Lauren

The world seemed to be playing some cruel game with me. The turn of the events that happened in the past 24 hours made me speechless in a distinctive way. When I kept thinking I had hit the lowest point of my life, fate came back to mock me and slapped me harder than before with the freshly baked nuisance, as if I was born to taste this dish.

Everything was hazy. All I could see was a bunch of red lights in the darkness ahead of my eyes, even though it was a lovely sunny morning. Money was gone.

Where? no fucking idea. There wasn’t anything I could do in that matter either until my boss plated this ultimate mouth-watering platter ahead of me that I was greedy to take. Mr. Astor would pay every penny. The amount was so huge that at one point; I thought there was no way I could ever manage to provide the treatment for my poor mother. I still worked in the hope that there would be a way or a hope that would help me.

There was no hope for me when it came to arranging the amount that counted as a million. How was I going to do that?

The money that I got from this job and the waitress wasn’t enough for me. The rent of my tiny apartment took away most of the money. Most of the time, I fetched food from the office break room when there was no one in that room. Packets of coffee, bread, butter, chocolate, chips, whatever I could cram my tote bag with. Sometimes I saved lunch just so I could have dinner.

The food that I bought for home was nearing its end, so there wasn’t much left in my fridge or cabinet. Yesterday, Ashley was complaining about how we hadn’t had a proper dinner in the last few days. It was easy for her to say or even shout, but for me, there was nothing I could do. Every penny I was earning from the jobs was directly going to my mother’s medicine. I could easily survive if I didn’t eat proper food for a week or two, but my mother couldn’t.

The way cancer was spreading all over the brain was faster than the racing car that Ferrari had ever invented. It also baffled doctors. Even after doing all the chemotherapy, they still couldn’t figure out why there was no sign of recovery. Instead, she was becoming weaker day by day. Every time I visited her at the hospital, she cried about the pain that she was feeling, and that was hard to watch for me.

I sometimes locked myself in one of the hospital bathroom stalls after meeting her. It was getting harder as she started to lose her beautiful long brown thick hair. It was affecting her body, heart, and soul perfectly, but not the cancer that it should be.

Some doctors told me to take her to a private hospital where I could arrange a meeting with some cancer specialists who could help my mom with modern technological devices. But I couldn’t do that. I was barely standing on the ground, paying the bill for this small clinic, because going to the hospital would strip me naked.

But after what Mr. Astor told me, I knew an alternative route had been opened and I should go for that as this was the last ray of hope that I ever going to get from this universe. Still, I felt like a gold digger for marrying him just for the money, but then came the trending topic.

Why in the world would he ask me to marry him?

It was some of the most absurd stuff that I had ever witnessed in my life. I had seen this in movies and in the romantic book by my nightstand that helped me escape my rough reality before going to sleep. The only place where this sort of cheesy cliché stuff happened, and I got butterflies in my belly, was in the movie, yet when it happened to me in the real world, I blacked out.

Mr. Astor was extremely clear about the terms of the marriage, yet there was a hole in the story that he told me.

“Lauren Kennedy, I Gavin Astor, would like to take you as my wife,” he said with a smile, as if it were nothing when, in my eyes, his words had just changed my world.

“Sorry,” I said, clearing my throat. “I don’t think I am hearing the right words.” I tried to play it cool, but there wasn’t any coolness in my voice. Even a two-year-old could find the nervousness in my declaration.

“No, you are hearing the right words. I want us to get married. As early as we can.“

“Why?” I asked weakly.

“I intended to marry before taking over as chairman of my father this year or next.”

“No, I am asking why are you asking me to marry you,“

“Well, the reason is simple. You know me and understand me better than anyone I have ever worked with or associated with in my personal life. In all honesty, you are the best assistant I have had since I started working at this company. I want that sort of support in my personal life, too.“

It truly knocked me back. In the three years I had been working with him, this man did nothing but shout at me, even when I made the tiniest mistake. I recall him telling me to plan everything for the charity party he was throwing for a good cause.I didn’t get to sit until the party was over because he told me 24 hours before it was going to happen. I did everything without thinking as I didn’t have that time.

