Chapter 4 - The Price of Silence
The catering manager called while I was still holding my father's phone number on the screen.
"Emma, your shift is over," he said. "The client requested that your agency remove you from the roster."
"I stopped someone from hitting a lady."
"I know what you think happened. I also know who signs the checks."
The call ended. I stared at my black serving shoes. They cost forty-nine dollars, and I had bought them on credit to get this job.
"I'm sorry," Isabella said.
"Please don't be. You're not the one who fired me."
I told them Dad's exact words. Lena made a written note, then called the after-hours transportation safety line and the operator. The dispatcher promised Van 18 would not go out until someone checked it. Nobody in the room looked reassured.
Vincent offered to arrange a ride home. I said no. The last thing I wanted was to become the poor girl a rich man rescued for one evening. I asked instead for the name of a lawyer who handled workplace retaliation and injury claims.
He wrote down the number of a legal clinic, not his personal attorney. That mattered to me.
When I stepped into the hallway, Victoria was waiting beside a mirror taller than my apartment door.
"How much did he promise you?" she asked.
"Who?"
"Vincent. A job? Money? You people always have a price."
"You tried to hit his mother."
"I raised my hand. You grabbed it. We'll see which clip goes viral."
Her eyes slid to my phone. "Your father has enough problems without a daughter making more."
I felt a sharp, cold pressure under my ribs. "Don't talk about him."
Victoria smiled. "Then stop saying the number eighteen."
She knew. She knew exactly which van, which hospital bed, and which family couldn't afford a long legal fight.
May you like
I left before I said something I'd regret. Outside, a hard Chicago wind whipped around the hotel entrance. My phone buzzed with a message from Sophie: DAD'S ROOM WAS MOVED. NO ONE TOLD US.
I hurried outside and waved down a cab. Whatever was happening at the hospital, I wanted my father to hear my voice before anyone else spoke for him.
