The Alpha's Unwanted Bride

Chapter 737: THE DEBT

One million gold coins.

The words seemed to echo around the cottage.

Mother’s face had gone completely white.

My own legs nearly gave out beneath me.

One million gold coins?

That wasn’t a debt.

That was a death sentence.

We had never in our entire life come close to acquiring a hundred gold coins.

Talkless of a million.

Father lowered his head in shame.

The men seemed to enjoy our horror.

One of them barked out a laugh.

“What? Surprised?”

I looked between them and Father.

Then back at them.

“One million?” I repeated in disbelief. “That’s impossible.”

The largest of the men shrugged.

“Tell that to your father.”

My chest tightened painfully.

I turned to Father.

“Papa?”

He refused to look at me.

My heart broke.

Because his silence told me everything.

It was true.

Every word.

Mother took a shaky breath.

“There has to be some mistake.”

“There isn’t.” They insisted.

The man’s expression hardened.

“Your husband borrowed from us.”

Mother swallowed.

“Nobody borrows one million gold coins.”

The men exchanged amused looks.

Then one of them laughed.

“Oh he didn’t borrow it all at once.”

My stomach dropped.

“Small amounts here.”

Another man grinned.

“Small amounts there.”

The first nodded.

“And well the day of reckoning was last night and he said he could gamble it away. If he won, we would let the entire loan go. But if he didn’t….”

“Then we would take the collateral he used against it.” Another finished.

I hated this.

So much.

I was in utter disbelief.

My mind was in disarray.

How was it even possible he had borrowed over a million coins?

What had he even spent the money.

And it finally hit me.

They had said collateral.

What did father put as collateral.

We practically had nothing.

Mother seemed to realize the same thing.

Because her hand immediately flew to the edge of the table for support.

“What collateral?” she asked quietly.

The men smiled.

And suddenly I knew.

Before they even answered.

I knew.

“The cottage.”

My breath caught.

“The garden.”

Mother closed her eyes.

“The land.”

Silence.

Absolute silence.

I felt as though someone had punched me in the stomach.

No.

No.

No.

Not our home.

Anything but that.

I turned toward Father.

For the first time in my life I couldn’t recognize him.

The man who used to carry me on his shoulders.

The man who built tables and chairs with his own hands.

The man who used to tell me stories beneath the stars.

He looked like a stranger.

“How could you?” I whispered.

Father flinched.

The reaction hurt more than if he had shouted.

“Ruby look I-

“No.”

My voice cracked.

Tears burned my eyes.

“No.”

I shook my head.

“How could you do this to us?”

He looked away.

Unable to answer.

Because there wasn’t an answer.

Mother had worked herself to exhaustion for years.

Years.

Healing.

Saving.

Working after he had lost his leg.

She had been the breadwinner.

Provided for all of us.

While he gambled it all away.

Whatever she made, he somehow gambled

it away or sold them to buy alcohol.

And somehow he had managed to gamble away our home too.

I watched his shoulders slump.

For a brief moment he looked old.

Older than I had ever seen him.

Broken.

The debt collectors seemed bored now.

As though family heartbreak was simply another morning activity.

Mother straightened herself.

When she spoke again her voice was calm.

Too calm.

“Please.”

The men looked at her.

“Give us time.”

One of them laughed.

“Time? Are you out of your knickers.” He said. “We are way past of our time schedule. We are diligent business man and we have no choice but to follow up or our business will fail.”

My face fell in disgust.

Diligent business men my foot.

“We’re not giving you any more time.” The other said.

“Please a month.

“No.”

“Please.” Mother went down to her knees.

The largest man stepped forward.

His expression cold and his eyes leered over me.

I knew what he was thinking.

I knew what they were always thinking when they looked at me that way.

“You have three days.” He said.

The room went silent.

Three days.

Three days?

My heart dropped.

“That’s impossible!” I cried.

He shrugged.

“Not my problem.”

Mother looked as though she wanted to argue.

Then stopped.

Because she knew.

Three days or thirty.

We didn’t have that kind of money.

Not even close.

The man pointed at Father.

“If we don’t get our money.”

Then he pointed around the cottage.

“We take everything.”

His gaze landed on me.

The look made my skin crawl.

“Everything.”

Rage flashed across Mother’s face.

The first genuine anger she had shown all morning.

The man simply laughed.

Then turned around.

The others followed.

A moment later the cottage door slammed shut behind them.

And they were gone.

Silence followed.

Heavy.

Painful.

The sort of silence that settles after disaster.

Nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

Father remained on the floor.

Mother stood frozen.

I simply stared at the closed door.

Trying desperately to pretend none of it had happened.

Eventually Father spoke.

“I’m sorry.”

The words sounded broken.

Mother didn’t answer.

Neither did I.

Because what was there left to say?

Sorry wouldn’t save our home.

Sorry wouldn’t erase the debt.

Sorry wouldn’t fix years of damage.

Father slowly pushed himself upright.

He looked at Mother.

Waiting.

Hoping.

Begging.

She wouldn’t even meet his eyes.

“Penny I-

“HOW COULD YOU?!” Mother screamed as she flung the nearby candle stand at father, rising to her feet in rage.

He looked at her in shock.

“HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO US?! TO ME?!” She demanded, spitting fire. “After everything. “Get out!”

He seemed genuinely shocked. “You don’t mean that. I’m sorry I-

“I said GET OUT?!” She screamed growling so much her wolf fangs bared out and her claws escaped from her palms.

Father immediately was up on his feet and out of the house.

Once he had left, she didn’t seem relieved.

Rather she looked defeated.

Her features reverted back.

This was the second time in my life I had seen mother attempt shifting to her wolf form.

And somehow that scared me more than anything.

Slowly she sank into one of the wooden chairs.

I very gently walked up to her and saw she was still gripping the hand of the book she had picked up to fling at him.

I quietly took them away from her and she slowly let go.

I squatted down beside her and she began to weep.

Mother who was so strong.

Who never wept.

Was weeping profusely.

I held her, cradled her to her my chest and she wept.