His accidental wife

Chapter 2 — Desperation

Flashback……

Three weeks earlier

The hospital room smelled of disinfectant and distress. I sat on the chair beside the bed, gently holding the pale hands of my mother. Her breathing was low. Every breath she took reminded me of how fragile she had become.

“Isabelle,” she said weakly, her voice barely audible.”You should be in class, not here in the hospital.”

My throat felt tight. I forced a smile that didn’t reach my eyes.”Don’t worry about me, Mummy. Just rest and get better.”

But resting wasn’t the issue. The issue was the bills. How was she supposed to get better when I haven’t paid the bills?

A nurse walked in, holding another sheet of paper, my heart palpitated. I already knew what was written on it, I didn’t have to look. Another payment we didn’t have money for.

“Miss Isabelle,” the nurse said calmly almost pleading, the hospital needs this to be cleared tomorrow, so we can continue your mum's treatment.”She dropped the paper on the bedside table and left, not waiting for my reply.

As soon as the nurse left, I picked up the paper, and tears filled my eyes when I saw the amount I was to pay. One thousand dollars.Due tomorrow.

I pressed the paper on my chest, trying not to cry in front of my mum.

“How much is the bill” she asked, her voice low.

I wiped my eyes quickly and forced another smile.”Nothing for you to worry about mummy. I’ll get it sorted out.” I said.

I was breaking inside even though I was forcing out a smile so Mummy wouldn’t get worried.

When I got home that night, the quietness and darkness of our little apartment engulfed me. The light had been cut off again, because I didn’t have money to settle it, not with mummy’s sickness. I turned on the torchlight of my phone and stared at the stack of unpaid bills on the table.

My school fees are yet to be paid. The Rent is due. Medical bills are getting higher.

The part-time job I took at the cafe was no longer enough no matter the amount of extra shifts I took, the money always vanished before I could even touch it.

I put my palms on my face as tears fell down my face.

How long can I keep this up? I didn’t want to lose mummy. I can’t.

The next day at school, I barely heard anything the teachers taught. My classmates were carefree, while I sat down, looking at my empty notebook, feeling like I was drowning in a sea.

But I had to do something. I can’t just sit back.

By the time school closed, I was really desperate and I had to do something mummy wouldn’t approve of. I went to several banks and applied for loans, I begged for help from distant relatives, and I even thought of selling the little necklace my mummy got me.

But none worked.

Then came Jayden Blackwood.

We crossed paths most unexpectedly. He walked into my life like a storm, cold, calculated. A man who possesses more power in his hands than I could ever dream of.

And when he offered me a way out, I knew it was suspicious and dangerous. But it was the only way out. The only way to save my mother.

But sometimes, survival leaves no room for morality.

Sometimes, you just have to do whatever it takes.