Left for Dead Came Back for Everything novel Chapter 45

Judging by her mother's tone, however, they clearly had no idea the divorce was in motion.

Eliza closed her eyes in utter exhaustion, opting to keep that little detail a secret for now.

She knew them too well.

The second her parents found out she had dumped her billionaire husband, it would unleash a chaotic, endless nightmare of screaming and crying.

"Do you need something?" She wasn't in the mood for small talk.

"Of course I do! Why else would I waste my time calling you?"

Miriam's voice pitched even higher.

"Your father's hospital bills are past due, and the administration is breathing down my neck. I need you to wire over fifteen thousand dollars right now."

"Fifteen thousand?"

Eliza let out a bitter, disbelieving laugh. "Where on earth am I supposed to find that kind of cash?"

"Besides, what about Miles?"

"Why isn't he out there earning a paycheck?"

The instant she brought up her brother, Miles, her mother's aggressive tone vanished, replaced by defensive coddling.

"Your brother is still young. What kind of job could he possibly do?"

"The real world is too complicated for him. What if someone takes advantage of him?"

"You're his older sister. Isn't it your responsibility to help carry the burden for your family?"

"He's twenty-three, Mom, not thirteen!"

Eliza finally snapped, her voice dropping into a fierce hiss.

"He dropped out of school years ago, he refuses to get a job, and he sits at home playing video games all day. Are you planning to spoon-feed him for the rest of his life?"

"When you get older and sicker, how exactly is he going to provide for you?"

"Well, we have you, don't we?"

Miriam's tone was so brazenly entitled it pushed Eliza to the brink of a mental breakdown.

"We raised you, didn't we? What's wrong with you spending a little money on us in return?"

"Besides, you've been a part of the Roth family for years. You must have built up a massive nest egg by now."

She kept barely enough to survive on.

Every cent she had saved from her professional dancing career had been completely wiped out by her extensive medical bills.

She could always earn more money, but the suffocating trap of family obligation was something she could never escape.

When it rained, it poured. That single phone call had drained every ounce of life from her body.

But the moment she stepped out of the stairwell, her coworker, Mia, grabbed her arm in a sheer panic.

She was a dance instructor at the academy.

"Eliza, where were you? We have a massive problem!"

Eliza's heart skipped a beat. "What's wrong?"

Mia immediately shoved her phone in Eliza's face. It was the group chat for the Classical Lyrical Dance parents.

Someone had dropped an anonymous bombshell in the chat, claiming that the new course consultant, Ms. Shaw, suffered from a crippling leg injury.

The tipster detailed how it was a permanent, career-ending defect that made it impossible for her to even walk on rainy days.

The anonymous source had spun the story with terrifying precision.