Emily didn't know how to feel. It was two days after her father's burial, and she couldn't express how she felt. She wasn't sad, nor was she angry. She experienced a sense of emptiness that defied all explanation. She had been by herself for a long time, even before her father passed; she had been solitary.
Her family was always close. They were a tight knit family of four. Her parents, Sophia and Peter Hanson, had two kids. Emily was the first child, and she had a little brother two years younger than her named Stuart. They were a happy family. Emily was in senior high and Stuart was in junior high when tragedy struck.
Sophia and Stuart went to see some friends in another neighborhood. Emily was unwell, so she couldn't go with them, and her father had to stay at the office. He ran a small printing business, which was lucrative enough to pay the bills while her mother was a preschool teacher. It was on the way back from visiting friends that the taxi they were in crashed into a bus on the highway; some people survived and some didn't. Emily's mum and brother were among the ones who didn't survive, and since then things changed for the Hansons. Peter Hanson gave up completely on life and spent the rest of his life wasting away on alcohol and gambling, and inevitably acquiring a lot of debt.

Emily had been visited by some of the creditors, and she had paid up while still managing to arrange a small funeral for her father; the dead had to be buried after all. She didn't invite anyone, it was just her and her two friends, Monica and Thomas, along with the priest and the undertakers. It has been two days now, and Emily was adjusting to the absence of that shadowy figure that reeked of alcohol and cigarettes who just walked around the house never saying a word to her, minding his own business. She sighed softly. She was going to be okay.

“Emily, what are you doing here?” Her friend Monica asked as she entered, Emily looked around the room and saw there were no customers in sight.
“Really Moni, did you expect me to stay home when there's work to do?” She asked “I know, but I already gave you this week off, Thomas and I can handle things here for one week.
You’re still grieving,” Monica replied.
Emily scoffed.
“Grieving for who?, No, darling, I'm fine. I'm not grieving for a man who never acknowledged my existence,’’ she replied.
“But Emily, it wasn't his fault. He lost his wife.”
Emily smiled bitterly.
“I lost my mother too when I was only fifteen.’’ Just then, Thomas walked in from the inner office.
“Hey Em,” he greeted. Thomas wasn't surprised to see Emily; he knew she wouldn't acknowledge the week off they had generously given her. He had heard the exchange of words between Monica, his wife, and Emily and came out to get them to stop arguing.

Monica and Thomas had been friends with Emily since childhood. They attended the same middle and high school. Monica and Thomas fell in love as they grew older and got married after high school. They then proceeded to open a bookstore. They had been with Emily through thick and thin and employed her in their little business to assist her in making ends meet. Emily was grateful to her friends, as they were the only family she had since her mom passed.

Upon getting home from work, Emily was faced with a bigger problem. She thought she had paid off all her father's debts, but she was wrong. There was more. So much more. It was Madam Gloria. “Hello ma'am,” she greeted softly as she answered the door. Madam Gloria was the owner of a bar down the block and she was known for having a lot of questionable characters who patronized her.
“Hello ma'am,” Gloria mimicked.
“You should know why I'm here, right?” She asked
“No ma'am, I don't,” Emily replied, confused.
“Your father owes me a hundred thousand dollars,” she replied. Emily gasped in disbelief. That would be her salary for 3 months, minus taxes.
“How..ho..how?” She stammered. Gloria showed her a contract. Emily's eyes scanned through it, she recognized her father's signature, she closed her eyes and sighed. “I.. didn't know,” she said with a shaky voice.
“I know you didn't, I know. It was quite wrong of your father to do this but I need my money so I give you a month to get my money for me, otherwise, I'd take it by force,” Gloria said and left.
Emily closed the door and collapsed to the floor crying.
“No..I can't deal with this right now, where do I even get such money,” she cried to herself. She leaned against the door and hugged her knees to herself all the while still crying.
“ I hate you, Dad, I hate you” she cried and slept off.

There was a rude banging at the door. Emily was woken up from her sleep. She was still crouched at the door. She stood up, straightened her dress, and opened the door. It was none other than Silas stone. He was with two other mean-looking guys. Silas Stone owned a nightclub downtown, he was very rich and feared around town, rumors were he was into drugs and illegal arms and not just the nightclub business but no one had proved it yet. Fear went through her as she saw him. His presence here could only mean one thing, her father owed him too. She wanted to scream.
“Hhhhh ''... She shivered, she couldn't speak, he ignored her and motioned to his boys and they started taking things from the house. The couch, the curtains. Anything of value was being taken.
“Please don't take that, '' Emily begged the man as he took off the antique mirror from its stand.
That mirror belonged to her grandmother. After his death, Peter Hanson's creditors were now seeking repayment for the significant amount of debt he had accumulated during his lifetime. Emily, his daughter, was now dealing with the consequences.
After Emily's mother and younger brother died in a car accident, her father became a shadow of himself. His business failed and he started gambling and drinking and began to borrow to maintain his habits.
Emily managed to see herself through high school and got a job with some friends of hers as a salesperson in their bookstore to be able to survive and support her father. But now he was dead and his creditors didn't care, they wanted their money back.
Emily didn't know what to do. Her eyes stung with tears and she held back her words to keep from crying. Silas Stone was taking everything of value in the house. He was the second creditor that had come that day. The first was Madam Gloria who gave her a month ultimatum and now Silas Stone.
“I'm letting you off with a warning, missy because I know you are a good little girl and you've always been respectful. Your father owes me two fifty thousand grand plus interest makes it a whopping five hundred thousand dollars. However, with all this junk, it brings it down to about four fifty thousand grand, but because I think I like you, I'll make it four hundred dollars. So missy, how do you plan to pay me?’’Silas asked with a greedy look on his face, his eyes literally undressing her and his breathing increased with every stare. Emily felt disgusted.
She gulped in fear, “I….I just got a new job,” she lied, “It pays better.’’ She continued talking softly, “Please, Mr Stone give me 3 months and I will pay up completely, I promise,” she begged, trembling. His eyes swept her body once more.
“Fine, three months, and if you can't meet up, I'll take payment in another form,” he said, ogling at her once more. Emily felt shivers down her spine. She knew exactly what he meant.