“I want to buy her”

He says pointing directly at you a sly calculating grin plastered on his face as the casino owner quickly nodded his head.

It was never supposed to be like this. The long awaited reunion that you so desperately have been hiding from finally happening and at a casino hostess bar to boot. It was unless to think about the past now. After all those years of thinking of what to say when you finally meet your step-son again washed down the drain as the color recedes from your face. Standing in front of you at last a whole foot taller than the last time you saw him 3 years ago, was your stepson from your dead past husband who died from lung cancer 6 years ago. 

You were never really fond of your husband in fat you hated him, but it was because of that stupid damn brat and his affection towards you that you decided to go as far as to marry that alcoholic bastard. It was just for the money at first. You needed money to support yourself and to get enough money to go back to college, so you slept with the first millionaire you met at age 18. Everything was downhill from there. He had a small 10 year old son named Caleb from his last girlfriend, who he hated so much because of the striking resemblance the poor little boy had to his mother. As a result whenever you weren’t there in the house the boy received beating and lashing and whippings. Your husband was an asshole but at least he kept some type of twisted moral to never beat the little boy up in front of you. You felt bad for Caleb, but you didn’t show any affection towards him one wrong move could cause both you and the little boy’s life from your abusive boyfriend. But no matter how indifferent you acted towards the little boy, Caleb never frowned and always smiled at you. You couldn’t help but feel down feel bad for the little boy, so you mad me up your mind and surrendered your future goals for the sake of the little boy and married your abusive husband. The absolve stoped shortly after the marriage, but his attitude towards his son never changed. You can only sit there and watch, hating your husband in your head. 

A few years later however, you strike at gold. Your husband was diagnosed with terminally ill lung cancer and ended up passing away painful 4 months after. During those 4 months, he had written a will which stated that all his money and million dollar fortune goes to his wife, disinheriting his own son. It wasn’t fair. You finally had the money you needed to go back to school and finish your education, but it wasn’t fair for the little boy. You weren’t blood related to the little boy, you never played with him, you never held a relationship of any sort with the kid, going as far as to avoid him at times, but for some reason you couldn’t get yourself to run with the inheritance money. The little boy’s big smiling eyes which looked up at you with every chance he got flooded your memory. You just couldn’t do it. So, when the little boy finally turned 18, you quietly transferred all the fortune into a trust which you transferred all to Caleb. This final act of kindness hoping to make ik all the times you had to act indifferent towards the little boy. 

It had been 3 years since then. You were finally free, but you still had no money. You quietly took on shifts at the cafe in the morning before working at a hostess at a casino bar to accompany rich men at night. You were certain that Caleb hated you, that he forgot about you. But now, in front of you there he was. He was now striking similar to your latest husband.