Chapter 5
Izzy felt as though her entire world had collapsed as she stepped out of Seth Santiago’s condominium building.
She had failed.
She had walked in believing she was willing to do whatever it took to save her mother, only to discover that there were limits she couldn't force herself to cross.
Her eyes were swollen from crying as she walked down the street without any real destination in mind.
What am I going to do now?
Carl's voice suddenly echoed in her memory.
“Izzy, if you ever need financial help, no matter what it is, come to me. If I can help, I will.”
A bitter smile touched Izzy’s lips as she thought of Carl, who had always been there whenever she needed him.
She could ask him for help, but the thought of doing so left her too ashamed to even pick up the phone.
He had already helped her and her mother more times than she could count. Asking him for another enormous amount of money felt unbearable.
She finally reached the main road and stopped for a moment.
The traffic was loud, the air heavy with exhaust, and cars rushed past in both directions.
Yet somehow, the polluted city air felt easier to breathe than the cold, expensive silence inside Seth's home.
“I still can't believe I did that.”
She whispered the words to herself before deciding to walk back to the hospital instead of calling another taxi.
Maybe the long walk would clear her head, but with Seth’s words replaying over and over in her mind, the distance did nothing to quiet her thoughts.
You can't offer what you can’t give, Isabel.
He was right.
She still couldn't believe she had actually gone to his home and offered herself in exchange for money.
What had she been thinking?
Tears blurred her vision again as the possibility she had been trying so hard to avoid settled heavily in her mind.
Maybe there really was no other solution. Maybe this was the end of the road for her mother, and the thought made her chest ache.
By the time Izzy reached the hospital, sweat dampened her forehead and her feet throbbed from the long walk.
She barely made it through the entrance before spotting her uncle waiting outside.
“Izzy! Where have you been?”
He hurried toward her.
“Why are you only getting here now?”
Izzy struggled to catch her breath.
“I had to take care of something.”
She looked past him.
“Why are you out here? Who's with Mom?”
Her uncle's expression changed.
“That's what I've been trying to tell you. I've been waiting for you.”
A cold feeling settled in Izzy's stomach.
“What happened?”
“I don't know what you did, Izzy. I don't know how you managed it, but your mother is already in surgery.”
Izzy froze.
“What?”
“They took her into the operating room a few minutes ago.”
“But how? Why would they start the surgery? We haven't paid for it.”
Her uncle stared at her.
“The doctor said everything was taken care of.”
Izzy's heart stopped.
“What do you mean?”
“The entire hospital bill has been paid. The surgery, the medications, everything.”
Her mouth fell open.
“Who paid it?”
Her uncle shook his head.
“That’s what I was trying to ask you. Even I was shocked when the doctor told me. What did you do, Izzy? Where did you get that kind of money?”
Izzy’s heart filled with relief when she realized her mother was finally getting the treatment she needed. But the relief quickly became tangled with confusion as she tried to understand how it had happened, because one hundred thousand dollars wasn’t an amount that could simply appear out of nowhere.
There was only one person she could think of who could possibly afford it, but she had no idea why he would spend that much money on her mother.
“Seth…”
She whispered. Her uncle frowned.
“What?”
Izzy quickly shook her head.
“Nothing.”
She forced herself to smile.
“It doesn't matter right now. I'll find out who paid for everything later. For now, we just need to pray that Mom's surgery goes well.”
Her uncle studied her with a suspicious look, as though he could tell she was hiding something.
Izzy avoided his gaze and turned toward the operating room, her thoughts still tangled in confusion.
“Whoever helped us had a kind heart. I'm grateful.”
But inside, fear was spreading through her.
One Hundred Thousand Dollars, Seth Santiago?
That's impossible.
Nothing had happened between them. She had walked away from his home without giving him what he had asked for, so why would he pay her mother’s entire medical bill?
Izzy was still trying to make sense of it when her phone rang, and the moment she saw the name on the screen, the color drained from her face.
Seth Santiago
Her hands trembled as she opened the message.
“Whatever it is about you that I can't seem to let go of, I still decided to give you the help you needed.
Your mother’s hospital bills have been taken care of.
Don't mistake my help for charity, Isabel Vergara. When the time comes, I will collect what you promised me.
