They all returned home feeling sad only to find a notice taped to the front down "You have three days to pay your rent or evacuate the premises" Mrs Brown read and dropped the paper to the floor. Ruth picked it up and also read. Chantel had the corner of her lip curled up in a smile but none of them saw it. "What are we going to do?" Mrs Brown asked "Mummy, I think we only have one option move out. Do you think we can use the money left in Dad's account to look for a smaller and more affordable apartment?" Chantel asked "The earlier you guys leave this apartment to wherever you want the faster for me to go back home," she thought "It depends on who your father made the next of kin?" She replied "Let's go check," Chantel suggested "Let's do that tomorrow. I don't have the strength to do that now," she replied and entered the living room with Ruth entering right after in silence "But mum, we only have three days. Tomorrow will reduce our time to two days. How much time do we

They all went back to their rooms, to spend the last night in the apartment as they will have to leave the very next day before the Ladyland comes to drive them out on the third day. Ruth stepped out of the room as soon as the sun came up. She walked down the hall past her sister's room and made a turn towards the staircase leading to the living room. She walked past Mrs Brown's room and saw her closing a travelling bag. She halted in her steps and knocked on the door drawing her mother's attention to herself. "Mum, are we leaving this morning?" She asked "Yes, it will be for the best. We can settle in and have enough time to do other things," she said "Today is supposed to be my first day at work," Ruth announced "I know. You get ready for work but remember to pack your stuff and leave it in the living room," she said "Is your sister awake?" she asked clearing her dressing table "Not yet," she replied "You do what I ask you. I will go get her later," she said as she walked to

A smile creeps on Chantel's face as soon as she exited the ward, getting the doctor to discharge Mrs Brown irrespective of her condition was easy. She sent a message to Mrs Hayford Ruth has agreed to the home treatment. Help me get the doctor to discharge her "Consider it done" Chantel read the reply and smiled Inside the ward, Ruth held Mrs Brown's hand in hers in tears."How did we get to this?" she thought looking at Mrs Brown"s swollen face. "Dad is gone. Mum's account mysteriously got emptied and another accident. Now Mum is blind and has also lost her speech. Will this ever end," she thought as more tears flow"She will be discharged tomorrow," came Chantel's voice snapping Ruth out of her thought. "He gave us the medication to get for her treatment at home," Chantel added as she stood at the foot of the bed "My job will be paying me two hundred dollars a month. Can we afford her medication?" Ruth asked "I will get a job," she said"Talking of which, I saw a job ad for a

"Keep what you know to yourself, one word and Ruth pays the price," she said and opened the door to leave but came face to face with Ruth who was standing at the door."You are back," she said looking nervous as her heart skip multiple beats. "Yeah, why what happened? Is mum alright?" Ruth asked seeing how nervous Chantel lookedShe entered the room walking past Chantel who remained at the door looking at Ruth heading towards the bed"Sis, what happened?" she asked reading the fears in her mother's eyes. "Nothing, I went to use the bathroom, I think mistakenly kicking the bed on my way out may have frightened her," Chantel said "I am sure she was having a nightmare," she quickly added hoping it would be convincing enough. She was glad Ruth didn't hear anything she had told her mother. "Get some rest, Mum," she said and examined her swollen cheeks. The swell was going down. She covered her with the sheets and exited the room with Chantel"What time are you leaving for your job?"

Ruth dropped the tray and her hand flew to her mouth. Her eyes were fixated on the entrance as the familiar figure strode in accompanied by a sophisticatedly dressed extravagant woman, who had her hand wrapped around his arms. The jewellery adorning her neck and eyes was sparkling so bright it can illuminate a 20.25m2 room on its own. "Nick," she whispered as time stood still She had not seen him since he delivered his speech on graduation day. Whatever he did in the past months did have an awesome charming impart on him. He looked handsome more than ever. Ruth could not move or react for a long time. One of the staff pulled her out of the hall retrieving the tray which drew everyone's attention to her from the floor. There was murmuring already going on in the hall as people deduced their own stories from the short incident. While others concluded, she was just a girl acting like one in front of an overrated charming man, others were also thinking she had done something to the