Chapter 782:

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Aurora scrolled. Photos of Ximena looking gaunt, carrying groceries for Xander’s mother. Financial records showing Xander attempting to take out a second mortgage in his name using a forged power of attorney, which the bank had flagged but not yet rejected.

“He’s liquidating her,” Aurora whispered. “He’s going to take the house and leave her with the debt. He’s desperate to pay off the loan shark he bought the ring from.”

She couldn’t go herself. Ximena would put up a wall.

“Get me Sarah,” Aurora said. Sarah was a mutual friend from college, neutral ground, someone Ximena hadn’t blocked.

Two hours later, Sarah stood outside Ximena’s apartment door holding a gift bag. She knocked.

Mrs. Tate opened the door. “We’re not buying anything.”

“I’m Sarah,” she said brightly. “Ximena’s friend. I have a wedding gift.”

“Oh. A gift?” Mrs. Tate stepped back. “Come in.”

Sarah walked in. The smell hit her first: cigarettes and despair. Then she saw Ximena coming out of the kitchen.

Ximena looked ten years older. Her hair was limp, and she wore stained sweatpants.

𝗗i𝘴сo𝘷𝖾𝗿 𝗇𝘦𝘸 s𝘵о𝘳𝘪𝖾s о𝗇 𝗴a𝗹ո𝗈vе𝗅s.𝘤𝗈𝘮

“Sarah?” Ximena blinked.

“Hey, girl,” Sarah said with a smile, though her heart broke. “Can we… talk? Maybe get coffee?”

“No coffee,” Mrs. Tate barked. “Coffee is expensive. Talk here.”

Sarah glanced at the hovering mother-in-law, then leaned in close to Ximena.

“Ximena,” she whispered urgently. “Aurora sent me. We know about the mortgage. He’s forging your signature. He’s going to steal the apartment.”

Ximena flinched at the name. Aurora.

“She’s spying on me?” Ximena asked, her voice rising.

“She’s trying to save you!” Sarah hissed. “Look at your life, Ximena! You’re a servant in your own home! Come with me. The car is downstairs. We can fix this.”

Ximena looked at the door. Freedom was twenty feet away.

But then she looked at Xander, who had just walked out of the bedroom. He stared at her, a cold, heavy stare, a reminder of the bucket and the shame. He tapped his wrist brace significantly, a silent reminder of how much he had “suffered” for her.

If she left now, she would be admitting that she was wrong. She would be admitting that she was the fool everyone said she was. The sunk cost fallacy weighed on her like an anchor.

“No,” Ximena said, stepping back.

“Ximena, please!”

“Get out,” Ximena said loudly, for Xander’s benefit. “I don’t need Aurora’s spies. Xander is investing the money. It’s for our future. You don’t understand business.”

She was parroting the lies he fed her.

“He’s stealing from you!” Sarah shouted.

Xander grabbed Sarah’s arm. “You heard the lady. Get out.” He shoved Sarah into the hallway and slammed the door.

Sarah pounded on the wood. “Ximena! Open the door!”

Inside, Ximena leaned her forehead against the door and closed her eyes.

“Good girl,” Xander whispered, stroking her hair. “You passed the test.”

He kissed her cheek.

Ximena didn’t feel it. She felt nothing. She was just waiting, waiting for the rock bottom she knew was coming, and praying that when she hit it, she wouldn’t shatter completely.

In her office, Aurora received Sarah’s text: She refused. She’s defending him.

Aurora closed her eyes. A single tear escaped.

“Then we wait,” she whispered to the empty room. “We wait for the crash.”

She turned to the window and looked out at the city that ate the weak. Ximena was falling, and Aurora had to be ready to catch her when, not if, she finally let go of the ledge.

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Message from Noa: We’re in the final quarter of the year, my dear ones, hang in there! God loves you and Noa wishes you all the best. (ɔO‿=)ɔ ♥

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