Chapter 557: You have one month

[Flashback]

“Here, keep this and eat whatever you like.” Young Norma pressed a few worn coins into Daniel’s small palm and smiled, curling his fingers gently around them.

“But Aunty, how will you go to the interview if you give me so much money?” the little boy asked, staring up at her with wide, innocent eyes.

After losing his parents, life had turned harsh and unfamiliar for both of them. Daniel faced constant bullying at school—whispers about his father, cruel jokes he didn’t fully understand but felt all the same. Norma, fresh out of graduation, had been drifting from one rejection to another. By day, she worked as a waitress at a small restaurant, enduring long hours on her feet just to make ends meet.

Every saving her brother had earned through years of hard work had vanished in their desperate attempts to prove his innocence. Lawyer fees, court visits, endless paperwork—each effort drained them further. In the end, all they were left with was the old house and whatever little Norma could scrape together from her daily labor.

Norma looked at Daniel and forced a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I have enough cash with me. Just make sure you eat lunch, okay?”

The boy hummed softly, though doubt lingered in his eyes. He lowered his head and walked through the school gates—a place that no longer felt safe or welcoming.

Once he disappeared inside, Norma adjusted her modest dress and glanced at the watch on her wrist.

“God… I’m already running late,” she muttered, panic rising in her chest.

She hurried toward the bus station, weaving through the morning crowd. The city moved indifferently around her—vendors shouting, vehicles honking, people rushing past without a glance. She clutched her file tightly to her chest as if it were the only thing holding her together.

Norma had been rejected by more companies than she could count. Each interview had ended with polite smiles and hollow promises: We’ll call you. They never did. Still, she continued working outside her comfort zone, refusing to give up. This interview felt different. She had prepared for it all night, rehearsing answers until exhaustion claimed her. Deep down, she believed this would be her last hurdle.

She wasn’t sure how she managed to reach the company building in time. Breathless and slightly disheveled, she joined the queue of applicants waiting for their names to be called. The lobby smelled faintly of polished floors and expensive perfume—so different from the greasy scent of the restaurant she worked at.

As minutes stretched, her stomach growled loudly.

“Just hold on for a moment,” she whispered to herself, pressing a hand against her abdomen. She hadn’t eaten since the previous evening, choosing instead to save what little money she had for Daniel.

Life had placed too much weight on her shoulders. She had promised her brother, on the day they buried him, that she would protect his son and stand strong no matter what. But promises did not fill empty plates. The small savings she had left wouldn’t sustain them for long.

“Miss Norma.”

The receptionist’s voice cut through her thoughts.

Norma’s heart skipped. She rose from her seat, smoothed her dress, and walked forward—carrying not just her file, but the fragile hope of a better future.

***

A few minutes later, Norma walked out of the building, her steps slow and heavy. The glass doors closed behind her with a soft click, but the echo of rejection rang loudly in her ears.

“We regret to inform you…”

The words had become painfully familiar.

She had not grown used to them. Each rejection still carved into her with the same sharp edge. But what hurt more than the refusal itself was the reason behind it. The polite smiles, the hesitant glances at her résumé, the sudden shift in tone once her name was recognized—it all pointed back to one man.

Hugo Bennett.

The false narratives he had spread about her family had followed her everywhere like a shadow she could not outrun. No matter how qualified she was, no matter how sincere her effort, society had already judged her.

Tears pooled in her eyes as she descended the steps and stepped onto the pavement. She blinked rapidly, trying to hold them back, but the sting only deepened.

She told herself she couldn’t give up. She reminded herself that she had to be strong. But strength did not silence the whispers. Strength did not erase the way people looked at her as though she carried a stain.

And how was she supposed to ignore what Daniel endured?

Every night, she noticed how he quietly washed his clothes in the bathroom after dinner. He thought she didn’t see him scrubbing at invisible marks, trying to erase the humiliation of another day at school. He never complained. He never cried in front of her.

But she saw the misery in his eyes.

She saw the way his shoulders stiffened whenever someone mentioned his father.

All she wanted was to give him a better life—a life her brother and sister-in-law had dreamed of for him. A life free from shame and cruelty.

Reaching a bench near the sidewalk, Norma sank down heavily. The city buzzed around her, indifferent to her heartbreak. She closed her eyes, and this time she let the tears fall.

“Why did you give up, brother?” she whispered hoarsely. “Why did you leave us like this?”

