Chapter 17 - HAILEY GOT A JOB
Hailey surprised everyone.
Most of all herself.
After the financing scandal, she lost several sponsorship deals connected to her social media accounts.
People discovered old videos where she joked about never paying for meals.
One clip showed her holding my additional card and saying.
“My brother married well.”
She deleted it.
Too late.
For a month, she blamed me.
Then Gertrude stopped giving her money.
Brandon could not.
And I refused.
Hailey had to work.
She found a job at a small event company.
At first, she hated it.
Then something strange happened.
She became good at it.
Six months after moving out, she asked to meet me.
We sat at a bakery.
She paid for her own coffee.
I noticed.
She noticed me noticing.
“Don’t.”
I smiled.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were thinking it.”
“Maybe.”
She pulled an envelope from her bag.
“What is this?”
“Money.”
I frowned.
“For what?”
“The card.”
My expression changed.
“I don’t know the exact amount I spent.”
“I do.”
She winced.
“Of course you do.”
She pushed the envelope toward me.
“It’s not all of it.”
“I don’t want it.”
“Take it.”
“Hailey.”
“Please.”
Her voice shook.
“I need to know I started paying it back.”
I looked at her.
This was not the woman filming king crab for social media.
Not completely.
“What changed?”
She stared at the table.
“I had to buy groceries with my own paycheck.”
I almost laughed.
“I’m serious.”
“I know.”
She continued.
“I stood in the store looking at prices.”
“And I realized I never knew what anything cost.”
She looked embarrassed.
“I thought money just appeared because you worked.”
“That sounds ridiculous.”
“It is.”
She looked at me.
“I’m sorry about Skylar.”
My expression hardened slightly.
“I should have said something.”
“Yes.”
“I saw her in the kitchen.”
My chest tightened.
“You saw?”
Hailey nodded.
“I knew Mom told her not to eat with us.”
“Why didn’t you stop her?”
Her eyes filled.
“Because I didn’t want Mom mad at me.”
There it was.
The same disease in a different form.
Fear dressed as loyalty.
I took the envelope.
Not because I needed the money.
Because Hailey needed the responsibility.
“Pay the rest slowly.”
She nodded.
“And one more thing.”
“What?”
“Apologize to Skylar.”
“I already texted her.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“When she’s ready, say it to her face.”
Hailey nodded.
“Okay.”
I left the bakery realizing something unexpected.
May you like
Consequences had done what lectures never could.
They had made Hailey grow up.
