CHAPTER 2

Tony, sensing Erick had something to say to this lady, stood up and left the private room. Erick turned to Ava. "You said you can do anything," he asked again, a lazy smile playing on his lips.

Ava didn't know what this man understood by anything, but she nodded.

"Marry me," he said.

Ava looked shocked.

"Listen before you complain—"

"Such a narcissist," Ava rolled her eyes.

"It's going to be a contract marriage. In exchange, I will pay for your brother's hospital bill."

Ava looked shocked. "How do you know about my brother?" she asked.

"I have my ways," Erick said, his lips curling up. He just felt a strange attraction towards this lady standing in front of him. That was why he ultimately chose her to be his contract bride.

"The contract marriage is going to last for two years. A real wedding is going to hold. You will bear me a child naturally. After two years, we get a divorce. I give you two million dollars, and I will have custody of the child. You can still come and see the child if you want to, and if you don't, it's still fine."

Ava was too shocked to speak. She just kept staring at him. She knew she was broke, but didn't this mean selling herself to a stranger and, worse, the most dangerous man in New York?

"I'm not interested," Ava said, raising her chest.

Walking towards her with an intimidating aura, Erick asked, "Didn't you say you will do anything?" A lazy smile played on his lips.

Ava didn't feel intimidated. "Anything didn't mean selling myself."

Erick just smiled, picked up his suit jacket, and brought out his business card. "Consider your dying brother," he said, handing the card to her. "If you ever become interested, you know where to find me."

Then he turned to leave. He met Tony smoking outside. Looking at Tony, he said, "Smokers are liable to die young."

"Man, I don't smoke regularly," Tony said, slapping his back. "You seem to like that chick, even holding her waist."

Erick glanced at him before throwing his keys at him. "Not everyone is a chick. You drive," Erick said, sliding into the passenger seat.

"Just tell me when the wedding will hold, and I will be the best man," Tony said with a cheeky smile.

Erick rolled his eyes. "Shut up and drive," Erick said.

Tony raised his hand in mock surrender. "Okay, man."

Erick closed his eyes.

---

WEST SIDE CLUB

Ava continued serving her drinks. On her way to another private room to serve, she received a phone call from her brother's attending doctor, Doctor Nicole.

"Ava, your brother just woke up and asked to see you."

The smile that appeared on Ava's face could lighten the world, her dimples digging deeper. "I'm on my way, Doctor," she replied, running towards the changing room to change out of her serving dress. She rode on her bicycle to the hospital. Her brother had an intracerebral 

 hemorrhage and had been in a coma for almost six months and was just waking.

As soon as she arrived at City Hospital, she ran to her brother's ward. Dr. Nicole was there checking his vitals.

Seeing her brother, tears clouded Ava's eyes. She seemed to feel wronged and began to cry. "Liam," she choked on her tears, hugging him.

Dr. Nicole felt pity for Ava. The little girl was so hardworking. Liam weakly rubbed his sister's hair. He couldn't stretch too far.

Ava turned to the doctor. "How is he?"

"He's okay for now, but he still needs surgery. Delay surgery can lead to amnesia, but provided he is not triggered and there is no impact on his previous injury, he is temporarily out of danger."

"Thank you so much, Doctor," Ava said gratefully, turning towards her brother as Doctor Nicole exited the room. She hugged him again tightly but released him, fearing she would hurt him.

Liam rubbed her head weakly. "Ava, how are you doing?"

She couldn't let her sick brother worry. "I'm fine, Liam. I'm fine. All I want is for you to get better."

"Ava, listen to me. I have to tell you something," Liam said, his voice dripping with suspense.

Ava became anxious. "Liam, what's wrong? Do you feel any pain? Stop scaring me."

"Calm down. Look around for any CCTV. If you didn't find any, come back."

Liam had always felt that their father's suicide wasn't entirely normal. From how far he knew his father, his father always had a very sound and positive mindset. His sudden suicide didn't sit well with him, so he did some digging.

Ava returned from searching the room. "There is no CCTV in this room, only outside the door," Ava said, feeling anxious. She wondered what her brother wanted to say. Was it about his accident or her father's death? Because both events felt so sudden to her.

"Ava, look at this," Liam said, handing over some files to Ava. "Go through this."

"Liam, what is this?" she asked.

But then suddenly, he felt a sharp pain like a thunderbolt to his head. He felt a banging headache and as though something was blocking his vision.

Ava felt so scared. "Ava, call the doctor. I can't see."

Ava called the doctor, and she checked his vitals. "The surgery is needed urgently. He exerted so much pressure on his brain," she said. While saying this, Liam had already returned to his comatose state again.

She turned to Ava. "Better raise money for his surgery early, or it will become deadly. Now he is already blind, so to avoid further complications like amnesia or migraine, surgery needs to be done early," she said softly.

"Please take care of him. I will do everything within my power to raise the money."

"Alright," Dr. Nicole said, leaving the room.

Ava opened the file Liam had handed to her. It contained her father's last business deals, contracts, receipts, and bills of payment. Further looking, she saw a name written at the second investor: RICHARD BLACKWOOD.

Ava went into shock, connecting the dots on how anxious and secretive Liam was about this file. It had to be that her father's suicide had something to do with the Blackwood family.

Already concluding this, Ava had one thought in mind: marry Erickson Blackwood, save her brother, and investigate her father's death. Though she knew Liam would have been against this if he was awake.