Paying To Buy My Pain - Chapter 3

That afternoon, Amanda called Barrett and asked him to go out with her, but he turned her down.

It was the first time Amanda had ever asked him for something and Barrett hadn't immediately agreed.

“I'm sorry, but… I can't today. Something has happened back home with my family. My mother isn't well, and I just don't have it in me to go out with you right now. I hope you understand. I'll take you somewhere another day.”

Those few words were enough to send Amanda into a panic.

She rushed to see Barrett and was shocked by how exhausted and haggard he looked. Seeing him like that made her heart ache as though someone were squeezing it in their fist.

She kept asking until, finally, Barrett admitted that his mother was seriously ill back home and needed a large sum of money for surgery.

Without hesitation, Amanda returned home and began thinking of a way to “borrow some money from her parents without them knowing.”

It wasn't particularly difficult for Amanda to get her hands on a substantial amount of her parents' money and quietly take it out of the house.

When she brought the money to Barrett, he burst into tears.

He said he didn't want to take advantage of her, and he certainly didn't want her parents to have even more reason to misunderstand him.

That sense of restraint and decency only made Amanda trust him more.

“My parents do quite well in business, so this amount of money is nothing to them,” Amanda said softly. “But your family is different. We love each other. We're one now. There's no reason for us to be embarrassed about helping each other.”

Barrett looked at her for a long moment before speaking.

“Could you stay with me tonight? I feel so lonely.”

Amanda nodded.

That night, the two of them rented a hotel room.

It was the first time Amanda had ever spent the night with a man.

She felt happy, completely at peace, and had no regrets.

Later that night, after she had given herself to Barrett and believed she had finally become his woman, Amanda drifted into sleep with a smile on her lips.

The next morning, Amanda woke up and found that Barrett was gone.

A wave of uneasiness swept over her.

Then she noticed a small piece of paper lying on the table.

She picked it up and read:

“You were happy last night, weren't you? Think of it as a little gift from me.

Thank you for the money.

You're right—it really isn't much to your family. So just consider it the price you paid for the pleasure you enjoyed last night, and for a very expensive lesson in love.

Goodbye, silly girl.”

Amanda broke down.

She cried until she could barely breathe.

When she finally opened her eyes again, she found herself lying in her own bed, back at her family's house.

She had no idea how she had gotten there.

Perhaps…

Perhaps it had been her parents who had brought her home.