The First Sound I Heard In Three Years Was His Lie Chapter 07
Tessa immediately backpedaled.
“I mean, my clients are demanding refunds. I don’t even have enough money to cover all the refunds, much less help you.”
Graham stared at her.
“Help us? The entire $300,000 was spent on you.”
Tessa’s expression hardened.
“You told me I would never have to pay it back. Don’t go back on your word now.”
With that, she pushed past Graham, opened the door, and left.
Eight days later, court-ordered collection began.
Graham’s parents’ bank accounts were frozen, and liens were placed on their house and car. With their
finances tied up, Graham had no choice but to take them in at his rental house.
The scandal spread quickly, and everyone at Graham’s company soon knew what had happened.
To protect its reputation, the company pressured him to resign.
Even after borrowing from everyone he knew, Graham was still $45,000 short.
With no other options left, he went to see Tessa.
Her front door was slightly ajar, and he could hear Tessa arguing with his mother inside.
“Why should I give you any money? Graham told me I would never have to repay him.”
“I never forced him to give it to me!”
Through the gap in the door, Graham saw his mother kneeling on the floor.
“Tessa, I’m begging you. You don’t have to repay the whole $300,000. We only need $45,000.”
“For my husband’s sake and mine, can’t you please give us the money?”
Tessa scoffed.
“You think I’d hand over $45,000 just because the two of you asked? Don’t make me laugh.”
Graham’s mother stared at her.
“Tessa, what happened to you? If Graham heard you talking like this, he wouldn’t care about you anymore.”
Tessa made no attempt to hide her contempt.
“He wouldn’t care about me?”
“Please. He’s unemployed and buried in debt. You think he’s still good enough for me?”
“Instead of wasting your time bothering me, go beg on the street and pay off his debt yourself.”
Graham kicked the door open.
“Tessa Vaughn, how dare you talk to my mother like that?”
He lunged forward and wrapped both hands around Tessa’s throat.
“I must have been blind to do everything I did for an ungrateful leech like you!”
Tessa fought back, grabbing fistfuls of Graham’s hair and pulling as hard as she could.
“You were the one who bent over backward to help me without being asked.”
Graham’s mother scrambled to her feet and tried to pull them apart.
“Tessa, let go! You’re ripping his hair out!”
In the struggle, Tessa shoved Graham’s mother away.
Her forehead slammed into the edge of the table.
“Mom!”
Graham immediately rolled her onto her back and pressed his hand against the wound.
“Mom, stay with me!”
“Tessa, what are you standing there for? Call 911!”
Tessa did not want to get involved, but she could not let Graham’s mother die in her house.
She grabbed her phone and dialed 911.
At the hospital, doctors stabilized Graham’s mother, but she still needed a specialized procedure their insurance would not cover. The family could not afford it, and her condition deteriorated until Graham
watched her take her last breath.
Graham crouched outside the hospital room in despair.
Mara’s face flashed through his mind.
Three years earlier, in that same hospital, he had lied to Mara after she woke up.
He told her his mother was sick and needed $300,000 for surgery. Then he claimed he had accepted a private payout from the other driver behind her back and used the money for his mother’s treatment.
He had braced himself for Mara’s anger, but she never lashed out at him.
Instead, she comforted him and offered to help find a way to borrow more money if the settlement was not
enough.
As Graham remembered everything he had done to her, he covered his face and wept without making a
sound.
In the end, Graham’s father begged every relative they had until he scraped together the remaining $45,000 and paid off the balance.
