I stared at my phone, the screen glowing in the dim light as if it were mocking me. Notifications poured in like digital raindrops in a storm-each one a warning flare I couldn't ignore. Six missed calls. Three emails marked URGENT. And one voicemail from a loan officer whose tone suggested he was ready to take not just my future-but my soul, too.
For a split second, I convinced myself it was a glitch. Some freak server error. Maybe spam. But then I tapped the first email.
Subject: Final Reminder - Payment Due Dear Ms. Miller, Please be advised that your student loan account has been flagged as delinquent. To avoid severe consequences, full payment is required within the next 24 hours.
My stomach didn't just drop-it free-fell into a pit of ice. That had to be wrong. I knew my payment schedule. I had spreadsheets, reminders, and calendar alerts. I'd been balancing everything down to the cent. There was no way I had missed something this big.
Shaking, I opened the second email. From: Landlord – Miller's Veterinary Clinic
Mr. Miller, This is your final notice regarding unpaid rent for the veterinary property. The space will be locked within 24 hours unless full payment is received.
I stopped breathing. Not the clinic. Not my dad's clinic. My vision blurred as I clicked the third one, every finger trembling.
From: Registrar's Office - Hillcrest University Dear Leo Miler, Your outstanding tuition fees must be paid within the next 24 hours to maintain your enrollment status. Failure to comply will result in administrative withdrawal.
I just... stood there. Frozen. Stuck in this moment as if time had been sucker-punched along with me. My knees weakened under the weight of it all-the collapsing pillars of my life crumbling one by one with the same deadline stamped across every message: 24 hours.
It wasn't just pressure; it was an avalanche. A silent, calculated implosion. This didn't make sense.
I hadn't missed anything. I was careful. Obsessed, even. I knew my numbers better than I knew my own birthday. This wasn't a mistake-it couldn't be.
So why?
Why now?
Why all at once?
My thoughts scrambled for logic, but everything in my head was static. No answers. Just this sharp, hollow ache spiraling through my chest.
Then-knock, knock.
I jolted, nearly dropping the phone.
"Isabella?" My dad's voice came from behind the door, soft but strained. "Can I come in?"
I scrambled to lock my phone and shoved the panic down deep enough to fake okay. "Yeah... yeah, come in."
He stepped in, brow furrowed, phone in hand like a prop in a bad joke. "Is your banking app working?"
I blinked at him. "Huh?"
"I've been trying to send a payment all morning. It just keeps glitching out. It says there's a 'hold' on the account. I've never seen that before." He let out a quiet sigh and sank onto the edge of the bed. "I was going to cover some of the clinic rent today, but..."
He didn't finish the sentence. Just shook his head, the weight of defeat settling into the lines on his face like dust.
My heart clenched.
"Dad-"
He held up a hand, trying to smile. "Don't worry. We'll sort it out. Okay? We always do."
But this time, I had to worry because this wasn't just bad luck or some annoying tech hiccup. No.
It felt deliberate.
Coordinated.
Like someone had pulled every string I had left and cut them all in one blow.
My phone buzzed again in my lap.
I didn't look.
Couldn't.
The screen stayed face-down, as if whatever message was waiting would be the final nail in the coffin.
I stared at the wall, pulse roaring in my ears, trying to breathe through the tightness in my chest.
What now?
And more terrifying-
What the hell am I going to do?
The moment Dad stood up and disappeared from the room, I locked the door after him and flopped onto the bed, cell phone gripped in my hand. I glared at the ceiling for a moment or two, then scrolled through my contacts and clicked Call on the one person who would know exactly what to do.
Aria.
She picked up on the second ring. "You'd better be dying or have a winning lottery ticket."
I gasped for breath. "Neither. But I think I'm in trouble."
Her tone shifted abruptly. "What did you do?"
"It's… weird. Like, really weird." I sat up and pushed my hair out of my face. "I just received three individual warnings—student loan, rent on my dad's vet clinic, and my brother's college fees—within the past hour. All three with the same message: Pay in 24 hours or else."
Aria went quiet.
"Not even the worst of it," I continued, my voice low. "My dad just came in and told me his bank app is not working. He can't transfer any money. He says it's on hold."
"What the hell?" she said finally. "Wait─all of this happened today?"
"In under thirty minutes."
"Izzy," she said, her voice tight with suspicion. "That's no accident. That's a flat-out ambush."
"I know." My voice cracked a little. "But I don't get it. Why now? I've been handling things for years and it's never been this. concentrated."
Silence once more. Then a soft click, like she was typing.
"I'm going over your student loan firm's terms─there should have been a more extended grace period. They can't just insist on full repayment unless…"
"Unless someone coerced them," I filled in.
I could hear her breathe out. "This is terrible. Do you think someone is trying to strong-arm you into something?"
My mind automatically jumped to Adrien. But I suppressed it. No. He was arrogant, calculating, and oddly obsessed with that contract─but this? This was sabotage. This was dirty. He wouldn't.
"I don't know," I said. "I really don't.".
Aria's voice was gentle now. Serious. "Do you want me to dig into it? I can talk to a few people. Quietly."
"Can you?" I swallowed hard. "I don't have anyone else."
"Certainly, I've got you," she said firmly. "We'll find out what's going on and if someone is playing games with you? They'll regret it."
For the first time in hours, my chest eased a little.
"Thanks, Aria.".
"You owe me a bottle of wine and a front-row seat to the fallout," she growled.
"Deal."
I had just finally hung up a phone call and sat down when my phone rang again. Aria
Aria! "
AcceptDismiss
! I looked at thename.
I snatched the phone up like it was the lifeline I was waiting for. "Please, please tell me you found something."
There was a pause, then I heard a heavy sigh from the other end.
"Isabella, I looked through everything. Your loan company, your dad's landlord, your brother's school authority, and all came back basically the same, nothing is out of place. It's like all of it brokeon you simultaneously at random."
I blinked, releasing my grip on the phone. "Nothing that raised alarms?!"
"Nothing I can prove," she said, frustration edging her voice. " No third-party trigger, no flags, no policy changes. It all processes through the normal systems."
"This makes no sense, Aria."
"I know. But I triplechecked. The pressure is real, but there is no clear cause… at least one on record."
I was quiet for a moment, letting the weight of it settle over me like a sack of bricks.
Aria's voice lightened. "Hey. About the vet shop landlord, how much is owed exactly?"
"Two years rent," I muttered. "It's well... a lot."
"I'll take care of it."
"What?" I almost dropped the phone.
"I'll take care of it." She said calmly, "I'll wire the money and pay off your brother's tuition debts as well. Get him to go to the bursar's office first thing tomorrow."
"Aria, you don't have to—"
"I don't want to hear it," she interjected. "You would do the same if it where my dad and family. You aren't alone."
I could feel the tears just behind my eyes but quickly blinked them away. "Thank you."
"Of course," she replied. "Next we will deal with the loan stuff, okay? Worst case, I can just make some calls to my dad's lawyer."
I took a breath and nodded. "Okay." "Now breathe," she instructed.
"One fire at a time." The call ended, and I let the phone fall into my lap, gazing out the window at the late afternoon sun warm against the rooftops.
One fire at a time. But they were burning fast.