CHAPTER 4

THE ACCIDENT

“ What is the meaning of this?!.” Lilian couldn’t believe what she was looking at .

It all made sense now . Why her sister ran away at the last minute , why her father turned to her in his moment of weakness , Why Xavier felt he had the upper hand here.

How could they do this to her. Haven’t she been nothing but nice . She tried to help even when it wasn’t her burden to bear and this how they repay her.

“2 Billion Dollars?? How could her father owe Xavier that much? How could he use her as a collateral?” Her mind was reeling with questions.

“ The contract you signed would only be valid for two years as long as your father pays back what he owes in that time frame. Otherwise, the contract is void and we would be legally bound until the amount is paid in full.” He said nonchalantly

Lilian was staring at a contract different from the one she signed . This contract specifically stated that “ If Mr. Joshua ( Her father) fails to come up with the money borrowed , the marriage shall continue till he is able to “ At the bottom held her father’s signature. A signature she knew so well.

Her father had signed her away as a collateral. She wasn’t aware of the fact that he owed such large amount of money. Cindy must have heard of this section of the deal and that was why she fled.

Her father knew that once Lilian got wind of what was really going on , she wouldn’t have gone through with the marriage and that was why he didn’t tell her.

“ Are you Alright? “ Xavier had the audacity to ask her

“ Am I alright!?.. Am I alright??!!.. What do you think??!” Lilian didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.

“ of course I am not alright! “ Crying won. Lilian sobbed because she knew what this meant for her . She knew her father would take his sweet time to pay back his debt. She knew she was stuck for a while with a man that lack compassion and took joy in her misery.

“ How could you sit there and ask me if I am alright??!! How could you sign such a deal??!.” From her tears came anger and Lilian decided to direct that anger to a half of the persons responsible for her plight .

“ Calm down and stop overreacting!!. You need to understand I am a business man and I needed a way to ensure my money is paid back in full. Besides , it was your father that approached me and not the other way round. It was him that demanded my help and I rendered it” He said coldly .

“ How could someone be this heartless” she struggled to wrap her head around it.

“ Excuse me “ He said wiping his mouth. He was done eating .

“ You should discuss this matter further with your father “ Xavier retired to his quarters for the night.

Lilian still sat the table, She couldn’t believe her father would do something like this. To his own daughter, what would her mother think if she was still here. Lilian stomach churned and she felt like throwing up even she had not been able to eat anything.

She sat at the table for a long time, her tears already dried but with a heavy heart as she thought of her next move .

Lilian always wanted to open her own bakery , she had been saving up for it by working as a waitress in a restaurant. She wanted to open it without any help from her father. She was going to do just that but first she was going to have a chat with her father early tomorrow .

She would then have a civilized conversation with her husband , she was going to work on her dream and there was nothing he was going to do about it . He couldn’t do anything worse than he had already done

Lilian was done being nice and helpful. She was going to put herself first from now on starting with opening her bakery. She didn’t care the impression it would give. She would already imagine the news headlines

“ Wife of Billionaire Xavier Knight now Bakery owner “ They wouldn’t really care to include her name only his and she honestly didn’t care .

She was going to make the best out this horrible situation . She had lost all appetite to eat and left the food on the table and retired to her room. The stress , worries and events of the day put her straight to sleep.

She woke up with a fright to the blasting of her phone ringing . She turned to her alarm clock

“3:30” it read .

Who could be calling her at this ungodly hour

“Hello” she said answering the call.

“ Is this Lilian Norman “ The voice spoke in a rush

“ yes it is “ Lilian knew something was wrong.

“ We are calling from st. Louis Hospital. I’m sorry to inform you but a Mr. Ben Gracy was involved in a ghastly car accident and you were his emergency contact. He is scheduled for surgery…..”

The rest of what the person on the other line was saying was lost on Lilian as the phone slipped from her hand and her vision blurred with tears .