Flora stood upright, her hand gripping her phone tightly, yet the weight inside her chest only grew heavier.
Cold sweat gathered in her palms, and the tension in her body refused to fade.
As she walked away from the food court, Peter’s voice echoed again in her ears.
The way he spoke so easily—about how the world could be conquered with a smile and a few sweet words.
Something felt wrong.
But Flora couldn’t quite explain what it was that troubled her so deeply.
She stepped onto the escalator leading down to the basement, exactly as the online loan officer had instructed.
The area looked deserted—only a few motorcycles were parked nearby, and several neon lights flickered weakly above them.
The air was damp and suffocating, creating an atmosphere far gloomier than she had imagined.
“Why does it have to be here?” she muttered under her breath.
Moments later, a man wearing a wrinkled shirt and a worn backpack approached her.
Flora could only stare at him anxiously, trying to stay calm even as the pressure inside her chest grew stronger.
“Are you Flora?” the man asked.
“Yes…” she replied softly, her voice barely audible in the hollow quiet around them.
“From RexFinance, right? The loan is one hundred. The terms and contract will be sent later through WhatsApp. But we’ll do the photo and verification here. Relax, it won’t take long,” the man said casually—too casually, too confidently.
Flora simply nodded.
Her eyes scanned the surroundings nervously.
She felt as though she were trapped in a narrow space, caught in a situation she barely understood.
The man pulled out his phone and began taking pictures—first of her ID card, then her face.
He even asked her to sign a form, her hand trembling as she did.
“Who’s your emergency contact?” the man asked again, breaking the silence.
Flora quietly mentioned her mother’s number.
Her heart trembled, and her body felt stiff.
The man nodded as if everything had been settled.
“Alright. The money will be transferred directly to your account tonight. But please remember the due date. Even one day late and the penalty increases. And… we have an automatic notification system to all your contacts if the payment is overdue.”
The last sentence struck her like a hammer.
Her entire body froze.
Her lips could barely move.
“Okay?” the man asked flatly, as if this were nothing more than routine.
“…Okay,” she finally whispered, her voice weak—like someone admitting she had no other choice.
After the man left, Flora walked out of the mall unsteadily, holding back the tears that threatened to fall.
Each step felt unbearably heavy, as if the world itself were pressing down on her.
It wasn’t just the debt waiting for her.
It was the feeling of being trapped.
________________________________________
Meanwhile, on the seventh floor of the same building, Peter was in the middle of a meeting with a client.
But he seemed restless.
Flora’s image kept returning to his mind.
She looked different now—more confident, more mature, more beautiful from every angle.
And that was enough to awaken feelings he thought had long faded.
Especially after Leony had recently left him, moving to Belarus with her parents.
The longer the meeting continued, the more uneasy Peter felt.
Finally, he tried to end the meeting abruptly.
“I think we should stop the meeting here for now. I’m sorry, but I suddenly feel unwell,” Peter said, rubbing his forehead.
“Of course. No problem at all,” the client replied.
“You should get some rest.”
Peter immediately left the room and hurried toward the restaurant where he had met Flora earlier.
But when he arrived, she was nowhere to be found.
Like a man in panic, Peter searched around the mall—walking back and forth through corridors and stores.
Yet he never found his former high school girlfriend.
________________________________________
When Flora arrived home, the atmosphere waiting for her brought no comfort at all.
Her stepmother was already sitting in the living room, the television playing without being watched.
Her eyes looked cold and empty.
The moment Flora took off her shoes, the woman spoke sharply.
“Where’s the money?”
Flora swallowed hard.
Her throat felt tight.
“It’ll arrive tomorrow,” she answered quietly.
“Tomorrow morning?” her stepmother asked, her tone filled with suspicion.
“Tonight,” Flora corrected.
Her stepmother snorted with irritation.
“You promise fast, but deliver slow. Do you think Felix can re-register if the money comes at night? The deadline is the day after tomorrow, Flora. The day after tomorrow!”
Flora lowered her head silently, feeling as if she were drowning under the weight of those sharp words.
The air in the room grew heavier.
A moment later, Felix, her stepbrother, came out of his room wearing a T-shirt and shorts while casually playing with his phone.
“I told you she couldn’t be trusted,” he sneered.
“A maid’s child will always be a maid.”
The words struck Flora’s chest like a blade.
Her heart ached, but she remained silent.
Fighting back would only make things worse.
Without saying a word, Flora bowed her head again, swallowing the anger and pain inside her.
________________________________________
At two in the morning, Flora lay curled on the thin mattress in the corner of her small room.
Her eyes were closed, but her mind remained wide awake.
The room was dark, yet her anxiety refused to disappear.
On her phone screen, the loan application had confirmed that the funds had been transferred:
US$100.
But that wasn’t the number keeping her awake.
Beneath it, another message appeared clearly:
Due Date: 7 Days
Total Repayment: US$125
The interest wrapped around her like chains.
She bit her lower lip.
The money would be handed to her stepmother tomorrow.
But how could she possibly repay an amount larger than her monthly salary?
Was there any way out?
Suddenly, a notification appeared on her phone.
The family WhatsApp group.
A photo of Flora handing over her ID card—marked with the watermark “RexFinance”—had suddenly appeared in the group.
“What is this?” her aunt wrote immediately.
More messages followed from other relatives.
Flora’s heart pounded violently.
How could this happen?
It had only been a few hours since she submitted her data.
Before she could even process everything, her phone vibrated again.
A message from an unknown number appeared.
“Remember, Miss Flora. Don’t be late. All your contacts can know you borrowed money. Our system is automatic.”
Her hands trembled as she read it.
Her heart felt as though it might stop.
For the first time that night, tears fell down her cheeks.
________________________________________
The next morning, Flora arrived early at the pharmacy where she worked.
She handed the money to her stepmother, who was already waiting outside the gate.
There was no thank you.
No smile.
Only a cold stare.
Throughout the day, Flora worked like a shadow—moving without life.
Miss Nani, her supervisor, asked softly, “Are you sick?”
Flora only shook her head.
Inside her mind, one word repeated over and over again:
Trap.
Flora felt as if she had fallen into a vicious circle.
Every time she believed there might be a way out, something always dragged her back inside.
It wasn’t only the debt she had borrowed.
It was the fear that now surrounded every part of her life.
Every phone call.
Every message.
Every passing second.
All of it felt like time itself was haunting her.