Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Aria’s POV**

“Aria, you’re not getting paid this month.”

The words fell from Anita Clark’s mouth like a lead weight, and she slapped a slip of paper down in front of me with a look of disdain that spoke volumes. It was as though she could barely stand to be in my presence, let alone touch the paper she had just thrust into my world. Her lips curled into that all-too-familiar sneer, a mask of superiority that I had seen too many times before from those who believed they were above me.

For a heartbeat, time seemed to freeze. I stood there, paralyzed, as the broom I had been gripping slipped from my raw, cracked hands. The biting cold of the wind pierced through my gloves, sending a shiver racing down my spine.

I blinked, trying to process what had just been said. “What did you just say? That can’t be right. It’s only the second of the month,” I stammered, my voice emerging weaker than I intended. “I still have twenty-eight days left to work. How can I already have lost a whole month’s pay?”

Three thousand dollars—vanished.