HER MOTHER'S TEARS

ANDREA'S POV

I stood to my feet immediately and went closer to have a good look. To my surprise, Lola Erikson laid on the bed with wide open eyes, and the doctors looked very relieved.

"What happened, doctor?" I asked, and the head doctor looked up.

"It seems she woke up and somehow disconnected the machine, causing the inactivity alarm to be triggered." He said, and I sighed in relief.

The doctors did their overall check on her to make sure her vision was intact and that she could understand everything happening around her.

They finished their tests and left the room.

I went closer to Lola as she had been staring at me for a long time. She probably couldn't understand why she was here and how she was meeting me again in the hospital.

"You ran into my car and passed out."

"That's how you got here." I said, and she looked at me in disbelief.

Why was she looking at me like that? She was the one who ran into my car, not the other way round.

"I'm leaving," she said, and I couldn't believe my ears.

Leaving? She had just woken up after I spent my precious time looking after her, and all she could think about was leaving?

I haven't even asked her to sign the marriage contract with me. Was she serious right now?

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Lola's POV

I removed the drip on my hand and staggered down, almost falling down. From the time on the wall clock, I could see that more than six hours had gone by.

That means my mum is alone at the police station, without any form of help, and has probably been locked up.

I held unto the bed rail, trying to stand properly and find my way out.

"You can't leave. You are not fit yet." Andrea said, and I sighed.

I need to get to my mum, I've wasted so much time, and now I don't even know her fate. I left the bed rail and tried reaching for the door, but I fell to the ground in a thud.

Before I could do anything, Andrea bent down and effortlessly scooped me up in his arms like a little girl, taking me back to the hospital bed.

I felt pissed off. I needed to get to the police station. I had struggled hard to reach the door, and now he had taken me back to the bed.

"What do you want from me, sir?"

"You told me never to let you see me again, so why do you keep bringing me back here when it's obvious I want to leave!" I shouted, and he looked at me in disbelief.

"Jeez... you should be thanking me for helping you by bringing you to the hospital." Andrea said.

"You could have died, you know.." he said, and I hissed in anger.

I didn't have time for this!

"You hit me with your car, I wouldn't be here in this condition right now if that hadn't happened." I retorted.

"But it's fine. If a thank you is your problem, then thank you!" I said angrily.

I know I'm being a bit rude, but I don't care right now. I have never been so frustrated in my life.

"You know what... I don't want to argue with you."

"I have a business proposal for you." He said, looking quite serious.

What business proposal? What is he talking about?

"I want you to be my contract wife for a short time frame. I'm ready to pay you, just name your price." He said, and I sighed in disgust.

Why would I get married to such a jerk? Being poor doesn't make me stupid or vulnerable. Nothing on earth will make me get married to someone like him!

"You must be joking, Mr Andrea, I won't get married to you, not for any reason."

"You always act like a stuck-up jerk, thinking you are better than everyone else."

"I don't care about how much money you are willing to offer, I will never have anything to do with you." I yelled at him, and his face went wild in shock.

I stood up from the bed, picked up my phone from the table, and walked straight for the door. I felt a sudden surge of strength because of how angry I was at what he had just said.

I made my way to the exit of the hospital and stopped a taxi that I could barely afford.

Although I'm almost out of funds, I don't have the time to use the bus. I just hope my mum is okay.

I placed a call to Kira and informed her about everything that had happened.

"Everything is going to be fine, Lola." Kira encouraged me over the phone, and I tried my best to calm down.

I got to the station, and I met some people in the counter area where the police officers were sitted. There were two women with fancy clothings and a man beside them, and some other people who had different cases to settle. I immediately asked for my mum.

"Good day. Please, I'm here for Ella Erikson," I said, and a male police officer looked up at me.

"Who are you to her?" The officer asked.

"I'm her daughter," I responded, looking around for my mum.

The officer asked a junior officer to get my mum.

When she was brought out, I felt hot tears spiralling down my eyes.

My mum looked so battered up. She looked like she had been crying for a long time.

"Why would you lock my mum up?"

"What right do you have to do that?"

"What offence did she commit that made you imprison her without a court hearing?" I shouted at the officers while holding unto my mum and in the process, alerting the other people in the room.

"Oh wait... so you are the daughter of this miserable thief!" A woman who looked like she was in her late 50s said. She wore a blue long gown that had golden petals on them. She held unto a shiny diamond handbag in her hands and walked straight up to me with a lady and a man beside her.

"Well, news flash... your wretched mother here stole my family's gold statue, which is worth a $100,000,000... and she has refused to provide it!" She shouted at me, and I just couldn't believe my ears.

My mum would never do something like that!

"That's a big fat lie.. my mum would never steal anything!" I yelled in disbelief.

Hundred million dollars! That is a fortune. I could never dream of having such an amount of money.

My mum sobbed in my hands, crying loudly and telling them that she didn't do such a thing.

My heart broke into a million pieces.

"Shut up, you thief! The CCTV camera shows you going into the room, and when you came out, the gold statue was no longer there." The woman who seemed to be her employer said.

"There's no way you can deny this or get out of it." The other lady shouted, and I couldn't help but cry.

How did this happen? If my mum didn't take the statue, then who did?

I could sense that my mum had been set up, and that broke my heart, but what broke it into tiny bits was the fact that I could do absolutely nothing to help her.

This woman whom she worked for was a very wealthy and influential lady, and she could use her money and status to make my mum suffer for what she knows nothing about. I had no money, no one... no one in this world to help me.

They kept raining insults on us, and I prayed the ground would swallow us up from the shame, as the police men tried to make them keep quiet.

"What the hell is going on here?" I heard a voice thunder, and there was absolute silence .. drop dead silence!