The Bargain Undercover

Gamble

Eliana stared blankly at the jamb plate as the elevator went up, holding the bouquet she bought from a flower store two blocks up.

With no rehearsal during the day, she came to have lunch with her mother.

Ding.

The elevator arrived, shaking slightly before coming to a complete stop. Eliana came out, walked to her mother's apartment, and knocked on the door.

"One second!"

Lora's voice sounded vague from the inside. Eliana waited for a few minutes before the door opened, revealing Lora's face behind a facial mask. "I'm not washed up yet."

"Take your time." Eliana went in. "I bought you flowers."

"Thank you, sweetheart. The vase is on the table," Lora said as she walked back into the bathroom to wash her face, her voice fading down the hallway.

Eliana looked over at the table and saw the vase. The flowers inside were already dead, their petals as dry as parchment.

She exchanged the old flowers for the new ones and put some water into the vase. The sound of running water stopped in the bathroom, and a moment later, her mother came out. "I ordered pizza. Is that OK for you?"

"Yes." Eliana looked at Lora. The faint dark circles under her eyes due to her insomnia had been gone. Her skin was well protected, shining like tender silk. Her facial features were delicate, especially those catlike eyes, which Eliana inherited perfectly.

All in all, her mother was a stunning woman. Eliana couldn't imagine what an amazing life she would be living if she could be smarter.

But Lora chose the worst option on her list.

"How have you been sleeping lately?" Eliana asked.

"Not bad!" Lora was in a good mood, probably due to her sufficient sleep.

"How many sleeping pills do you still have?"

"Only three. I asked my doctor to give me more, but he refused, warning that it's addictive."

"Ambien is the brand, right?" Eliana confirmed with her.

"Yes. Why?" Lora was curious. "You know how to get me more?"

Eliana smiled helplessly, "What are you thinking? Mom, you should listen to the doctor."

"Honestly, I don't care if it's addictive or not. I just want to sleep." Lora looked away, staring at the vivid flowers on the table. "Nobody cares about me. I need to take care of myself."

The loneliness in Lora's tone almost broke Eliana's heart. She blurted out without thinking, "I care about you."

Lora smiled faintly, "No, you don't. You hate me."

She was right. Eliana hated her. For years, Eliana couldn't figure out a way to forgive what Lora had done to her, although she struggled deeply to come to terms with the hatred rooted in her heart.

However, seeing her biological mother like this was the last thing she wanted.

She didn't come to wake her mother up today, which she had long given up because Lora wouldn't drop her wishful thinking. But now, she decided to try one more time.

"Mom, you don't want my love. You want dad's," she said flatly, "and we both know that's not happening."

Lora shook her head firmly. "That's fine. I just need to keep him for now, and one day, he'll change his mind."

"About what?"

"About which woman to choose. One day, he'll realize that his wife is a taker, and I'm a giver. Then he'll know I'm the one worthy of his love."

"He won't divorce his wife and marry you, and he loves no one else other than himself," Eliana tore Lora's daydream into pieces cruelly.

Lora immediately put those pieces together again. "Don't say that. Did you see how happy he was when you were promoted? He cares about you."

"Mom, are you serious?"

"Eliana, remember, he's your dad, and nothing changes that."

Eliana could feel that this would become an endless and useless conversation again if she continued. With no time to waste today, she chose to cut it off.

"OK." She smoothed over that topic and brought up her topic. "Mom, can you give me two of your Ambien pills?"

"Why?"

"I need them for something."

"For what?"

"For dealing with a colleague who wants to ruin my career."

Eliana told her the whole story. Lora listened carefully and echoed indignantly, "That's so mean of her!"

"I know." Eliana said, "So I have to do something."

Lora threw a piece of gum into her mouth. "But you can always get a prescription yourself."

Eliana explained, "It'll take forever to book a specialist and go through all the examinations. I can't wait for that long."

Lora shrugged. "But I can't give you mine. I need them to sleep."

