Chapter 69 CHAPTER 69
Empty Hands
The late autumn wind rattled against the windows of the house as though it too sensed the storm closing in on Tessa and Ayisha’s lives. In the living room, Ayisha sat hunched over the glass coffee table, staring blankly at her phone screen.
Her hands trembled as she scrolled through email after email, each one worse than the last. The “congratulations on your approved loan” message from the bank still sat at the top of her inbox like a cruel joke. Beneath it were the follow up notifications—the wired funds, the transaction receipts, the withdrawal confirmations. And at the very bottom, the email from her supposed “business consultant,” a man named Trent Rivers, who had promised them investment opportunities and marketing expansion for their beauty line. The last line of his message burned into her eyes every time she looked at it: Funds secured. Trust me, you won’t regret this.
Now, just three weeks later, his number was disconnected, his office a ghost space in downtown Manhattan, and his so called references as hollow as air.
Ayisha buried her face in her hands.
“Tessa…” she whispered, her voice raw.
Across the room, Tessa sat on the couch, her knees pulled to her chest, arms wrapped tightly around them. She had been staring out the window for hours, her mind elsewhere, lost in the image of Jamal, Kamal, Beauty, and Pretty. Couldn’t tuck them in. Couldn’t even fight for them anymore.
She barely heard Ayisha until her friend’s voice cracked louder.
“Tessa, they took everything. Everything.” Ayisha slammed the phone down on the table, her eyes bloodshot, her body trembling from the weight of it.
Tessa blinked slowly, turning her gaze away from the glass pane. “What do you mean…everything?” Her voice was hoarse, flat, as though it had been dragged through gravel.
Ayisha laughed bitterly, a humorless sound. “The loan. The whole two hundred thousand dollars we risked our necks for. Gone. Just like that. The man was a scammer. Every dime we wired to him vanished into thin air.”
Tessa didn’t flinch. Her body remained curled on the couch, her face a mask of exhaustion. Only her fingers tightened against her knees, digging crescent moons into her skin.
Ayisha jumped to her feet, pacing. “Do you understand what this means? The bank’s expecting repayment! They’ll come after the house if we don’t pay them back, and you know we can’t. Not with the beauty line tanking like this. We can barely afford groceries.”
Her words pierced the heavy silence. The house was still filled with luxury—the marble kitchen, the leather couches, the chandelier that hung glittering above them but it all felt like a crumbling stage set. A facade.
Tessa finally shifted, lowering her legs from the couch. She rubbed her face with both hands, sighing deeply. “Ayisha… I told you I didn’t care about the business. I told you my only focus is finding my kids. And you…you went ahead anyway. Look where it’s gotten us.”
Ayisha froze mid-step, staring at her. “Don’t do that. Don’t you dare act like this is all my fault. I was trying to keep us afloat. Trying to make sure when…if—your kids come back, they’d have something to return to. Food on the table. Clothes on their backs. Security. Do you think love alone will raise them?”
Her voice cracked at the end, tears welling in her eyes.
Tessa shook her head slowly. “I don’t care about any of that right now. What’s the point of all this…” she gestured vaguely at the expensive furniture, the house, “…if my kids aren’t here to enjoy it? You gambled our future on a scam, Ayisha.”
Ayisha sank back into the armchair, her body folding in on itself. She grabbed the bottle of wine from the table, pouring it into her glass with shaking hands. Her laugh was hollow. “Our future? Tessa, you keep forgetting it’s not just your life on the line. It’s mine too. I put everything I had into this beauty line. Now it’s gone. And when the bank comes, they’ll take this house too. What will we have left? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
Silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating. The only sound was the ticking of the ornate wall clock, each second a reminder of how their time was slipping away.
Finally, Tessa reached for the wine bottle herself. She poured directly into her glass until it nearly overflowed, then tipped it back in one long swallow. The burn scorched her throat, but she welcomed it. At least pain reminded her she was still alive.
She set the glass down with a hard clink. “Then maybe nothing is exactly what we deserve.”
Ayisha’s head snapped up, her face twisting. “Don’t say that. Don’t…”
But Tessa was already pouring another glass. Her eyes were glazed, her movements robotic. She raised the glass, staring into the dark liquid as though it held answers. “I lost my kids. You lost our money. The world hates me. Maybe this is the universe’s way of stripping everything away until there’s nothing left to fight for.”
Ayisha grabbed the glass from her, slamming it back onto the table. “Stop it! Stop acting like this is the end! You still have a chance to get your kids back. And I…” her voice cracked, “…I still need to survive. But we can’t if you give up like this.”
The words hung between them, brittle and sharp.
Tessa leaned back, exhaustion lining her face. She didn’t respond, and after a long moment, Ayisha poured herself another drink. They sat like that for hours, drinking in silence, watching their lives unravel.
By midnight, the bottle was empty.
Meanwhile, across the city
Lady Bianca adjusted the fur collar of her coat as she stepped out of her car, the sharp click of her heels echoing against the cold pavement. The prison loomed before her, its towering fences wrapped in barbed wire, its gates manned by guards whose eyes barely blinked.
She walked in with the air of a woman who belonged everywhere and nowhere. Calm, confident, lethal. The warden, already softened by her connections and bribes, greeted her with a nod and escorted her into the visitation room.
Inside, Chloe sat waiting. Her once flawless hair was dull now, her skin pale beneath the harsh fluorescent lights, but her eyes remained the same.
As Bianca entered, Chloe straightened, her lips curving into a desperate smile.
“Let’s do this…”
The night dragged into early dawn. Tessa and Ayisha sat on the living room floor now, surrounded by empty glasses. The chandelier above them flickered faintly, the electricity bill already months overdue.
Ayisha leaned against the couch, her head lolling back. “We’ve lost everything, Tessa. I thought…” She trailed off, her eyes filling again. “I’m sorry I got us into this mess.”
Tessa sat cross legged beside her, staring at nothing. Her face was streaked with dried tears, her lips cracked from too much wine. She didn’t argue. Didn’t snap. Didn’t defend. She simply nodded.
“Yes,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “And I am sorry too.”