"What happened?" Rita asked him the next day when they finally saw eye to eye. "Why do you want to break up with me after all the time that we have spent together confessing our love for each other?"
William shrugged his shoulders. "I went to my parents and told them the truth. You're really not a rich person; you're a poor girl from the country. They weren't happy, but they agreed to let me marry you if you pay them back the money I borrowed."
Rita was shocked. "How much did you borrow?" she asked.
"About $25,000," William said.
Rita gasped. She had no idea William had taken out such a huge loan! She had been so focused on making sure William didn't get caught that she never stopped to think about how much trouble this would cause her.
"That's impossible!" she told him. "I don't even make more than minimum wage at my job, which is why I'm working two jobs in the first place!"
She felt terrible for lying to William and she knew it was wrong of her. But she also thought she could save her relationship by offering to repay the money he had borrowed from his parents. She hated the fact that she'd lied to him, but she figured her feelings were more important than whatever amount of money it would cost her.
Rita tried to talk to her parents about the situation, but they refused to help her. They blamed William for taking out the loan, saying that she should have known better than to trust someone who came from such a wealthy family. They made it clear that they had no intention of helping her help William pay back the debt.
Rita's parents wouldn't let her see or speak to William again. She was heartbroken. After several weeks of crying and feeling sorry for herself, she took the bus to New York City and found a job as a waitress at one of the restaurants near Wall Street. It wasn't glamorous work, but it paid well enough for her to live on. She lived in an apartment building close to the restaurant and worked long hours to earn the money she needed to help William repay his parents.
Even though she was trying her best to help William repay his debt, she couldn't understand why he had decided to take such a loan from his parents when he was fully aware of the fact that it would be hard to pay them back.
She wondered whether there was something else going on between William and his family that she didn't know about. Was William hiding something from her? Did he have other debts he was trying to hide from her? Or did he just not care about her feelings and needs anymore because he had gotten what he wanted?
After months of struggling to pay off the debt, Rita learned that William had moved to Florida without telling her. He had told her he was planning to visit some friends, but she suspected he had left town because of the way she had treated him. When she called his parents' house, she got the same answer she had received before: That William wasn't home and that he hadn't informed them of his travel plans.
Rita knew she couldn't afford to keep calling William's family over and over again, so she gave up on contacting him. She continued to work hard at her job and try to repay the money William had borrowed, but it was still a struggle.
Rita worked as a waitress for almost two years, and during this time she sent William approximately $20,000 in payments. By now, however, the debt had grown significantly larger. She had no idea where William was, and he had clearly abandoned her and the relationship they once shared.
One day while working her shift at the restaurant, Rita realized that she had overheard two men talking about her. One of the men had mentioned that she was working as a waitress and that she worked in downtown Manhattan. The man then asked the other if he knew anything about her.
The second man said, "Yeah, I know a lot about her. She was dating William Smith and the two of them stole a huge sum of money from his parents. She owes $25,000 to them and she has been paying it off bit by bit ever since. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to be around her."
Rita immediately left the restaurant and headed towards her apartment. She couldn't believe that two men who had never had a conversation with her physically would spend their time lying about her situation without even knowing the full and complete detail about it. How could people be so cruel?
Rita cried on the walk back home. She knew that she had made mistakes in the past, but she didn't deserve to be treated like a criminal simply because she had fallen in love with William. She loved him so much that she had chosen to turn against her own parents and lie about the entire situation, just to protect his name.
When she arrived at her apartment, she opened her mailbox and found a letter addressed to her. There was no return address, and she knew it must be from William. She tore open the envelope and read his message:
Dear Rita,
Thanks for all your help. If it weren't for you, I probably would have been arrested by now. It feels good to know that you are willing to stand by someone you love.
I am currently living in Florida. I'm looking for a job, but it's hard to find something that pays well. I really appreciate everything you are doing for me, and I hope I will be able to pay you back one day.
I hope things go well for both of us. I'm sorry that I hurt you, but I hope that someday soon we can put this behind us and start fresh.
Sincerely,
WILLIAM SMITH