Chapter 5 - Outcasts and Allies
Twenty-four hours later, discharged under threat of arrest, Clara found herself wandering the rain-slicked alleys of River District. Her cheap cotton coat did little to block the biting wind. Every step sent razor-sharp pains through her healing incision, but she refused to stop.
Arthur had stripped her bank accounts, claiming unauthorized joint-account withdrawals. Her landlord had evicted her within hours, her clothes dumped in trash bags outside the brownstone.
She collapsed under the awning of a shuttered mechanic’s shop, shivering violently. Her body, depleted of blood and running on raw adrenaline, finally gave out.
"Hey! Get up from there, girl. You can't sleep here."
A gruff voice cut through the rain. Clara blinked, seeing the silhouette of an older man carrying a rusted wrench. His face was weathered, marked by an old grease stain across his cheek, but his eyes were sharp.
"Please..." Clara whispered, her lips blue. "I just need ten minutes."
The man frowned, his gaze dropping to her stained coat and the clumsy way she held her midsection. "You’re bleeding through your clothes, kid."
"I had a baby yesterday," she managed to say before her vision went black.
When she woke, the scent of motor oil, damp iron, and brewing black coffee filled her senses. She was lying on an old leather sofa covered by a woolen blanket. Across the garage, a radio buzzed with local news: "...Billionaire Arthur Vance and socialite Victoria Sterling announce their official engagement party set for this Friday..."
Clara shot upright, crying out as her stitches pulled violently.
"Easy there," the older man said, stepping out from behind a dismantled motorcycle. "I’m Marcus. Cleaned up your wound. You were two hours away from sepsis."
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Clara stared at him warily. "Why help me?"
Marcus wiped his hands on a greasy rag. "Because three years ago, Arthur Vance bought my family’s machine shop through a shell company and drove my brother to jump off the North River bridge. Anyone Vance tries to kill is a friend of mine."
