CHAPTER 5

"Hello, ma'am. This is Jeff Brody calling. I'm Damian Tucker's assistant," Jeff said, sitting on a couch in the exquisite living room of Damian's mansion.

"Yes... how may I help you?" Mrs. Jennifer asked him nervously, her heartbeat skyrocketing.

"Calm down, ma'am. My boss is trying to see how to make his payment easier and if you will accept his other proposals," Jeff said, paying attention to the call.

"Other proposals like what?" Mrs. Jennifer asked, and he responded, "A contract marriage with one of your daughters in exchange for the debt that your husband owes us."

"What?! Which of my daughters is that? Or should I present any of them to you?" Mrs. Jennifer asked.

Meanwhile, Alicia and Samantha looked at their mother in shock, wondering what her conversation with Damian's assistant was all about.

"Calm down, ma'am. My boss wants your younger daughter, Alicia Dawson. Kindly inform her to be available for pickup tomorrow. I will come around to take her," Jeff concluded, and Mrs. Jennifer was stunned.

"Alicia?" she asked, as if she had heard her second daughter's name wrongly.

"Yes. My boss is interested in Alicia, and if she can accept his offer, maybe you won't need to pay your husband's debt again."

"Wait... You mean Alicia, or Samantha? Samantha was even offering to become Damian's woman now, but I don't know if your boss would like to accept that in exchange for the debt that my husband owes him."

"Listen carefully, ma'am. I have other work to attend to tonight. Kindly inform your second daughter, Alicia Dawson, to prepare herself—unless you have the 10 million dollars to pay up the debt. Otherwise, she must prepare to meet my boss tomorrow. Take care, ma'am. Goodnight." The phone call ended, and Mrs. Jennifer stared into space.

"Mom, what just happened? What did Damian's assistant say?" Samantha asked their mother first, standing in front of her.

Mrs. Jennifer was still seated on the black couch in the living room. She looked at her three children—from Caden to Samantha and to Alicia, who was looking at her worriedly.

"Mom, what did Damian's boys say to you?" Alicia finally asked her mother. She could feel her own heart beating loudly, especially after the person had asked her mother about her.

Mrs. Jennifer took a deep breath and said, "Alicia… Damian wants you."

"What? No, Mother. I cannot have anything to do with him. Didn't you tell the person that I am in a serious relationship?" Alicia quickly refuted, and her mother sighed.

"I tried to explain to the man, but he cut me off and said that you should make yourself available by tomorrow morning and he would be here to pick you up," Mrs. Jennifer replied, looking at her youngest child worriedly. But Alicia snapped, "No, Mom! I cannot have anything to do with that monster. So you better call the number right now and tell him that I am not interested."

"Alicia, please calm down," Mrs. Jennifer tried to speak, but Alicia yelled. "No one should tell me to calm down! I told you to accept Jonathan's offer to help us, but you refused. You refused because of a mafia boss. Mom, I will not accept anything from them—not even a one-night stand with him. Please, excuse me."

Alicia walked away from the living room, going upstairs, and her mother stood up from the couch and called her back. "Come back here, Alicia. I am not done talking to you, and don't you dare walk out on me."

Alicia paused by the stairs and sighed. Her fists clenched, and her fingernails dug into her palms.

"So you think that I want to have anything to do with Damian? But you should think about your father and know that he sacrificed a lot to give us a better life, and this is just the least you can do to help him," Mrs. Jennifer said as she tried to walk over to meet her youngest child.

"No way, Mother. I will not do it. I would rather wait until Jonathan raises the money," Alicia replied, not caring to stare back at her mother's face. Tears fell from her eyes.

"I will never trade my body to a beast in exchange for Dad's freedom. Please, excuse me." Alicia went upstairs to her room without waiting to hear her mother out again.

"Why me?" Alicia asked herself as she entered her bedroom and slammed the door. "Why must Damian choose me? That ruthless man?!" Alicia cried aloud, and her mother and siblings could hear her agonizing sobs.

