chapter 3 The Deal

“Mom, what's happening? Why is no one talking to me?”

At that moment, she was gradually losing it. Josh wasn't ready to disclose either.

The situation was way beyond him. He remained mute, planning how to select his words carefully so as not to get Jenny more upset.

"It's fine. I'll do the talking. I don't think your mom would be inclined to admit to what she did.”

Leaning forward, Josh held Jenny's hands, looking straight into her eyes.

"Gosh! How do I explain this to you? I don't want you to feel sad.” Josh halted and faced the ground. Jenny is his favorite colleague at Royal Gold Mine.

Disclosing the unfortunate incident might shatter her heart, and he wouldn't want that to happen.

"What are you talking about? Just say something. I'm going nuts already. Your suspense is slowly killing me,” Jenny begged with a fading voice.

Her face was gradually turning red as her ears widened to be certain she didn't miss any details Josh was going to spill.

Just when Josh was about to tell it all, Megan saved him from the stress and finally confessed.

“I stole a check worth $1 million from his pocket.”

"I would pretend I didn't hear that. This is nothing but a mad joke. Tell me you didn't do it, Mom.”

Jenny was stunned and doubted her mother's confession.

"Oh, yes, I did. And I am not ashamed of what I did. That was the only option I had left. I did it to keep a roof over our head.”

Megan defended her actions and didn't feel remorse.

"What the fuck do you mean by that statement? You aren't even sorry for what you did. You risk going to jail; you know that, right?"

Jenny questioned and doubted if her mother was cajoled to make such a ridiculous confession.

"I know I should have said this before, but your dad took out a huge loan of $500k from the bank while he was alive, but unfortunately, he couldn't pay it back. Now the bank is back to confiscate the house. I couldn't stand seeing us become homeless, so I had to do something. I eavesdropped on Josh's conversation before he stepped inside the bank. That was when I discovered he had a $1 million check in his pocket.

I intentionally bumped into him to perfect my plans. I'm not scared of going to jail. It's better than being homeless,” Meg further disclosed with full confidence. She wasn't tearful or sad about what happened. Jenny didn't know what to say anymore.

All along her late father applied for a loan, and she knew nothing about it. Now she's trapped in a dilemma that seems almost impossible to get out of.

"What are we going to do now? You're dropping all charges against her, right?”

Jenny turned to Josh to find solace, but he looked away and remained speechless.

"I know that look. I thought you were on my side. You're the only hope we've got now. Please do something.”

She went on both knees and gripped Josh's trousers.

"Please, stop. Get up! People are watching. You're embarrassing me.” Josh attempted to make her get up, but she declined and remained on the ground, pleading for him to drop all charges against her mother.

"I can't! It's way beyond me now. Alvin already knows about it. I didn't want to tell him.

Even when he kept calling my phone, I ignored him. So he called the bank manager instead, and he revealed everything. So you see, there's nothing I can do.” Josh broke her heart and completely shattered her hopes of ever seeing her mom come out of jail alive. Jenny is aware of how difficult it is dealing with Alvin Alejandro as her boss, let alone a criminal case like this.

"I've always known you as a clown. Just this one request I ask of you, yet you chose to destroy my life. I thought we were best of friends. What happened? 'I will always be there for you.’ If there's anyone the boss listens to in that organization, it should be you.”

"I wish I could. He's not even aware you're connected to this. You should go talk to him yourself. I'm sorry, I don't want to get involved. I'm out of here. I got a check for cash at the bank. See you at the office. Good luck.” Josh walked away without looking back and abandoned Jenny alone to face her fears.

"Happy now? You've successfully dragged me into your mess. I just hope you come out of this life.” Jenny narrowed her gaze at her mother.

"I'm so sorry for getting you involved in my shit. I had no idea your boss was involved. How do I fix it? I really want to make amends.”

Megan felt sorry and finally acknowledged her wrongdoings.

