1 Chapter 1

In her apartment Cassandra open her phone to her voicemail.

I need your help Cass, there going to kill me. haunted... Cassandra replayed the voice mail that her sister sent.

Shed thought it was only a joke. With Alma's being her exaggerated and melodrama personality. She'd stupidly thought it was a joke. How was she to know it was real.

She's mad, she want to wreak everything in her apartment.

If only... now Alma is in the hospital... she couldn't stay there, it just reminds her when her mom and father died. But she shouldn't have left her there by herself, with how the loaners that did that to her, she doesn't know when they'll come back and ask for the money that her sister owe.

After a while her phone rang. she thought she'd be sick with the news she didn't want to hear. Getting her courage up she pick up her phone.

Hello! (her voice was shaking).

Agent Cassandra your sister is out of surgery and are now in recovery. She'll be fine but the insurance that your sister sent for the hospital cost was returned with denial. Im afraid without proper medical attention your sister wont last for more than few days.

Cassandra closed her eyes relief washing over her.

Alma would make it.

Cassandra did you hear me? (using informal words). looking down on her cause he thinks that shes poor.

If only the bastard knew the truth. Its not that shes lacks money but to her it was her family obligation. To her, Family is important.

She growled in frustration. How many more times would Alma borrow money from scum to invest in stupid schemes or just throw away on gambling? And how many more times would Alma run to her when the balance came due?

Like she could just snap her fingers and get it.

But then she'd trained her sister from an early age that she would always make everything okay. Whatever Alma asked, she gave.

No questions asked.

Cassandra hung her head in her hands. Never once in the past had Alma been hurt. And she cursed herself that she hadn't been quicker this time. She'd gathered as much as she could as fast as she could, but it hadn't been enough.

There never seemed to be enough.

She sighed in disgust.

She gave a bitter laugh as she looked around the threadbare furniture she'd bought from garage sale and her rundown, one-room, economy condo. Sell what? Thanks to her siblings, she didn't own anything of real value. Not even her rusty, dilapidated car would bring enough money to pay half of what Alma owed.

We're going to have to turn her out unless we can get a valid insurance.

The knot in her stomach twisted even harder and she clenched her fists. Cassandra was so tired of being poor, so tired of the people who looked down their snobby noses at her and demanded their money as if all she had to do was grab it off the nearest shelf. People who had no idea just how precious every credit was.

Every bead of sweat came with a hefty price tag . . .

She opened her eyes and forced her anger and hatred aside. "I heard you, Doctor. I'll get the money for you in cash. If you'll just give me seven days.