He only told me the place, an auditorium that he had booked a month ago, and everything else was on me to assemble. That day, I really wanted to quit this job, but couldn’t when I saw the pending bill from the hospital. He threatened to fire me, even if I was a second later when he called me. If I was on the tenth floor due to the work that he sent me, it was obvious there would be a slight delay, but he didn’t care about that stuff.

All these years, he was nothing but a pure jerk to me, and now he had the audacity to ask me to marry him so he could torture me for the rest of my life. I was about to open my mouth, but he shut it like always.

“I will pay all the money that you needed?“

“What money?” I frowned.

“The money that you need for your mother’s cancer treatment. I am ready to pay five million for your mother’s treatment.“

The son of the bitch was trying to buy me the money. This wasn’t only the marriage that he was proposing, but also the money that was going to save my mother from death.

But why?

He didn’t need to marry me. I knew thousands of women who were ready to marry him if he told them. He had a huge female fan following due to his looks, which were decent in my eyes, but some thought he was the man that came out of a fictional world. The reasons were his sharp jawline that was sharp enough to cut a human being; blue eyes that were deeper than any ocean that ever existed; soft, slick, honey-liked golden hair; and the height that every woman wanted in their partner.

Not me, but the women around him talked about him every single time they got a glimpse of him. If you asked me, it was one of the worst parts of my job. Attending these high society parties with my boss was one of the tedious ways to spend a precious night of mine. Most of the time, he would be talking to the people he knew where I would only stand beside or behind him for no reason, and then hearing this woman melt their hearts for this cruel man was what made me nauseous.

I knew some of his female friends. Amanda Holmes, the daughter of USA Senator; Sara Martin, a jewel designer; Elizabeth Ruiz and many others were present, but it was Celine Alonso, the supermodel and his special friend, who stood out. They both tried to keep things normal in public like they were childhood friends, but the way they looked at one another, it was clear they were sleeping with one another behind everyone’s eyes.

He could marry her or any other of his friends, but why me? Again with the money. Five million might not be a huge amount for him, but for me, it was everything and more. I should have asked him all these or more questions if I hadn’t fainted after hearing the amount.

I was glad that he didn’t call or look for me after proposing that marriage. I needed time to think, but in my heart, I knew it would be the damn thing to do, even if it could save my mother’s life. In the end, we would both be miserable.

I opened the door of my apartment as silently as I could. Ashlee sleeps most of the time at this time. I did not know what she did all night, that she needed to sleep at 7 in the evening, too. I needed to talk to her, which I didn’t after her one-day boyfriend robbed me.

There was a stony wall between us. It was always there, which we tried to not look at, but after that night, it was shining like a dream. I needed to tell her to look for a job. Anything would be helpful, and even a little extra money would be a blessing for us. She could do whatever she wanted: waitress, janitor, helper, anything. I just couldn’t keep eating her like this.

“What boyfriend?” I heard Ashley’s voice. There wasn’t another person’s voice, so I guess she was talking to someone on the phone.

I put all the stuff out of my bag on the kitchen table, which was three-legged instead of four. It was when I heard something.

“There is no boyfriend. I was the one who robbed my little sister. I took away all the money from the kitchen container and faked the robbery. Paint the picture perfectly, creating my non-existence boyfriend along with fake tears and a story.” She laughed, and I stood there dumbfounded. “It was easy to fool my little sister. She is too naïve. You know, and also, she is on my hand now. I can play her the way I want. There will be more parties from me in the future.“

I didn’t think for a moment before walking towards her room, throwing her stuff in her tiny suitcase, grabbing her hand, and tossing her out of my life and apartment.

“Dare to come here once again. I will make sure you are behind bars for robbery. Get the hell out of my life at this fucking moment.” I closed the door.

Found the phone in my large bag that I bought from some thrift shop years ago and messaged him. I did what I shouldn’t have done and felt no regret.

“I will marry you, Gavin.”

It was done. I had enough of these betrayals from my own blood now. If it was from someone else who was as much of a jerk as Gavin, I knew it wouldn’t bother me that much.