A Friend

"What do you mean I don't owe your family anything?" I asked, my voice trembling despite my attempt to stay calm.

Noah's gaze stayed glued to the floor, his bangs covering his eyes like a shield. His foot tapped lightly against the tile, a nervous rhythm that filled the silence.

"Your dad was my mum's best friend," I said, the words catching in my throat. "But that doesn't mean he had to take me in. No one made him do it. I owe him everything."

"Don't make him seem like a god," Noah muttered under his breath.

When he finally looked up at me, his eyes were sharp, carrying an edge of anger but shadowed by something harder to place.

"Last week, I got an email from someone," he said, his voice low.

"Who?"

"No idea," he replied. "They kept their identity anonymous."

"Okay, but what did the email say?"