One night with me, in exchange for one hundred thousand dollars for your mother.
Consider this a debt.
We'll see each other again soon.”
Izzy stared at the message, unsure whether she should reply or simply leave it unanswered. Part of her felt obligated to say something because Seth had just paid for her mother’s surgery and, in a way, had saved them both, but she couldn't bring herself to type a single word, so she eventually locked her phone and slipped it back into her pocket.
“Please, God.”
She whispered as she looked toward the operating room.
“I'm grateful that Mom is getting better.”
Her voice trembled.
“But why does it feel so wrong that I had to turn to someone like Seth Santiago?”
She lowered her head.
“Why does it feel like meeting him was a mistake?”
**
“Did you do what I asked?”
Seth sat in his private office, swirling a glass of liquor in his hand without looking up.
“Yes, sir. Everything has been taken care of.”
His assistant stood across from him.
“My instructions were clear, weren't they?”
“Yes, sir.”
“No one is supposed to know who paid the hospital bill.”
“Understood. No one found out.”
The assistant paused.
“The doctor was instructed to tell anyone who asked that the expenses were covered through a charitable organization Isabel had contacted.”
“Good.”
Seth finally looked up.
“Did you see her at the hospital?”
“No, sir. The only person there was her mother's brother.”
“And Isabel?”
“According to the man following her, she didn't go anywhere else after leaving your building. She went directly to the hospital.”
Seth's fingers tightened around his glass. A faint smile touched his lips.
“One Hundred Thousand Dollars.”
He had just spent that much on a woman he had met only recently.
A woman who had walked into his home offering herself in exchange for money.
And yet, after seeing how frightened and overwhelmed she had been, he couldn't bring himself to take advantage of her.
He had more than enough money.
One hundred thousand dollars wouldn't make a meaningful dent in Seth's fortune, but the fact that he had willingly spent it on Isabel still irritated him.
He leaned back in his chair, only to find the image of her returning to his mind, from her tear-filled eyes and trembling hands to the way she had tried to hide her humiliation, making his jaw tighten as he admitted to himself that she was far more beautiful than he had initially realized and that, now that he had helped her, she wouldn't be able to simply walk away from him.
“Isabel Vergara…”
He murmured her name.
“You're making this far more complicated than it needs to be.”
He finished his drink and set the glass down, frustrated by the fact that he couldn't understand why he had helped her or why he couldn't seem to stop thinking about her. More than anything else, it was the effect she had on him that irritated him.
**
Several days passed after her mother’s surgery, and thankfully, everything had gone well.
Her mother was recovering steadily, giving Izzy some much-needed room to breathe again, but she still couldn't stop thinking about Seth, especially since he hadn't contacted her again, leaving her unsure whether she should feel relieved or worried.
“Izzy!”
Carl's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
She turned toward him with an annoyed expression.
“You don't have to yell.”
She covered her ears playfully.
“I've been talking to you for five minutes!”
Carl frowned.
“And you've ignored every question I've asked.”
“I have a serious problem, okay?”
Carl's expression immediately changed.
“What problem?”
He gestured toward her.
“Your mother came through the surgery. She's recovering, she's already making jokes again, and the hospital bills are paid. What else could possibly be wrong?”
Izzy sighed.
“That's exactly the problem.”
Carl looked confused.
“Mom is recovering, but she keeps asking where the money came from.”
“And?”
“She won't stop until I give her an answer. You know how she gets when she starts asking questions. She's practically an investigator.”
Carl laughed.
“Then give her proof.”
“What proof?”
“Proof from the charity that supposedly paid the bill.”
Izzy looked away.
“That's the problem.”
Carl's smile disappeared.
“What?”
“That charity doesn't exist.”
His eyebrows drew together.
“Then where did the money come from?”
Izzy remained silent.
“One and a half million dollars is a lot of money, Izzy.”
He stared at her.
“How did you get that much all at once?”
“It's complicated.”
“Izzy…”
“I don't want to talk about it.”
She lowered her voice.
“I'm not planning to tell anyone. Just leave it alone.”
Carl studied her face.
Something about her expression clearly worried him.
“Izzy.”
She finally looked at him.
“Did you do something illegal?”
