Ava Morgan, 24, sat frozen in front of her aging laptop, the pale blue glow from the screen casting harsh shadows across her weary, pale face. The words in the email blurred before her eyes, but the message was painfully clear. Her position had officially been terminated. It wasn't a surprise, she had sensed it creeping in for weeks. The slow reduction in her responsibilities, the vague responses from her boss, the lack of projects. Still, nothing could prepare her for the final blow.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she read the line again: "We regret to inform you…" Regret. Such an easy word to type. With one click, the only stable source of income that had barely held her life together vanished. Her role as a graphic designer had been her lifeline, the only thing standing between survival and complete collapse. Now, that too was gone.
She rubbed her temples, her fingers pressing into the tension that had made a permanent home in her head. A dull ache spread behind her eyes, but it was nothing compared to the heavy knot of anxiety tightening in her chest. The weight of it all was suffocating. Her apartment, once a modest haven, now felt like a cage closing in around her. The rent was weeks overdue, the landlord's last warning still echoing in her mind. A stack of unopened bills teetered on the edge of the kitchen counter, electricity, water, phone, credit cards, all demanding money she didn't have.
More ominous were the official-looking envelopes from the bank, their bold red print spelling out words she didn't want to read: Final Notice. She hadn't even opened the latest one. Since her hours were first cut at work, she and her younger sister had been barely scraping by. The mortgage payments, once manageable, had slipped further out of reach each month. Now, foreclosure wasn't a distant fear, it was a fast-approaching reality, and she was running out of time.
Her gaze drifted to the small room just down the hall, where the soft, rhythmic beep of an oxygen monitor broke the silence. Inside, her 21-year-old sister, Chloe, lay curled under a blanket, her face pale and fragile against the pillow. The sound, though subtle, echoed like a siren in Ava's mind, a relentless reminder of how little time they had and how much they were drowning.
Chloe's chronic illness, a condition they had managed for years with careful treatments and frequent checkups, had taken a turn for the worse. The doctors had recently confirmed that surgery was no longer optional, it was urgent. But the cost was staggering, far beyond anything Ava could afford. She had already emptied their joint savings, sold off valuables, and borrowed from everyone who had once been willing to help. Even the credit cards were now useless, maxed out and overdue.
Each day, Chloe grew weaker, and Ava's fear grew sharper. Hospital stays were too expensive, so Ava had hired a private nurse to care for her sister at home, a desperate, last-resort solution that still left her owing money she couldn't pay. And through it all, Chloe never complained. That hurt the most. Her sister smiled through pain, while Ava felt like she was falling apart. Every breath Chloe took felt like a countdown, and Ava knew that without a miracle, or a way out, she'd lose far more than just their home.
Orphans since their parents died in a car accident five years ago, Ava and Chloe had relied on each other to survive. Ava had taken on the role of protector and provider, sacrificing her own dreams to keep them afloat. Chloe, despite her illness, was fiercely independent and had always been Ava's light in the darkest times.
But now, with everything collapsing around them, Ava wasn't sure how much longer she could hold on.
Every day felt heavier than the last, as Ava juggled job applications and phone calls with hospitals, trying to find a way out of the suffocating financial hole. The pressure was relentless; the fear of losing their home was no longer a distant worry but an imminent reality looming over them.
The weight of it all threatened to crush her spirit. But for Chloe's sake, for both of them, she had to keep fighting.
Ava spent endless hours scrolling through job listings, applying for every opportunity that matched even remotely with her skills. From graphic design roles to customer service jobs, she sent out dozens of applications, each time hoping for a positive response. Days turned into weeks, and the silence from employers was deafening.
She closed her laptop, her fingers trembling slightly as she exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. The apartment was silent except for the soft hum of the refrigerator and the distant sound of rain tapping against the window. Chloe stirred faintly in the other room, her weak cough tugging at Ava's heart.
Suddenly, her phone lit up on the table beside her, followed by a single sharp beep.
Ava reached for it, not expecting much, probably another payment reminder or an update from the hospital.
But when her eyes caught the sender, her heart skipped.
She blinked once.
Twice.
Then sat upright, staring at the screen in disbelief.
What...?
She didn't move. Just sat frozen, her breath caught in her throat, eyes wide with shock.