The heat of his body pressed against her and the warmth from his breath tickled her ear.
“Are you scared?” he asked.
His hot breath lingered near her ear, making her shiver and scared to speak. Loredana Flores sensed that the man was holding himself back, his deep voice thick with desire. “It’s still not too late to change your mind.”
Loredana clenched her fists and shook her head nervously. “No, I want this.”
She was in the prime of her life. And yet…
The man leaned forward and his lips brushed the side of her neck. “Good.”
Her night was long and excruciating.
When the man finally got up and went to the bathroom in the latter half of the night, Loredana dragged her exhausted body out of bed. She struggled into her clothes and walked out of the room without a second glance.
The middle-aged woman who introduced Loredana to the business sat on a sofa in the hotel lobby.
Seeing Loredana exiting the elevator, the woman stood and handed Loredana a black plastic bag.
“Here’s your payment.”
Without more than a second’s hesitation, Loredana snatched the bag out of the woman’s hand. Giving a curt nod in thanks, Loredana hurried out of the hotel, having forgotten the pain she felt in the lower half of her body. She only wanted to reach the hospital as fast as possible.
The sky was just beginning to show the first rays of light, and the hospital hallway was quiet. Two stretchers were sitting outside of the operating room. Since the two hadn’t the money upfront for the operation, the bodies on the stretchers were still waiting outside, needing a miracle.
Loredana’s heart ached as she approached the two of them.
She choked on the lump in her throat as she spoke. “I have the money. Please save my mom and brother…” she pleaded, handing the money in the bag to the doctor.
The doctor took a glance at it and asked a nurse to count the sum. Only after he was certain all the money was there did he ask the nurses to wheel her mother in for her operation.
Seeing them leaving her brother in the hallway, Loredana grabbed the doctor’s arms and pleaded to him.
“What about my brother? Please save him…”
The doctor sighed. “I’m sorry; it’s already too late to save him…”
Too late? The news made her cry out. The intense pain in her chest felt like someone had taken a searing hot blade, stabbed her in the chest, and twisted it mercilessly. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed on the ground, the world around her fading to black.
Eight years ago, when Loredana was ten, her father cheated and abandoned his wife and daughter. He sent them to a foreign strange country, not even caring that his wife was pregnant with their second child.
Loredana’ younger brother was born soon afterward and he was diagnosed with autism when he was three. They’d been living paycheck to paycheck during that time and her brother’s condition made their life harder, though Loredana loved her brother too much to care. She and her mother worked odd jobs to make ends meet, and then a car accident had taken everything Loredana loved in an instant, leaving her alone in an unfriendly foreign country and without a single penny to her name. She was forced to go against everything she was taught and sell herself. And yet, she was still unable to save her brother.
Not everyone who suffered such immense pain would become hysteric. For some, the pain would only make them feel uncomfortable and perhaps make it difficult to breathe. For others, it might only make them feel the sky looked gloomy, yet they only had to accept the reality with a smile to feel better, because they still had a mother who was alive and needed them.
After treatment, Loredana’ mother gradually recovered. However, upon discovering the death of her son, she had gone crazy. It was Loredana who hugged her and cried.
“Mom, I’m still here, please live for me.”
During the one month in the hospital, Loredana’ mom, Maxina, often stared into space at the edge of her bed. Loredana knew she missed her son. If it wasn’t for Loredana, Maxina might have already followed
Loredana’ brother to the afterworld.
Since Loredana had to take care of her mother, she was expelled from school, but Loredana was just glad that her mother was getting better, even if it was slow.
*****
Loredana carried a bag of food as she walked into the hospital. She reached the ward and was about to open the door when she heard a voice from inside—a voice she was familiar with. Although it had been eight years, she still remembered watching her father forcing her mother to sign the divorce papers.
After sending them here, he had never once visited them. So why was he suddenly visiting his ex-wife in the hospital?