The memory of that day—the accusations, the arrest, the scandal—flashed before her. One moment they had been a struggling but united family. The next, everything was gone. Her brother behind bars. Her sister-in-law collapsing under the weight of despair. And then… silence.

All that remained was Daniel.

And her.

Time passed before her sobs quieted. She wiped her face with trembling fingers and inhaled deeply. She could not afford to fall apart. Not when a child depended on her.

Just as she was steadying herself to stand, the sound of a car pulling up in front of her caught her attention.

She frowned slightly.

A sleek black car stopped by the curb. The door opened, and a woman stepped out gracefully, adjusting her sunglasses before lowering them.

The moment Norma recognized her, the sadness in her eyes hardened into something cold and fierce.

Roseline.

“How long are you going to keep humiliating yourself, young girl?” Roseline asked, her lips curving into a smug smile as she stopped in front of Norma.

Norma’s fists clenched at her sides as she rose to her feet. Every cell in her body burned at the sight of the woman who had stood beside Hugo Bennett like a loyal shadow.

Roseline was his secretary.

The woman whose testimony had sealed her brother’s fate.

How could Norma ever forget her face? She had seen it in court—calm, composed, convincing. She had watched as her words twisted the truth and pushed her brother toward ruin.

“You have no right to stand in front of me,” Norma said through gritted teeth.

Roseline gave a soft, mocking laugh. “Oh, but I do. You see, I’ve been watching you. Interview after interview. Rejection after rejection. It’s almost… pathetic.”

Norma’s jaw tightened. “What do you want?”

Roseline stepped closer, lowering her voice. “I want you to understand something clearly. As long as you stay in this country, you will never have peace. Hugo Bennett’s influence runs deeper than you think.”

Norma’s heart pounded, but she refused to look away.

“You think this is coincidence?” Roseline continued smoothly. “The rejections. The whispers. The doors closing before you can even step inside? That is mercy.”

“Mercy?” Norma’s voice trembled with rage.

“Yes. Because if we truly wished to, we could make things much worse.” Roseline’s smile vanished, replaced by something colder. “Leave the country. Take the boy and disappear quietly.”

Norma felt her nails dig into her palms.

“And if I don’t?”

Roseline’s gaze sharpened. “Then I will make sure your life becomes so miserable that you will beg for the chance to leave. No employer will hire you. Even your little house might suddenly become… unsafe.”

The threat hung heavily between them.

Norma’s breathing turned shallow, but her eyes blazed with defiance.

“You already took everything from us,” she said, her voice low but steady. “You won’t take our dignity too.”

Roseline tilted her head slightly. “Dignity? That’s a luxury you can’t afford.”

With that, she stepped back toward her car.

“You have one month,” she added coolly. “After that, don’t blame me for what happens.”

The car door shut, and within seconds, the vehicle disappeared into traffic.

Norma remained standing there, trembling—not from fear alone, but from fury.

They wanted her to run.

But for the first time, a different thought took root in her heart.

What if she stopped running?

Back then, Norma didn’t want to give up. She had sworn to herself that she would never bow her head before the people who had wronged her family.

But when things began to grow harsher—when job offers disappeared entirely, when Daniel’s school suddenly refused to renew his enrollment, and when even their neighbors started treating them like outcasts—she realized she was running out of options.

Roseline’s warning had not been empty.

Every door that could close, did.

Every opportunity that might have helped them survive was quietly taken away.

In the end, Norma had no choice. For Daniel’s sake, she swallowed her pride and made the hardest decision of her life. She sold their house—the last piece of her brother’s memory—and left the country with nothing but a few suitcases and a fragile hope for a new beginning.

They moved to a place where no one knew their name. No one whispered about the past. No one judged them before hearing their story.

It wasn’t easy at first. Starting over never is. But this time, there were no shadows chasing them. Daniel slowly began to smile again. He made friends. He stopped washing his clothes in secret at night.

And somewhere along the way, Norma met the man who would later become her husband.

He didn’t ask about rumors. He didn’t question their past with suspicion. Instead, he saw a woman who had fought through storms and a child who deserved warmth. He accepted them wholeheartedly—not out of pity, but out of genuine love.

He loved Daniel as his own.

He loved Norma not for what she had endured, but for who she was.

For the first time in years, Norma felt safe.

For the first time, she believed that perhaps life was finally giving them a second chance.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep