

The apartment was a wreck, as if a storm had torn through it.

Sebastian was on his knees, hands twisted behind his back. His pristine military uniform was smeared with dust.

He struggled against his captors, veins bulging along his neck.

"Long time no see, sweetheart." The leader rolled a toothpick between his teeth. "Rent's due on the debt."

The blood drained from my face. "I paid everything off. Every cent."

"Paid off?" The man scoffed, grinding his heel into Sebastian's spine. "The debt is cleared when I say it's cleared. Don't want to pay? Fine. Let's see how much your precious uncle can take."

"Savvy... run!" Sebastian gasped. "Don't worry about me! Let them kill me... I'm just a cripple anyway!"

The script never changed.

Over the last five years, I'd heard these exact words a thousand times.

I closed my eyes, exhaustion seeping into my bones.

They'd "collected" countless times, yet Sebastian never walked away with so much as a bruise. Meanwhile, I'd suffered broken ribs, a permanent limp, and financial ruin to protect the man who was deceiving me to my core.

The metallic tang of blood rose in my throat.

"What do you want?" I rasped.

The man looked me up and down, his gaze dripping with contempt. "Crawl through our legs. For every guy you crawl under, bark three times like a dog. Do that, and we'll call it entertainment instead of debt."

"No! Savvy, don't do it!" Sebastian roared, eyes bloodshot as he feigned a desperate struggle.

A numb, bitter smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.

The last ember of hope inside me flickered out.

"Fine." My voice sounded foreign—terrifyingly calm. "If this is what you want, consider the debt settled."

I was speaking to the loan sharks, but my uncle's head snapped up. For a split second, panic cracked his mask.

It didn't last. The memory of his promise to Stella hardened his resolve.

This is the last time, he told himself. The final lesson.

Once Savannah endured this humiliation, he would take her home. He would spend the rest of his life making it up to her. He had a lifetime to fix this.

So he looked away. Feigning struggle against his captors, he manipulated the miniature camera hidden in his cuff. Captured me on my knees before those men.

Sent.

The crowd scattered.

I stayed on the ground, limbs heavy as lead, until sheer will dragged me upright.

My uncle crawled toward me, eyes rimmed red. He opened his mouth—probably to offer some excuse—but my hollow gaze strangled the words in his throat.

The next day, the doctor arrived to escort him to the capital for his "miracle cure."

Before climbing into the car, he gripped my hand, looking back with every step. "Savvy, wait for me. When I get back, you'll pick up your rifle again. You'll be the star of Fort Valor once more. I won't let anyone ever bully you again."

I offered a faint smile but said nothing.

I watched until the vehicle vanished over the horizon.

Then I doubled over. My hand flew to my mouth, but it couldn't stop the warm, metallic torrent gushing between my fingers.

The doctor had warned me: when the tumor ruptures, the clock stops.

Strange.

As I collapsed onto the pavement, fear didn't come. Instead, a peculiar calm settled in.

Memories washed over me—fragmented, bittersweet.

Him bringing me home from the cold martyrs' cemetery, his large hands clumsy as he tied my pigtails.

My first live-fire exercise. I missed the target; he scolded me sternly, then snuck milk candy into my pocket.

The nights I burned with fever. He stayed by my bedside, holding my hand, whispering over and over, "Savvy, don't be afraid. Uncle is here."

He used to say, Our Savvy deserves the best the world has to offer.

Tears mixed with the blood on my cheeks.

Trembling, I used crimson-stained fingers to unlock my phone. It took everything I had left to type the words.

Uncle, I'm not waiting for you.

In this life, I've repaid my debt to the James family for raising me. I've paid the price for Stella's "grievances." Bury me beside my parents.

I hit send.

My eyelids grew heavy, sealing the world away.

Beside my lifeless hand, the phone on the asphalt buzzed violently.