"Alicia, open this door!" Mrs. Jennifer pounded on the door of her youngest daughter's room, but Alicia refused to open up.

"Go away, Mom. You don't care about me, my happiness, or what I want. You only care about my father, so leave me alone," Alicia cried, and her mother sighed.

"Alicia, open up. I can follow you tomorrow to see Damian, and maybe offer myself to him," Samantha said. She thought about the good life that she would live becoming Damian Tucker's woman.

Damian's name alone was law, and most of the elite feared him.

Samantha really wanted to climb that ladder of wealth, power, and dominance in Northwind city, and Damian Tucker was just the right tool to help her achieve her goals.

"All of you should leave me alone. I don't want to see you all tonight, and I am not going to see that beast tomorrow. So, stay away from me!" Alicia went to her bed, crying. She thought about informing Jonathan, but she knew that Jonathan wouldn't even agree.

"A contract marriage with my boss," Alicia recalled what the caller had said to her mother.

"My boss wants your second daughter, Alicia. Not Samantha."

Alicia recalled how Damian had looked at her when he arrived to take her father away. The way his deep blue eyes had held her, locking with hers. She had quickly looked away from him, trembling as she clutched her mother's arm for fear of being taken away.

"I cannot marry Damian. Never, and I'm not going to see him tomorrow either," Alicia affirmed as she lay on her bed, and her phone rang. She thought it was her mother calling her and made no attempt to answer the call.

Alicia stepped down from her bed and went to her bathroom to have a quick bath and relax her tense mood. She had clinic duty the following morning, and she didn't want to appear at work with a swollen face, so she hurried with her bath and finally came out of the bathroom.

Alicia then stepped into her bedroom and heard her phone ringing again. She went to the drawer to pick it up and switch it off. But her heart leaped to her throat when she saw seven missed calls from Jonathan.

"Oh my God! John might think that I am avoiding him!" Alicia immediately placed a call back to Jonathan, as she had assumed before that her mother or sister had been the ones calling her.

"Hello, babe," she said nervously on the call.

"Babe, I called your number and you weren't answering," Jonathan said, sighing. He was at home in his new house, and Alicia apologized to him in a soft tone. "I am so sorry."

"What happened, babe? Why is your voice so sad? Is it because of your father's debt? I promise you that I am going to try and raise the money to pay up that mafia boss. Please, trust me and don't hurt yourself," Jonathan said with concern and all honesty.

"I know, just that..." Alicia's voice trailed off as she didn't know if she should tell Jonathan the truth.

"What's wrong, babe?" he asked her, and she hesitated to tell him what the problem was.

"It's nothing. I will come and see you tomorrow after work," Alicia said, still finding it hard to explain the reason to Jonathan.

"It's alright. Have a sound sleep and goodnight," Jonathan said, and she replied, "You too, my love. Good night."

The phone call ended, and Alicia sighed again. A knock on her bedroom door caught her attention, and she moved over to the door to see who it was.

Pulling her bedroom door open, Alicia came face to face with her mother.

"Mom, what do you want?" Alicia's expression was stern as she asked her mother.

"Alicia, I know that you're angry with this new development. But Damian promised to let us go and not hurt your father if you agree to marry him," Mrs. Jennifer said, but Alicia shook her head in rejection.

"No, Mom. I cannot do that. I have a boyfriend," she replied, shaking her head in dismissal.

"Then you should break up with him," Mrs. Jennifer replied, standing by her daughter's room door.

"What? Mom, how can you tell me to do that? Did you ever love someone before, or was that how you broke up with your ex and got married to my Dad?" Alicia's question made her mother's expression stern.

"Alicia, don't speak to me in such an insolent manner. You have no idea what I went through to give you and your siblings a better life. Only this simple sacrifice from you, and you're beating about the bush."

"Mom, I cannot do it. Just leave me alone for tonight. Goodnight." Alicia went back into her bedroom and closed her door in her mother's face.

Mrs. Jennifer sighed and decided to give her youngest daughter time to think about the proposal for the night.