Engaging Introduction
I married Adrian to save my daughter's life, even though I knew people would judge me for it. But on our wedding night, he handed me an envelope with Lisa's name on it, and what I discovered inside changed everything I believed about his family, my daughter, and the accident.
I married the twenty-year-old millionaire I cared for because my daughter was running out of time, and I had already run out of every other option. But on our wedding night, he gave me a crimson envelope with Lisa's name on it and said, "This was why I really needed you."
I kept telling myself I was not a terrible mother for accepting. I told myself there were worse things than being judged by strangers. There were hospital bills. There were doctors speaking in careful voices. There was my daughter, Lisa, lying motionless in a bed while time kept slipping away.
Let me start at the beginning.
Before the Fall (What I Had)
My name is Claire. I was thirty-eight years old, a single mother, a certified nursing assistant, and utterly exhausted.
Lisa was fourteen. She was smart, funny, and beautiful. She had her father's eyes and my stubbornness. She wanted to be a doctor. She volunteered at an animal shelter. She made me laugh even on the worst days.
Then came the diagnosis. Leukemia.
The treatment was brutal. Chemotherapy. Radiation. A bone marrow transplant that didn't take. And then, the worst news of all: she needed experimental treatment not covered by insurance. The cost was astronomical. Seven hundred thousand dollars. I didn't have it. I couldn't get it. I was watching my daughter die because I couldn't afford to save her.
I worked double shifts. I sold my car. I borrowed from friends until they stopped answering my calls. Nothing was enough.
Then I saw the job listing.
The Offer (What I Was Told)