“Maxina, you and the mistress of the Mendelsohn family were like sisters back then. You even promised to let your child marry hers when they grew up. It was you who made the promise, so logically it should be your daughter who marries her son—”
“What do you mean? Garrett, you’re not talking about Cormac Mendelsohn, are you?” Maxina asked, cutting the man off.
Maxina, having lost a significant amount of weight and strength from staying in the hospital, struggled to get up. She wanted nothing more than to hit the man, paying no mind to her wound Had he lost his mind? First, he dumped her and her daughter in a terrible place, never paying them anymore mind, and now he was insisting her marry off her daughter to the son of a woman she hadn’t seen in years?
“The eldest son of the Mendelsohn family is your best friend’s son. He was raised well and you know their family status. Marrying the two would only lead to a happy life…” The man’s voice lowered as he spoke.
Loredana had seen pictures of Cormac in the news and knew he had a dignifying and charming look.
However, he had recently been bitten by a venomous snake while on a business trip abroad and was paralyzed. Because of his condition, he could no longer take care of himself, let alone live alone. The woman who married him would become a widow with a husband who was not yet dead. Her life would be over.
Loredana pushed the door open, her forgotten bag of food still in her hand. “I’ll do it,” she said, her appearance startling the two before her. “I’m okay with marrying him, on one condition.”
Garrett turned to the door and looked at his daughter whom he hadn’t seen for eight years. He stared at her for several seconds.
When he sent her away, she was still a ten-year-old kid. Now, she was all grown up. She had pale skin and she was extremely underweight. Her face seemed small, like she was being pulled into herself.
She seemed as if her body hadn’t been able to fully develop. She was nowhere near as loving as his younger daughter who was at home.
The sympathy he felt lessened. After all, she was not that good-looking; it wasn’t too bad to let her marry a cripple who couldn’t have sex. Having thought of this, his guilt vanished and he believed he’d done nothing wrong.
“Alright then out with it.”
“I want to return home with Mom. Give her back everything that belongs to us and I’ll agree to marry Cormac.”
Loredana clenched her fists and focused on her breathing to calm down. Although she hadn’t been in her home country for quite a couple of years, the Mendelsohn family of City B had been quite a topic since she was young. The family was huge and possessed wealth worth hundreds of billions. The son of the family, therefore, was naturally well desired.
Loredana didn’t think such a good thing would fall into her lap; Even though he was paralyzed and wouldn’t be able to perform the duties a husband should, this was the best thing that had happened to her family. It was a chance for her to not only return home, but she could also help her mother gain back the fortune that was part of Maxina’s dowry.
“Lola…” Maxina started, using her daughter’s nickname.
Maxina wanted to advise her that marriage was no joke and to reconsider. Loredana had suffered plenty by Maxina’s side and Maxina couldn’t let her daughter suffer life through a ruined marriage too.
Sensing what Maxina wanted to say, Garrett worried that Loredana would be persuaded by Maxina and refuse to marry Cormac, and quickly spoke up. “Sure, as long as you agree, I’ll let you go home.”
“And about mom’s dowry?” Loredana asked in an icy voice, staring at the man who was technically her father.
There were indeed many dowries from Maxina when they were first married. It was no small amount and Garrett was reluctant to give them back.
“Dad,” Loredana started, “I suppose my younger sister looks gorgeous. She deserves a better man than
Cormac. If she’s married to a man with flaws, her life is going to be ruined. Not to mention you’ve divorced Mom. You should return the money she gave to the Flores family.”
Garrett was guilty and he didn’t dare meet her eyes. She’d been abroad for years. How did she know the son of the Mendelsohn family was disabled? He couldn’t know that Loredana was taking a guess and didn’t know about the snake bite.
New Book: Beginning with a Daring Encounter
Celsie was tired of being labeled as an introvert, workaholic, and dull virgin by her friends. Determined to prove them wrong, she made a bet that she would do something daring on her 25th birthday. Now that the day had arrived, it was time to fulfill her promise. On her daring to-do list, there was one task: a one-night stand with someone.
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