“Your grandmother was very kind to me when my mother was sick.”

“I can’t let them ruin you, but I can’t lose my job either.”

“They are pushing the default through at noon tomorrow.”

“You have to stop them before then, Ava.”

The line went dead with a soft, final click.

I stared at the black screen of my phone, my hands shaking.

I did not sleep for the rest of the night.

Outside, rain began to beat against my windowpane, a steady, gray drizzle that matched the gloom in my chest.

At six in the morning, my laptop chimed with an incoming notification.

I opened my student portal with trembling fingers.

A bright red banner flashed at the top of the screen.

*URGENT: Tuition Payment Overdue. Pending Administrative Withdrawal.*

The financial aid office had already processed the frozen status of my account.

If I did not clear the balance by five o’clock today, I would be expelled from Ellison University.

My entire future, my degree, and my late grandmother’s legacy would vanish in an instant.

I printed the bank documents Arthur had sent me earlier.