Eliana begged her, "Mom, please. I just need two pills."

Lora shook her head. "Sweetheart, to you, they're only two pills. But to me, they're two nights of good sleep."

Eliana offered, "I'll buy you some melatonin."

Lora waved her hand dismissively. "No, no, no. Melatonin doesn't work as well."

Eliana leaned closer to her, holding her hand. "Mom, please. Just help me once."

Lora started to lose her patience. "I told you, I need them to sleep. You never think for others, do you? Don't be so selfish, Eliana."

Eliana didn't expect her to say that, dropping her hand instinctively. "Sorry for being selfish, but I don't want her to ruin my career."

"So you want to sacrifice my sleep?"

"No! I just want you to spare me two pills."

"You think it's easy, don't you? You're just like your dad. He thinks it was easy for me to bring you up alone. He takes everything for granted, and so do you!"

Eliana tried to calm her down. "Mom, you don't need to go that far. This isn't about my dad, or being ungrateful, or being selfish. This is about me trying to save myself."

"No, this is about sacrificing me again." Lora started to educate her. "Eliana, you have to grow up. Look at those successful people! One thing they have in common is that they depend on no one else but themselves."

"I don't depend on anyone else, either. I just want two pills from you." Eliana hadn't expected it to be this hard.

"And I said no. This is your career. You should be responsible for it," Lora said with contempt in her eyes.

In a split second, Eliana understood.

Lora was venting her anger on her daughter. She refused to accept the fact that Delbert didn't love her, so she attributed Delbert's indifference to Eliana, believing it was because she wasn't outstanding enough.

Eliana needed her mother's help, but her mother only needed to find someone to blame.

It was pointless to waste time with her anymore.

"Yeah, you're right." Eliana stood up and was about to leave.

Lora was surprised. "Are you leaving? Won't you stay for lunch?"

"Maybe next time. I need to deal with something urgent now." Eliana walked out of Lora's apartment. Before she left, she looked back at the vase on the table. "Don't forget to change water and add flower food, if you want those flowers to last longer."

With that, she closed the door behind her without hesitation.

In the end, she still had to bother Alex, who would have to bother his grandmother. Eliana felt bad about it since Alex had already helped her so much. She apologized for troubling him again and again, but Alex was glad to know that she needed one more thing from him and worked on it right away.

However, they had no luck with this.

The next day, after their show at night, Eliana dragged her exhausted body home, took a hot shower, and was about to throw herself in bed when a phone call broke her sweet plan.

It was from Alex.

Late-night calls were always ominous. It gave her a sinking feeling right away.

She picked it up. "Alex? What's up?"

"Ellie, sorry for calling you this late, but I need to tell you this as soon as possible." Alex's voice sounded extremely serious. "My grandma got Zolpidem from her doctor today, but it's not Ambien."

Eliana's heart sank. "Why?"

Alex explained, "She has allergic rhinitis, and the doctor said Ambien can worsen it."

Eliana had no idea about that. "That's bad news."

Alex was upset. "I'm sorry, Ellie. I'm wasting your time."

"Hey, don't say that." Eliana comforted him, "We're not doctors. There's no way for us to know that beforehand."

"Should we start getting a prescription ourselves?"

Eliana said, "We can't wait for that long. It's been four days already. I pretended to feel sick, but my performance went well. Lyla could feel suspicious at any time. By the time we get the pills, she might have already dropped this leverage."

"You're right. Then what should we do now?" Alex sounded annoyed.

Eliana was drained of thoughts, feeling annoyed as well. She wasn't trying to hurt anyone but just wanted to save herself. Why did every step have to be this hard?

But after one second of breaking down, she quickly put herself back, telling herself not to give up.

Fate seemed to have given up on her. She couldn't give up on herself.

"That's OK, Alex," Eliana said calmly. "No matter what brand, bring me one pill anyway."

"What's your plan?"

Eliana took a deep breath, her voice cold. "I'll gamble."