BAD TO WORSE

SALEM’S POV

My mother was crying when I found her in the waiting room of St. Martin's General Hospital. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her body, with fat tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Mum!”

“Salem.”

I rushed over to her and hugged her tightly. She wrapped her arms around me just as tightly and broke down against my shoulder. I tightened my grip around her. I always hated it whenever my mum cried.

“Tell me what the matter is, Mum,” I begged.

“It’s your father—”

My heart was pounding so hard that I could hear it in my ears.

“W-what?”

I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my vision. I took both of my mother’s hands in mine and squeezed them. “Mum, tell me what is wrong with Dad. Say something, Mum. Why aren’t you saying anything…?”

“Your father had a stroke.”

“…”

In that moment, it felt like my entire world had come to a complete stop. I laughed, shaking my head.

“This is some terrible prank, right?”

Dad liked to play stupid jokes all the time. This had to be one of them… It wasn’t funny.

She wiped her eyes. “I wish it were. The doctor said that there is excessive clotting in his brain, and he will need surgery as soon as possible.”

I nodded my head frantically, not even caring whether I was breathing properly. “That is not an issue, right? We can get the surgery right away!”

Her eyes got even sadder. “The cost is three million.”

“…”

I came to a complete standstill.

“T-Three million?”

“Yes, Salem, and I have tried everything. The hospital will not…”

I tuned out the rest of what she was saying. None of that was important anymore. All I could do was think about how much was needed for the surgery.

Three whole million.

I had been working at Knight Company Ltd. for seven months now, and even with their generous salary, it was still not enough to cover that amount of money.

I was doomed.

I turned to my mum. “What do we do?” I asked.

She wiped her eyes. “I have decided to sell the house.”

“What?”

How did things keep going from bad to a million times worse?

“Mum, that house is all we have here. If you sell the house, where are we going to live?” I asked.

Her shoulders sagged in resignation. “We can move back to our hometown. My sister in Folks View Island would house us for a while until we get back on our feet.”

My parents’ hometown was a small place with a population of no more than three hundred people, and everyone there knew everybody. I had lived there for the majority of my childhood until an incident made Mum and Dad decide it was high time we leave.

And so, they did everything in their power for us to move to the city.

We had already built a life here. I had a job…

Was I supposed to just leave it all behind to go back to that place…?

The same place that I had sworn never to return to.

My eyes were stinging, and my throat grew tight.

“Mum…”

“I know, and I hate it there too. It’s just that your father…” She pointed toward the direction of the hospital room. “He is more important than a house.”

Just then, the doctor walked out of the hospital room again.

Mum and I rushed to meet him. “How is my husband?” my mum asked.

The doctor offered a smile, which looked more pitiful than cheerful. “The surgery has to be done in two weeks' time; otherwise, his condition will worsen. I am afraid the more time we waste, the less likely it is to be successful.”

Mum forced herself not to cry when she saw me sobbing… even now, at a time like this, she still chose to be my pillar of strength.

“We will get the money soon,” Mum said.

I understood her.

My parents had been together since high school, and they were the only reason why I believed that true love actually existed.

If selling the house was what was best for Dad’s health, then I would be the most horrible person on earth to disagree.

“C-can we see him?”

The doctor nodded. “He is still asleep because of the anesthetic, but you can go in as long as you don’t try to wake him up forcefully.”

My mum nodded. “Yes, thank you.”

Before I could go into the ward, my phone rang.

Ben.

I shook my phone in front of my mum and mouthed, “Work.”

She simply nodded.

I walked a bit farther down the hall to take the call.

“Where the hell are you?!” His angry voice boomed through the speaker the second I picked up.

“I already sent an email to HR explaining that there was an emergency—”

“But the boss is requesting your presence now!”

“I am sorry, Ben, but that is not possible. My dad is not doing well right now and…”

“It is always one thing or another with you, Salem, and sometimes I think that you do not really value your job.”

“That is not true.”

“You need to get your ass back here ASAP, Salem, or be prepared to get another strike this month. Slacking off will no longer be tolerated.”

“Please—”

He hung up.

I looked down at my phone in a mixture of disbelief and anger.

Ben Strafford, head of department and major A-hole. He had held a grudge against me ever since I rejected his advances a few months ago.

Sorry if I wasn't interested in dating a serial womanizer who had gotten into the pants of nearly half the women in the office. He needed another mark on his list, and I was never going to be one of them.

And besides, making a complete 180 from being nice to me to picking on me every single day just because he couldn't take no for an answer was a major red flag.

If I wanted a love like the kind my parents shared, Ben Strafford was definitely not the right candidate.

And now, while still stressing about my dad, I had to stress about possibly losing my job, too.

“This cannot be happening to me,” I continued muttering to myself over and over, not looking where I was going until I bumped into a wall, sending myself flying toward the ground.

It was only when hands wrapped around my waist to keep me steady that I realized two things.

One, that was not a wall. In fact, I could not have been more incorrect in my life.

And two, that ‘wall’ was my boss.

“Mr. Knight?”

“Yes, Miss Grant?”

His voice was so cold that it sent a chill right into my soul, his hawkish gaze focused on me. If I wasn't sure about losing my job before, I was definitely certain now.

There was no way I was leaving here without being unemployed.