Chapter 3 - The Call That Changed Everything
We spent the next two hours sitting at the kitchen table, looking at our joint bank account online and realizing we had roughly six weeks before we wouldn't be able to cover the mortgage.
Elena was remarkably strong, pouring us both black coffee and refusing to let me wallow in self-pity, even as the weight of our future pressed down on our shoulders.
"We'll figure it out, Seb," she insisted, leaning across the table and taking my call-roughened hand in hers. "You're brilliant at what you do. Other companies will see your value. You don't need Nick or his miserable agency."
Before I could answer, my phone buzzed violently on the wood grain table.
I looked down, expecting it to be a recruiter spam call or an automated email from LinkedIn. Instead, the caller ID showed an unknown number with a local area code.
I frowned and hit accept, pressing the phone to my ear. "Hello?"
"Is this Sebastian Cole?" a sharp, formal, feminine voice asked on the other end of the line.
"Yes, this is Sebastian," I answered cautiously, exchanging a confused glance with Elena.
"Mr. Cole, my name is Victoria Vance. I am calling on behalf of my mother, Eleanor Vance."
My breath hitched. Eleanor Vance. The name sounded vaguely familiar, like a headline from a financial journal or a high-society charity gala, but I couldn't place it.
"I'm sorry," I said, sitting up straighter in my chair. "I don't think I know a—"
"You stopped on Route 9 this morning, Mr. Cole," Victoria interrupted, her voice cutting through my confusion with absolute authority. "You pulled your car across two lanes of traffic, risked your own safety, administered CPR, and stayed with an elderly woman until the ambulance arrived. That woman was my mother."
The kitchen seemed to tilt slightly. "Oh. Is... is she alright? The paramedics said her pulse was extremely weak when they loaded her."
"She is currently resting in the cardiac ICU at Mercy General," Victoria said, her tone softening just a fraction, revealing the exhaustion beneath the polished exterior. "The doctors informed me that had you hesitated for even two minutes, she would not have survived the morning. You saved her life."
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I exhaled a long, shaky breath, running a hand through my hair. "I'm just glad she's okay. Truly. Anyone would have done the same."
"No, Mr. Cole," Victoria said coolly. "Based on the dashcam footage from the vehicles that drove right past her while she lay dying on the asphalt, no one else would have done the same. Which brings me to the second reason I am calling."
