"It's for the money. Look, he's in a coma. The deal clearly stated you should be with him till he dies. He's not going to last much longer anyway. He has been in a coma for six months."
Amelia sighed slowly as she folded her left hands round her body.
"What if he wakes up?" She asked in fear as she turned around. Her hands were clearly trembling and she could feel the chilly air, surround on her body.
"Are you praying for that to happen?" Clara rolled her eyes, as if her cousin could see her. She wondered what was so hard for Amelia to do and why she was delaying it.
"We are talking about your mother's life, Amy. Do you want to become an orphan?" She shot at her cousin on the phone.
"Clara. Don't say that!" Amelia shot immediately as she frowned.
"Then take it. This is a one time opportunity. Remember, opportunity comes but once, you won't get another gig like this in forever. " Clara shot too.
"I know" Amelia replied slowly.
"Thank God you do. And it's really not that hard, the guy isn't even rich so I don't think you would have a problem and as far as I know, he has no family, so you aren't going to be disturbed. How long do you think he would survive with no one to take care of him?" Clara asked and she could hear Amelia sighed slowly.
"That's it, Clara. Who would be willing to spend a million dollars just for me to get married to someone's who poor and is about to die? It doesn't feel right. It's ominous." Amelia pointed out and Clara rolled her eyes.
"Okay. Don't do it then." She said.
"Really? You think so, right?" Amelia's eyes lit up. She didn't want to be in trouble for something she didn't know about. Like, why would anyone in his right senses pay million dollars just for her to get married to a sickly poor man? That money should have been used for his treatment instead.
"Yeah, I do. I mean, you are obviously caring about where the money came from than where it's going, so...what can I say? Don't do it and just bury your mother afterwards." Clara said and pressed the red button, ending the call.
"Hello....hello" Amelia said and when she didn't hear a response, she looked at her phone.
"Why did she end the call on me?" She muttered as she threw her phone frustratingly on the bed and sighed. Her eyes watered immediately as the memories of two days ago rushed into her head.
~Hi, Amelia Valencia. We regret to inform you that, due to the insufficient funds in the company, you have, unfortunately, been laid off. Please do not take it to heart as you are not the only one facing this situation. Thank you.~
What b*llshit? Just right after she did her light makeup, she was just about to step out of her house when the silly message popped on her system. The month was ending next week. Why couldn't they wait and just pay her that month's salary first?
Was it her fault the company went bankrupt, why was it her? Why no one else? She screamed, burying her head in her duvet. Her mother was in the hospital, she needed a lot of money for her surgery and on top of that, they were even owing the hospital a large sum for her past treatments. Her house rent was also expiring next week and soon she will be out on the streets with nothing...why did this have to happen to her at a time like this. Not that her salary was exactly a very large amount of money but it at least gave her hope, hope that has just been shattered.
~I mean, you are obviously caring about where the money came from than where it's going, so...what can I say? Don't do it and just bury your mother afterwards.~
Clara was right. She couldn't risk leaving her money to die, just to care for a man she didn't know. He was going to die anyway. If someone was ready to pay this large amount of money -a million dollars - and didn't think about putting it into his treatment, meant that they had tried all they could. It was probably a friend or a helper, who wanted to just give him the last comfort of having a family before his death. What other reason could they have?
Amelia cleaned her eyes carefully and picked her phone which she had thrown on the bed, calling Clara again. She was the one who introduced her to this deal, her cousin, Clara.
"Hey." Clara replied immediately she picked.
"I'm ready." Amelia said immediately.
"Ready for what?" Clara screamed just so Amelia could hear her. She was obviously in a party, judging from the noises Amelia heard in the background.
"The deal." Amelia replied immediately, she had no time to waste. They had to get this done and over with.
"Oh, that? It's off already. I thought you weren't interested and so I relayed your message." Clara replied.
"What? How could you do that?" Amelia's eyes widened as her face suddenly turned pale in confusion and anger.
"Oh my." Clara laughed funnily.
"I was just joking. Don't tell me you took this seriously?" She laughed more as she clinked glasses and had a sip of wine.
"Why would you do that?" Amelia said calmly as she took a sigh of relief.
"What changed your mind?" Clara asked
"I..." Amelia started but was suddenly cut off by the sound of laughter on the other side.
"Clara? " She called.
"Oh, you were saying..."
"I ..."
"You know what, never mind. Just come to my house tomorrow by eight and don't be late." Clara said and without giving Amelia a chance to speak, ended the call.
I was the one who called her, how could she think about ending the call first. Amelia thought as she threw her phone on her bed and sat down slowly, looking around the room.
