C7 What Hope Costs

Lexi's POV

I stared at the notebook in front of me—the cheap spiral one I kept stashed beneath the microwave, hidden away from Aria's prying eyes. The numbers on the page seemed to mock me.

$13,420.

That’s what we had saved in three years.

Three years of side gigs, back-to-back shifts, missed birthdays, and sleepless nights