"Hahaha! Fix it?” Laughing mischievously, Jenny dried her tears.

"I'm going back to the company to speak with Alvin Alejandro. Just pray he listens to me. But if he doesn't, start thinking about getting your size ready because a prison outfit would look good on you.

You disgust me,” Jenny scolded her mother and vacated the station amidst Megan's plea.

**********

Jenny arrived at the company shivering.

Despite working for Alvin for over 5 years, she has yet to get along with him. These two don't seem to like each other. She considered him too proud and ruthless. She motioned to his office and did a cross sign before landing a soft knock on the door.

“Come in,” he spoke from inside. Getting inside, she found some strange men suspected to be business partners.

"Oh, sorry. I had no idea you had visitors. I will be back when your associates are gone,” Jenny made a U-turn to go back.

"No, it's fine. We are done discussing. They were about to exit the office before you came knocking. Come sit down,” he stopped her from leaving as Jenny took part in the meeting that was already over. A few minutes after her arrival, the business associates started exiting the office.

"Okay, over to you. I didn't recall asking you to come over. What brought you to my office this morning?”

Alvin focused his attention on Jenny shortly after his associates departed.

“Sir, erm. How do I say this?” She stuttered.

“I've got a busy day ahead of me. If you don't know what to say, I would advise you to leave my office immediately,”

Alvin was beginning to lose his patience. At full speed, she dropped both knees to the ground.

“I'm sure you heard about a certain woman who stole your check earlier this morning, right? That was my mom. Trust me, she's a good woman and not a thief. She just needed to offset the loan my father took before his death after he used our house as collateral. She didn't want us to go homeless.

You're a good man and I know you can drop all charges against her. The bank is back to confiscate our house,” Jenny narrated and fondled her shirt like a kid.

"I've waited for a day like this. Now you need my assistance, you suddenly remember I'm a good man. This is wonderful. I've got nothing against your mother. I got my check back and that's what matters. But there's no way I'm letting your mom go Scott free. She requires a bit of torture to reset her head. So my answer is NO! I'm not dropping the charges.” Alvin addressed and killed her hopes of completing the damages.

"Sir, please. You are my last hope now. I apologize for my unruly behavior towards you in the past. This is a critical condition and I can't fold my arms and watch my mom go to jail,” Jenny wept inconsolably, still pleading for Alvin to reconsider her request.

He sighed for a moment, looked at Jenny, and told her to get up.

“Be seated. I wanna offer you a better option better than what you asking me now,”

"And what's it about?” Bewildered, Jenny asked and raised her brows.

“If I heard you correctly, you mentioned your mom stole the check because she needed money to offset the bank loan of $500k, right?”

"Yeah, and how has that got to do with this?”

“How about I drop all the charges and offset the loan of $500k?”

“Are you joking? Please tell me this is a joke,” Jenny jumped for Joy.

"Don't get too excited. It comes with a price.

Are you ready for what's coming your way?”

“And what's that?”

“Recall the meeting I had with my business associates before you showed up. We were discussing a multi-billion dollar deal before you walked in. They clearly stated that the deal would be sealed if my son, Fabiola, the Managing Director of Royal Gold Mine, got married.

Their family has got this rule over some heritage.” Alvin explained, but still, she was confused. She just sat in front of him, looking like a dummy.

"I still don't get it. Why are you telling me this? Fabiola should go get a wife. I'm not a matchmaker.”

"I know right? That's where you come in. The contract is only gonna last for 3 years. Once the deal is off, you can file for a divorce.”

Alvin buttressed, but Jenny wasn't even interested and outrightly declined his request.

"Even when your mother's freedom is at stake? I'm sure you don't wanna start roaming the streets of the US homeless when the bank finally confiscates your house.

I'm willing to offset the loan and drop all charges against your mother. You should be happy I'm willing to assist you.”

“Never! I'm never gonna marry your son for a billion dollars. Good luck finding your son a wife,”

Jenny slammed the door and exited his office.