Contracted Hearts

Without Encouragement

"Please, sir, give me a little more time to pay off all my mother's debts, I beg you," Ella pleaded pitifully to the large man standing in front of her.

"Please, sir, I promise I'll pay off all my mother's debts soon, but I beg you, give me more time to pay it off," Ella continued to plead, her hands clasped together in front of her chest.

"Tsk! I’ve already given you more than two years! And you still haven’t paid off your mother’s debt! Even your installments have been minimal!"

"This time, my patience is gone! I want your mother’s debt paid off right now! If not, this house must be vacated immediately!" the large man continued, standing before Ella.

After leaving the hospital to pick up some things and a change of clothes, Ella was met by the man at her door. She was scared and panicked but couldn’t do much.

It could be said that Ella's mother owed a large debt to the man, and up to now, Ella had not been able to pay it all off, even though she occasionally paid in small installments.

"Please, sir, have mercy on me, I have no other place to stay. My brother is in the hospital, and I haven’t been able to make money to pay off my mother’s debts. Please, give me one more month to pay everything off," Ella pleaded, her eyes welling with tears.

'Dear God, help me,' Ella thought, holding back tears, trying not to appear weak.

"Please, sir," Ella persisted as the man in front of her seemed to be thinking.

Maybe out of pity for Ella, the man sighed harshly before finally agreeing to her request.

"Alright, I'll give you one more month! If you still don’t pay off the debt, this house will be collateral!" After saying that, the debt collector walked away from Ella.

"Phew! Thank God, at least I have one more month to pay everything off, though I don’t know how to get that much money in a month," Ella muttered, taking a deep breath before weakly stepping into her modest home.

Ella's tears flowed once she was in her room. She sat silently on the edge of her bed, contemplating and crying quietly. She bore many burdens alone, and now she was confused about how to handle it all.

"What should I do, God? I still haven’t raised the money for Vico's surgery, and now I’m faced with another problem," Ella muttered before crying harder, covering her face with both hands.

For almost half an hour, the room was filled with her sobs until she remembered her brother and abruptly stopped crying.

"Calm down, Ella, you can face all this on your own," she encouraged herself while wiping her tears, though she doubted she could handle all her life's problems alone.

Ella then cleaned up and packed the things she needed to take with her. It didn't take long before she headed back to the hospital on her one and only moped.

*****

The next day, Ella left her brother again to go to work. Although her job as a waitress in a large restaurant didn’t pay too poorly, it still wasn’t enough to cover Vico's surgery.

'I have no choice but to try. Maybe Mr. Edward can lend me a significant amount of money,' thought Ella as she carried food to a customer.

Her goal today was to talk to her boss, the owner of the restaurant where she worked. She planned to ask him for a loan after a sleepless night worrying about her brother's medical bills.

"Here you go, sir. Enjoy your meal," Ella said warmly as she served food to a man sitting alone.

"Hm."

'So aloof,' Ella thought, glancing briefly at the customer before walking away.

Having served her last customer, Ella prepared to speak with her boss, who was in his office. But just as she was about to head there, her boss came out, seemingly about to leave. Ella quickly approached him.

"Mr. Edward, may I have a moment of your time? I need to talk to you seriously," Ella said directly.

Edward, a mature man, raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly at her. "Of course, Ella. What do you need to talk about?" he asked.

Edward was kind and understanding, which was why Ella enjoyed working there. Plus, the pay was decent.

"Can we talk later, sir? Where should we go?"

"Let's sit at that empty table. I don't feel like going back inside," Edward replied, making Ella nod obediently as they walked to the empty table, with Ella following Edward.

"Bro! You're here? Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

Ella stopped when Edward did, as he greeted the man she had just served.

'Is he Mr. Edward's friend?' Ella thought, still looking at the man she had labeled aloof.

"It's not important. I just wanted to be alone."

Edward chuckled at his friend's response. "Alright, Frans, I'll leave you alone then."

'Hmm.' No doubt, the man was named Frans. He seemed to be calming his mind.

'So his name is Frans,' Ella thought, still observing Frans quietly before following Edward again.

Frans glanced briefly at them as Edward and Ella sat at a nearby empty table. He was slightly curious about Ella, dressed in her work uniform, seemingly close to his friend, the restaurant owner. But he soon dismissed it and focused on his phone.

"s**t!" Frans cursed, recalling his conversation with Harley the previous night over the phone.

Harley didn't want to get married anytime soon, and his family's pressure for Frans to marry soon was overwhelming. He decided not to go to the office, trying to find a solution.

'If I don't get married soon, my position as CEO at my own company will be taken by Daddy,' Frans thought, remembering his parents' threats.

He ruffled his hair in frustration before finishing his cup of coffee. His gaze then shifted to Ella, his expression difficult to read.