Chapter 3: The Decision
1022 Words
The nurse's words echoed inside Amara's head.
"He just collapsed."
For a second, she couldn't move.
Her legs felt glued to the floor while fear tightened around her chest.
"No..." she whispered.
Then she ran.
Her footsteps echoed through the hospital corridor as nurses and patients quickly stepped out of her way.
"Ethan!"
She pushed open the emergency room doors, only to be stopped by two nurses.
"Please, Miss Cole, you can't go in."
"My brother is in there!" she cried, struggling to free herself. "Let me see him!"
"The doctors are doing everything they can."
Amara's breathing became uneven.
Through the small glass window, she caught a sight of Ethan lying motionless on the bed while doctors surrounded him.
Machines beeped rapidly.
A nurse adjusted an oxygen mask over his face.
Another prepared an injection.
Amara falls down to her knees.
She slowly slid down the wall, tears streaming freely down her cheeks.
"Please..." she whispered.
"Don't take him away from me."
Memories flooded her mind.
She remembered the day Ethan was born.
She remembered teaching him how to ride a bicycle.
She remembered the promise she made beside their mother's hospital bed.
"I'll always protect him."
That promise now felt impossible to keep.
Almost twenty minutes later, the emergency room doors finally opened.
Dr. Richard Benson stepped outside, removing his gloves.
Amara rushed toward him.
"Doctor... How is he?"
The doctor's expression was serious.
"We managed to stabilize him."
Amara released a shaky breath she didn't even realize she had been holding.
"But..."
Her heart stopped for a while.
"The next attack may not end the same way."
Those words hit harder than anything she had ever heard.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying your brother needs surgery immediately."
"I know."
"No, Miss Cole..."
The doctor looked directly into her eyes.
"I don't think you understand what I'm saying."
He lowered his voice.
"If we delay any longer, we could lose him."
The hallway suddenly became silent.
Even the voices around her faded away.
All Amara could hear was one sentence.
We could lose him.
She shook her head repeatedly.
"No..."
"There must be something else."
"I wish there was."
The doctor handed her another document.
"This is the final authorization."
"If payment is not confirmed by tomorrow afternoon, the hospital cannot continue preparing for the operation."
Tomorrow.
Not next week.
Not in three days.
Tomorrow.
Amara accepted the paper with trembling hands.
It felt heavier than a mountain.
She thanked the doctor quietly before walking toward the waiting area.
The chairs were almost empty now.
She sat down and buried her face in her hands.
She had reached the end of every road.
No relatives.
No friends.
No savings.
Nothing.
Slowly...
She reached into her handbag.
The marriage contract was still there.
Untouched.
Waiting.
For the first time, she opened it and began reading every page carefully.
She stared at the words printed on the first page.
CONTRACT MARRIAGE AGREEMENT.
The letters suddenly felt heavier than the paper itself.
Her eyes moved from one condition to another.
One year.
No questions.
No interference in Damien Blackwood's private life.
She would attend public events as his wife whenever necessary.
In return...
Every hospital bill would be paid.
Every family debt would disappear.
Ten million dollars would be transferred into her account after the marriage was legally registered.
Amara closed the file immediately.
"This is madness," she whispered.
She stood up from the chair and walked toward Ethan's room once more.
This time, the lights were dim.
The machines beeped quietly beside his bed.
Ethan was awake.
He smiled weakly when he saw her.
"You've been crying again."
Amara quickly wiped her face.
"I wasn't."
"You always lie when your eyes are red."
She forced out a laugh.
"You've become too smart."
Ethan reached for her hand.
"If something happens to me..."
"No."
She shook her head before he could finish.
"You are not allowed to say that."
"But listen..."
"I said no."
Her voice cracked.
"I've already lost Mom and Dad."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"I'm not losing you too."
Ethan squeezed her hand gently.
"I don't want you to suffer because of me."
"You are my family."
"And I'll do anything to keep my family alive."
She stayed beside him until he finally drifted back to sleep.
As she walked out of the room, her phone rang again.
The screen displayed the same unknown number.
She already knew who it was.
She answered without speaking.
Damien's calm voice broke the silence.
"Have you made your decision?"
Amara closed her eyes.
"I have one question."
"I'm listening."
"If I agree to this marriage..."
"Will you really pay for Ethan's surgery tonight?"
"I don't make promises I can't keep."
"And after one year?"
"I'll set you free."
She took a deep breath.
There was still fear.
Still doubt.
But there was no longer another choice.
Her brother's face flashed through her mind.
She remembered his smile.
His dreams.
The promise she made to protect him.
Slowly, she opened her eyes.
"I'll meet you tomorrow."
There was a brief silence.
Then Damien replied,
"I'll send my driver at nine o'clock."
The call ended.
Amara lowered the phone.
A single tear rolled down her face.
It wasn't the tear of someone who had found hope.
It was the tear of someone who had just sacrificed her own future to save the only family she had left.
Outside the hospital, lightning flashed across the dark sky.
Far away, inside his luxurious penthouse, Damien stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking over the sleeping city.
His assistant stepped into the room.
"Sir... she accepted."
A faint smile appeared on Damien's face.
"Good."
"But may I ask something?"
Damien didn't answer.
"Why her?"
For the first time that night, the billionaire's expression changed.
He looked down at an old photograph lying on his desk.
In it, a little girl smiled brightly beside a man whose face had been torn away from the picture.
Damien picked up the photograph.
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"Because twenty years ago..."
"...her family unknowingly saved my life."
- Writer
