CHAPTER 24: NAYA: BOUND BY DEBT.

Why was Hansel here?

The question kept circling through my mind as the officer led me through the narrow hallway and into the lobby of the police station. My wrists ached where the handcuffs had been digging in for hours, and every part of my body felt heavy with exhaustion and confusion and a bone-deep despair that came from having absolutely nothing left.

But Hansel was here. In the middle of the night. Looking at me with an expression I couldn’t read before he’d turned and walked away, as my presence irritated him.

But none of that mattered because the question was still, why was Hansel here?

Ahead of me, I saw the hospital director, that awful man Pete, who’d looked at me with such contempt when he’d told me about Mom’s death, leaning over a desk with a smile on his face, scribbling something. Beside him stood the Police Chief.

They both looked oddly relaxed, compared to earlier when I’d been thrown into a cell like a common thief.

The officer who’d escorted me out unlocked the handcuffs, and I felt the metal fall away from my wrists with a soft click. He handed me a plastic bag containing my things—my phone, my wallet that was empty anyway.

What was happening?

"What’s going on?" I asked, in a hoarse voice, clutching my things.

"Miss Rivers?" a voice spoke beside me. I turned and saw a man in a fitted corporate wear and neatly combed hair staring at me. "Please come with me," he added politely, gesturing toward the exit.

"Why?" My voice came out as a croak. My gaze kept flitting back to where the hospital director stood with the chief of police, both watching me with expressions ranging from satisfaction to contempt.

"You’re free to go home," the handsome man who was standing next to the Police Chief and the Hospital Director straightened. I recognised him instantly from the DOE event yesterday evening.

Though we never had a chance to talk, I’d seen him with Hansel speaking in hushed tones.

"Mr Ward has cleared your debts, and the hospital has dropped all charges against you."

I stared at him for several seconds while my brain tried to process what he’d just said and clear my debts—all of them. Nearly a million dollars in medical bills, late fees, and whatever else they’d tacked on, just gone because Hansel Ward had decided to pay for them.

But why? Why would he do that after everything he’d said to me, after calling me worthless and nothing and telling me I had no value beyond the pity he felt for me?

"Who are you?" I asked because that was the only question my exhausted brain could form.

"Andrew Cady. I’m Mr Ward’s legal representative." He said calmly.

"But why would Mr Ward pay my debts?" The question came out confused, almost childlike, and I hated how small my voice sounded.

"Exactly my question," the hospital director said from behind me, his voice dripping with disdain. He’d moved closer while I wasn’t paying attention, and now he stood there looking at me with disgust. "You clearly don’t deserve that kind of kindness. A girl like you, with no prospects and no family worth mentioning, having someone like Hansel Ward pay off nearly a million dollars in debt? What did you do to earn that, hmm?"

The implication in his tone made my stomach turn, and my face heat with shame and anger all at once.

"That’s enough," Andrew said coolly, stepping between us."Miss Rivers, if you want to know why Mr Ward did what he did, I suggest you ask him yourself. He’s waiting in the car."

I nodded mutely and followed the driver who’d initially asked me to come with him, grateful to escape the lobby and the hospital director’s knowing smirk and the chief of police’s speculative gaze.

The night air was cool from the earlier rain, making me shiver. In front of the police station, a sleek black car was parked with its engine running.

The driver opened the back door for me, and I hesitated for just a moment before sliding into the leather seat.

Hansel sat on the opposite side of the back seat, his head resting against the leather headrest and his eyes closed. He looked tired. His jaw was clenched, and there was tension in his shoulders that suggested he wasn’t actually sleeping despite the closed eyes.

"Hansel?" I said softly, but he didn’t stir. Maybe he really was asleep. Or perhaps he was pretending, avoiding having to talk to me because he’d already said everything he wanted to say at the fundraiser.

The driver closed my door, got into the front seat, and then we were moving through the city’s empty streets at three in the morning. The silence in the car was heavy and uncomfortable, broken only by the soft hum of the engine and the occasional sound of other late-night traffic. I kept sneaking glances at Hansel, watching his chest rise and fall with steady breaths, trying to understand why he’d come for me, why he’d paid off debts he had no obligation to pay.

My mind ran in circles, looking for questions that had no answers. If Hansel had paid off my entire debt—nearly a million dollars—that meant I owed him now. And it meant I was bound to him in a way that has now surpassed any previously existing agreement.

Things like this always came with strings attached, and I had no idea what he would expect in return.

What the hell was he planning? What did he want from me that was worth a million dollars?

After what felt like an eternity, the car stopped in front of Hansel’s building. The driver got out and opened my door, and I heard Hansel’s door open on the other side. He emerged from the car, moving like someone who hadn’t slept in days, running a hand through his hair before he started walking toward the building entrance without waiting for me.

"Hansel!" I scrambled out of the car, nearly tripping over the ruined hem of my dress. "Wait!"