Her room was practically empty. Only her bed, her closet and a creaky table. She had nothing. Her mother had been sickly for about a year and so all her.money went on drugs, but they weren't helping. They needed to get her surgery as soon as possible else her mother was going to die.
"Where are you, dad?" She whispered slowly as fresh tears rushed out of her eyes the more. If only her dad was alive, all these things might have been prevented. If only.....
-------
"Hey. I thought you were going to be late." Clara said immediately she opened the door and sighted Amelia.
"I'm sorry. I almost couldn't get the bus." She apologized and Clara rolled her eyes.
"Eaten yet?" She asked instead as Amelia followed her in.
"Not yet. I woke up late."
"Why would you? We had an appointment!" Clara shot.
"I know. I slept in." Amelia said slowly.
"Exactly. You are getting million dollars today. Couldn't you have slept a little bit earlier and try to look good. You look like you haven't had a bath in years." Clara cringed as she went into the kitchen to get a plate of food of Amelia.
Amelia sighed slowly and sat on the cushion, bringing out her phone. She looked at the dark screen for a while and tried adjusting her hair. How could she forget to brush it in a hurry, now she was looking like a mess. She pressed it down and fixed her fingers in, trying to flatten them down.
"Hey." Clara called from across the dining as she dropped the plate of food on the table.
"Have something to eat." She said.
"Okay, look. It's not like you are selling your body or something. This guy isn't even getting better. I'm pretty sure he's going to die in probably a month or two. And you'll be free." Clara tried to convince her more when she noticed Amelia wasn't eating but instead stabbing the food over and over again.
"I know." Amelia muttered, her voice was so low that Clara almost didn't hear her.
"Okay, if you are going to have this smudgy attitude, then just get out! You make it look as if I forced you into this." She said, with a look of annoyance. This was why she didn't like Amelia, always acting so upright and pure. If it were she, she would even sell her body. This was a million dollars. So bad Amelia was going to spend all that money on lung cancer.
"No, no. I'm going to do it. You aren't forcing me into anything. I agreed to it myself." Amelia quickly replied. It wasn't like she had a choice. This was something she had to do to save her mother's life.
The ringing of the bell interrupted them and Clara stood up to attend to it.
"Hey. Come in, she's ready." Clara said and Amelia stood up slowly, turning back to behold the planner of this opportunity. Her jaw dropped, but she was sharp enough to close it back. This was a sophisticated young woman, what exactly would she need this kind of plan for?
"Amelia" Clara whispered and pinched her slowly, making her come to her senses immediately. Amelia glanced at her and quickly went to the living room.
"I'm Amelia... Amelia Valencia." She introduced, bringing her hand forward for an handshake.
The lady just stared at her and ignored it, taking her seat immediately. She rummaged her bag and brought out a brown envelope.
"Seat." Clara whispered to Amelia who felt embarrassed by the lady's action and she dropped her hand, sighing as she took her seat calmly.
"So where's the deal, Kim?" Clara asked looking at her.
"Here." Kimberly replied and pushed the brown file towards Amelia. Amelia stretched her hand to pick it, but Clara did before her and opened it.
"What's it about?" Amelia asked slowly and Clara passed it to her when she was done.
"A non disclosure agreement. Sign it." She said and gave Amelia a pen.
Amelia collected both and paused for a while to read the agreement.
"What are you reading? Just sign." Clara said impatiently.
"I'm not to tell anybody whatever goes on in the house?" Amelia read out. The agreement was absurd. She was to pretend nothing was happening. Both at home and if she ever went to the hospital. She had no right whatsoever in the properties or anything. She heard he was poor, so what properties were they talking about? She rolled her eyes inwardly. She was to disappear if ever the man died. What was this?
"Aren't you signing? I don't have much time." Kim shot.
Amelia blinked thrice and stared at Clara with discomfort before signing the papers.
"Good." Kimberly said and collected one of the papers from her, leaving the other for her to keep.
"The money has been wired to the provided account details. Did you or did you not get it?" Kimberly asked and Amelia quickly rummaged her bag, getting her phone. She turned it on and her eyes widened seeing the amount of money in it.
"I got it." She smiled with bright eyes.
"Okay, good. You move in tomorrow. The address will be forwarded to you." Kimberly said and stood up immediately.
"So soon? I thought I had..." Amelia started.
"You have nothing. There's no time. Your work starts tomorrow. Clara..I'll see you later." Kim smiled and gave Amelia a stern look before walking out.
Amelia sighed as she placed her head between her two hands, sighing tiredly. She thought she would be given a week at least for her to stay with her mother during the week before her treatment but it seemed it wouldn't be possible.
Who was this guy?
