As the Canary Contract Expired, I Left New York Carrying My Father’s Ashes Chapter 01
To pay off the twenty-million-dollar gambling debt my father owed, I had spent three years as the Crawford family’s Godfather Caleb Crawford’s kept woman.
Today was Valentine’s Day.
It was also the day Caleb had promised to pay the final installment for my father’s kidney transplant.
Caleb had mixed a Swiss bank black card into thirty brass boxes and told me to draw one in front of everyone.
A typical Mafia family gamble.
Except this time, the wager was my dignity.
Amid the whistles and laughter inside the private club’s VIP room, I reached into one of the boxes and pulled out a thin slip of paper.
There were only four words written on it.
[Free Escort Voucher]
The room went silent for a moment.
A few Capos couldn’t hold back their laughter.
Caleb leaned back on the leather sofa, ran his fingers through my hair, and said in a teasing voice,
“Still unlucky as ever, sweetheart. Looks like you’ll have to pay a little ‘protection fee’ tonight.”
In the same round, Carol Foster, the younger sister of Foster family Don Noah Foster, managed to pry open the hidden box that had been welded shut.
Inside was the black card loaded with my father’s surgery funds.
Along with a handwritten note from Caleb.
[Buy yourself some jewelry to calm your nerves.]
I followed everyone’s laughter and smiled.
Then I tossed the useless slip of paper back into the empty box.
A draw was just a game of luck.
Except the person controlling the deck had always been him.
I didn’t realize the truth until I went to the restroom and overheard Vincent, Caleb’s Consigliere, joking with him in the lounge.
“All thirty slips were Free Escort Vouchers? Boss, aren’t you worried Nancy might sink this ship? This is the kind of thing that pushes someone straight off a cliff.”
Caleb’s voice drifted through the door.
His tone was cold and dismissive.
“She manipulated me for money. Taking a little humiliation is something she deserves.”
“As long as she lowers her head, she’ll get next month’s medical expenses. This is discipline. The Crawford family doesn’t tolerate anyone overstepping their place.”
I stood outside the door.
And I remembered the night three years ago when my father had first been diagnosed.
Caleb had stayed with me all night outside the Crawford family hospital’s ICU.
His eyes had been red when he told me,
“Don’t be afraid. Your father’s treatment is something the Crawford family will handle until the end.”
But tonight, I finally understood.
The so-called life-saving money had never been meant for me.
It had only ever been bait.
A test to see how obedient I could be.
I touched the documents in my pocket.
My father’s cremation authorization.
And my one-way ticket to Sicily.
He would probably never know.
My father had already been taken off life support last week.
…
I pushed the cremation papers deeper into my pocket and opened the lounge door.
Everyone inside immediately fell silent.
Caleb looked up at me and pushed a glass of warm water across the table.
“Did you hear everything?”
He nodded toward the people beside him.
The family members immediately understood and left.
Before closing the door, they looked at me with pity.
Only then did Caleb lean back against the sofa.
“Feeling wronged?”
I said nothing.
“Three years ago, when you knelt outside the Crawford family warehouse begging me to save your father, you knew your place better than you do now.”
His voice wasn’t loud.
But the authority behind it was impossible to ignore.
“It was just a game. Who are you trying to punish with that attitude?”
“Carol is timid. Someone splashed red paint all over her gallery last month. It was clearly aimed at the Crawford family, and she was dragged into it because of us.”
“She’s been having nightmares ever since. Giving her that money so she can buy something she likes will help her feel safe again. It’s also our Crawford family’s way of showing respect to the Foster family.”
He paused.
“As for your father, he’s already lying in intensive care. Paying today or tomorrow makes no difference.”
His eyes turned colder.
“A damaged product isn’t worth paying extra storage fees for.”
“Know your place.”