Chapter 5 - Cracks in the Facade
The reality of being poor did not suit Victoria.
Within two weeks, the fairy tale she had constructed in her head had completely unraveled. She and Julian were forced to move into a cramped, noisy two-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of the city. Julian was spending his days frantically calling rival tech firms, begging for a job, only to find that his reputation as an embezzler had blacklisted him from the industry.
The stress cracked them open.
Victoria, who had quit her job as a boutique manager when she moved in with Julian, suddenly found herself expected to pay half the rent.
"I didn't sign up for this!" she screamed at him one evening, her voice carrying through the thin walls of their cheap apartment. A mutual acquaintance who lived in the same complex gladly relayed the gossip. "You told me you were a millionaire, Julian! You told me she was just a clingy nurse who dragged you down!"
"She took everything!" Julian roared back. "What do you want me to do, Victoria? I’m ruined!"
"Fix it!" she shrieked. "Or I'm leaving!"
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But Victoria had a secret of her own. She couldn't leave. She was drowning in eighty thousand dollars of credit card debt—money she had spent trying to keep up the appearance of a wealthy socialite to impress Julian's friends. She was trapped in the very nightmare she had helped create.
They were two parasites, realizing too late that the host they had bled dry was the only thing keeping them alive.
