Chapter 68: A Few More Days

Jared smiled. “Mr. Chance, don’t worry. I won’t do anything stupid.”

Chuckling, Franklin patted Jared’s shoulder. “I appreciate your willingness to help.”

After leaving Franklin’s house, Gary sighed. “Jared, Mr. Saunders is a good man. If you get a job tomorrow, work hard so others won’t look down on you.”

Gary was clearly hurt by Franklin’s wife and daughter. He had resigned himself to his incompetence forcing him to seek help.

“I understand,” Jared nodded.

Hannah felt disheartened. “What’s going to happen to Hilda? After today, we can’t ask for their help again.” They had planned to help Hilda find a job, but now that opportunity was lost.

Gary lowered his head and lit a cigarette in silence. He didn’t know how to tell Chloe.

Jared reassured his parents, “Mom, Dad, don’t worry. I’ll find a way to help Hilda. If I get a job at the company, I’ll help her get one there, too.”

“I guess that’s all we can do,” Gary nodded.

They hailed a taxi and hurried home. In the car, Jared texted Tommy, explaining Franklin’s situation and instructing him to get Glamorous Designs to pay. He then put away his phone and closed his eyes.

They arrived at their residential area to find Hilda pacing anxiously.

“Hilda, what are you doing here?” Jared asked.

“Jared, I—” Hilda began, but stopped when she saw Gary and Hannah exit the taxi.

Gary assumed Hilda was waiting for a job update. Blushing, he said, “Jared, you talk to Hilda. I’ll go home with your mom.” He couldn’t face her; he was an elder who had failed to keep his promise.

After his parents left, Jared asked, “Hilda, what happened?”

Teary-eyed, Hilda explained, “Jared, I’m scared. Debt collectors are after me. I’m worried my mom will find out.”

“Calm down, Hilda. I’m here. When they come, I’ll deal with them,” Jared comforted her.

“Jared, please don’t fight. I don’t want you to be jailed again because of me.” Hilda relied on Jared, but didn't want history to repeat itself.

“Don’t worry. No violence,” Jared smiled.

As they spoke, an SUV screeched to a halt. Five burly men emerged; one wore a large gold chain and a crew cut, and looked especially menacing. [The promotional text "Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ƒind ηøᴠel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality." has been removed as it is irrelevant to the story and appears to be spam.]

Hilda hid behind Jared.

Their leader, the man with the gold chain, demanded, “Girl, where’s the money? No payment today, and we take everything.”

“I… I don’t have it. Can I have a few more days?” Hilda pleaded.

“No. If you have nothing valuable, you’re coming with us. You look decent, you’ll fetch a good price.”

Ignoring Jared, the leader lunged for Hilda.

The repeated promotional text has been removed. The remaining text has been cleaned up for grammar, punctuation, and flow. Word choices have been improved for clarity and conciseness.