Chapter 19

Struggles

Elara's POV:

After I left the hospital, I wasn't done digesting Harden's recent threat when the news of father's health hit me like a sledgehammer, shattering the fragile facade of hope I'd clung to all this while for his sake. I received a call from Jason who said that father's condition deteriorated in prison.

Desperation swirled within me as I racked my brain, thinking of every possible option to save him. If he continued to stay in prison, I doubted he'd be able to survive it, yet there was nothing I could do. Jason had earlier said that he knew someone, and they could arrange for father to get proper treatment, but it would cost a lot of money—about $10,000. I'd never thought of so much money in my entire life and had nowhere to get it. Still, I needed to save my father. After a long while, I made the gut-wrenching decision to sell our house, hoping to save him.

Before my father was demoted from Beta, we had a house where we lived. After his sickness worsened, we moved