Chapter 2: PROPOSAL II

We had gone through a lot for the last two years of our lives. First, my dad lost his job cause he was accused of embezzling funds from the company. It turns out that someone in the company framed him, and as if losing his job wasn't enough, the company confiscated all our properties and accounts as compensation for the funds lost.

My dad wasn't sent to prison cause he was best friends with the Managing Director, who pleaded on his behalf.

Losing everything you have in the blink of an eye is overwhelming, and my dad didn't take the whole situation well. He had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. It was at the hospital we found out he had heart disease and needed to undergo surgery immediately.

With our accounts confiscated and no one to trust or turn to after we found out that my father's best friend, the MD, was the mastermind behind the setup, we decided to go to a loan shark.

We couldn't go to the bank cause we didn't have any property to use as collateral. It turned out that the loan sharks we borrowed money from were illegal, and we only found out after we'd successfully involved ourselves with them.

At that point, we didn't care about how the money was produced, as long as my dad's life was saved. We promised to return the money in a year and six months, and we've been working towards it.

My mum had to get herself another job, cause she was fired from her previous job. According to the CEO of their company, the company wanted nothing to do with our family cause of how we were described on the news and trending topics on the internet.

After several months of my mum looking for a job, even if she did some menial jobs in the meantime, she finally got a job at a publishing firm. She was assigned to be one of their packaging team members.

I, on the other hand, had to help even if I was a college student. I took part-time jobs then and helped in the little way I could until I graduated a month ago.

College life was hell, with constant embarrassments from my peers, and some of my friends who were only friends cause my dad was super rich, and my haters, but their disdainful attitude toward me gave me more hope on why I should work harder to make it in life.

I've been looking for a well-paid job since then, and in my search, I still retained my part-time job in college, which was now a full-time job for me.

Everything we've been through was nothing cause we always had hope, a little faith, something we held onto. Now, looking at my mum's hopeless face drained any hope I had left. She was always my hope... Her optimism always made me want to fight more and not accept this cruel fate the universe gave me.

I released her from my embrace and stared at her wretched face with a frown. What she needed right now was someone to give her hope, the same way she had done for me. "Everything's gonna be okay, mum."

My mum's eyes teared up at my words, and she moved her head sideways in denial, "No!"

Her abrupt words had my hands sliding onto her shoulders to pull her closer to me once more, so I could stare into her eyes.

"Don't try to be optimistic!" Came her next words which had me pulling my hands from her shoulders to my thighs unconsciously, in disappointment, "And don't tell me everything's gonna be fine when nothing's fine. How the hell are we supposed to raise a million dollars in a month? Huh? How?" She stood to her feet and walked to the couch lazily.

I watched her closely as she sat on the couch with melancholic eyes. I'd never seen my mum this way before, and for the first time in my life, I felt really bad for her.

She looked so broken like all her sanguinity was gone, but that wasn't the only thing. I could also see a hint of frustration, and I couldn't blame her though. She's shouldering all our debts, and it wasn't fair on her, but there's nothing she can do about it.

I leaped to where she sat in anguish and sat beside her. Placing one of my hands on her thighs, I held her in my warm embrace again, stroking her shoulders lightly with my hand which was crossed behind her neck. We sat in complete silence, with neither of us uttering a word.

This is what I felt she needed, not telling her everything's gonna be okay when there's no solution either of us can think of, but being there for her.

"They said if we don't provide the money in a month..." She broke the few minute's silence, folding her lips together as her sad eyes came in contact with my face once more, "They're gonna kill your father, Abby."

My heartbeat accelerated on hearing her last remark, and for a second, I thought of the future without my father. As if brought back from my nasty world of thoughts, I reprimanded my mind for even harboring those thoughts as I moved my head sideways in disbelief.

Life without my father would be like having no spice in my life. It would be a living hell. I can't live with the reality of not having to see my father in person anymore to hug him, or to never hear him call out my name in the sweetest way anyone had ever done.

No!

As we sat there lost in each other's thoughts, my mind wandered randomly at possible ways of earning money, when I suddenly recalled a job offer I was given a couple of days back which I rejected immediately.

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