Chapter 10 - Alyssa's Desperation
The courtyard slowly emptied as the federal sirens faded into the Manhattan traffic, leaving only the sound of the fountain and the rustle of maple leaves.
Alyssa stood alone near the rose bushes, her designer heels scuffed, her emerald blazer stained with mascara and sweat.
She had nowhere to go.
Her credit cards had been frozen by federal asset forfeiture units thirty minutes after Richard's arrest, and her luxury Manhattan apartment was already being padlocked by federal marshals.
She slowly walked toward Hannah and me, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist, shivering despite the warm afternoon sun.
"Sophia..." Alyssa whispered, her voice cracking with raw, unvarnished terror.
"They're taking everything... the penthouse, the cars, the trust funds..."
"I don't have anywhere to sleep tonight... my friends from the country club won't even answer my calls..."
"You have that massive brownstone near the hospital... you have the research grant..."
"Please... I'm your sister... you can't just leave me on the street with nothing..."
I looked at the girl who had spent fourteen years mocking my existence, wearing diamond earrings bought with the money meant for my leukemia medications.
"When I was twelve years old, Alyssa, I lay in a hospital bed with a forty-degree fever, vomiting blood into a plastic basin," I spoke with quiet, piercing clarity.
"You walked into my room holding a shopping bag from Fifth Avenue, looked at my bald head, and told me that my sickness was ruining your summer vacation in the Hamptons."
"You never once asked if I was in pain."
"You never once visited me after the custody papers were signed."
"You spent four years partying in London on money stolen from a dying child, and you never gave a damn about anyone but yourself."
Alyssa’s eyes welled with tears of self-pity as she reached out a trembling hand.
"I was young, Sophia! Dad told me you were going to be fine! He lied to me, too!"
"You were old enough to know the difference between right and wrong, Alyssa," I replied, stepping backward out of her reach.
"I am not going to give you a single dollar of my research grant, and you will not step foot in my home."
"If you want to survive in this world, take off that designer blazer, walk down to the community employment center, and get an honest job washing dishes or folding laundry."
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"Learn what it feels like to earn your bread through sweat and sacrifice, just like my mother Hannah did every single day of her life."
I turned my back on her and walked toward the faculty dining hall, leaving Alyssa standing alone in the shadows of the empty courtyard.
