Chapter 7: A greedy family
"Five million?" Zara repeated in disbelief, bolting upright on the bed. "I gave you two million just last month. Now you want five? What do you take me for?"
"You are my sister. It’s your duty to save me," Jaxon barked, with panic and entitlement.
Zara clenched her jaw. "I don’t have that kind of money."
"Don’t give me that crap," he snapped. "You are married into the Grant family. Five million is pocket change to you. Bring it now or they’ll kill me."
Her grip on the phone tightened as rage simmered beneath her skin. She wasn’t surprised. This was just another episode in a long, exhausting pattern.
Her so-called family had never seen her as anything more than a means to an end, milking her for money whenever it suited them. She had even helped her father secure a major deal with the Grant Group, yet the demands only grew more outrageous.
They never asked how she was doing, never cared if she was struggling. They just took.
But not this time.
Zara’s voice dropped to an icy whisper. "If you need money, call your mother. Don’t ever call me again."
She ended the call, turned off her phone, and tossed it onto the side table.
Across the city, inside the smoky haze of a shadowy bar, Jaxon lay crumpled on the cold floor of a private booth, his arms tightly wrapped around his head as boots slammed into his ribs and back. Each strike sent waves of pain through his body.