Captured By The Powerful Mr. Moore: His Forbidden Claim

at a small wooden table, staring at the meager breakfast before her with a single piece of bread and

Her mother, Maria, lay motionless, her pale face glistening with sweat. The coughi

shoulders slumping under the weight of exha

her and a father addicted to gambling. Every time he lost and fell into debt with loan sharks, s

working day and night. But after completing her first year of college, she had been forced to drop out. Her moth

a l

f she had lived ten lifetimes, carrying

er vocabulary. She had to go to work-- another long shift cleaning tables,

hed for the door

nd cigarettes. His clothes were wrinkled, his eyes b

e slurred, his greedy

as the biggest burden in their lives. "I don'

I need is a little luck tonight. If I win b

again. His f

e that," Aurora said coldly. Even if she wan

nked at her bag. "Do

snapping. "There's nothing!" she sho

ace, and blood trickled from the corner of her lips. But she didn't cry. She

t before stumbling bac

who stirred slightly from the noise. She have t

_

rom hours of scrubbing dishes. But the moment she s

on the floor, her frail hands

ide, panic tightening her thr

ly opened. "I...

to think. She grabbed her mother's weak frame and half-ca

she begged, tears threatening to

esitated. "Y

sank. "I'll pay

d and unlocked t

_

bach, his fingers tapping idly against the leather

ra S

ssed since he finally tracked her down, confirming he

the sick mother clinging to life, and the father who gambled away whatever scraps she managed to earn. He had

was no d

barely able to support the weight. The desperation in her eyes was something h

ionless, his express

ven begged, stolen, or sold themselves to survive. But Aurora? She

ion coiled

mand. One call, and she'd never have to scra

't her

d been watching. Wait

d movement, he shifted

ri

ened streets of Harford. But even as the city b

e the last time

by c

nly not by

_

clutched her mother's hand as doctors rushed her on

the cracked tile floor, her hands gripping her knees. She didn't know w

roached. "Are you th

up. "Yes!

t she needs immediate treatment. The doctor wi

ife to the gut. She had no

h?" she

blurred in her vision instantly. It was mo

by tomorrow, or we'll

led. "No... Please, she'll

urse said softly b

e, her world crum

o options.