Chapter 5

Sarah’s POV

On the floor is my mother, unconscious with blood dripping out of her nose and mouth. She looks lifeless! God, I hope she’s not!

Mom!” I squeal like a stuck pig, tears instantly pooling my eyes as I hurry to meet her. Her body’s cold yet she’s sweating profusely. I check her pulse and her heartbeat. I heave a little sigh of relief. Thank goodness! She’s still alive.

“Mom!” I call out to her and lift her from the ground. She’s lost weight incredibly, now thinner and paler than normal. The red spots on her skin are still as evergreen as the first time they appeared.

I carry her outside and bang on my neighbour’s door until the 40-year-old man comes out. He sees the tears welling in my eyes and my mother resting on me with her eyes closed. He doesn’t ask any questions, he rushes in and grabs his car keys then helps me lay my mother in the backseat. We’ve been through this a couple of times before.

I get in the backseat and we drive off to the nearest hospital. Hot tears are streaming down my face and my chest is tightening as I gape at my poor mother. This isn’t fair, this isn’t right. Why do good people have to go through so much pain? Why do they have to suffer so much? Why does my mother have to go through this?

My mom was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia a year ago and by the looks of things, it’s getting worse. She’s vehemently refused to try chemotherapy as she’s convinced she’s dying sooner anyway and that it would be unwise to waste the little money we make on a futile treatment.

It breaks my heart to hear her say that every time but there’s absolutely nothing I can do. My dad left us to the land beyond when I was barely 18 after he’d been caught in a fire that not only took him but our home and valuables. My mum had to take up the responsibility of me and my two younger siblings, Noah and Abby. It hasn’t been easy but we kept pushing.

Things became even more complicated when my mum got terminally ill. I felt distraught, we all did. I had to take up all the responsibility and solely fend for my family. I became the breadwinner of my home last year and since then, I’ve been working tooth and nail to provide our needs.

There’s a little hope now, a ray of sunshine. With the money I made from the auction, we can settle all our debts and I can pay for mom’s chemo. I’m going to make her do it whether she likes it or not. With that $300,000, we will be able to live decently for now. Yes, we will.

I wipe the tears from my eyes, consoling myself mentally since I’ve got no one to do it for me. My mom gets admitted, I see the doctor, and he says a bunch of stuff that I can’t remember. I barely hear him over the loud pounding of my heart and my emotions spiralling out of control.

But the bottom line is my mom’s dying. The only thing we can do now is try to get her to live longer. And she has to begin chemo as soon as possible. The thought of losing another parent stings so bad, that the ache in my heart is unbearable. I weep into my palms until I’ve got no tears left to cry.

Two days later, I went over to Mr Maguire’s house. I’m sure he must have cashed the check by now. I would’ve gone a lot sooner but I wanted to make sure he’s got the money. I knock on the door impatiently and thankfully, he opens up.

“Sarah! I’ve been expecting you! Come on in,” he says, smiling widely.

I enter his house and stand next to a couch while he goes to get my share of the money. He comes back sooner than I expect and hands me a wad of cash. I glance at the money and look at him, extremely confused.

“What’s this?”

“Your share.” He’s quick to reply.

“How much is this?”

“$50,000.”

“My share is $300,000. We agreed that I’d get 30% of whatever the highest bidder offered, didn’t we?”

“I’m afraid the plans changed, Sarah,” Mr Maguire responds in a powerful and dramatic voice.

What the fuck is going on?

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re gullible if you believed I was going to let you walk away with that whooping sum.”

“What? But you got $700,000...,” I reply, my voice cracking and my hands overtaken with tremors.

“I settled off your debts with the money.”

“I don’t owe you that much money, Henry!” I have no idea how his first name breaks out of my lips but I’m too pissed to give two shits. “You...swine! You greedy son of a miserable bitch!”

Mr Maguire gets infuriated and kicks me out of his house with these parting words, “Listen, kid, I got some nasty boys in my backyard and I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to have it off with you but I can’t promise they’ll be gentle. I’d get out of here if I were you. Don’t show your face here ever again unless, of course, you want to know what a gangbang feels like.”

“You sick prick! You won’t get away with this. I promise you!” I spit in tears and leave his shithole.

I get back home and crash on the sofa, thinking about how I got played by that cocksucker. I hear a knock on my door and I trudge to open it. I’m not expecting the person that I come face to face with.

“What are you doing here?” I bark.

“Have you been crying?” Mr Stones asked, examining my face.

“That’s none of your business. Why are you here?”

He enters my living room but doesn’t sit down. I glance at the papers he’s holding. “Well...?”

“I’ve got a proposal for you,” he responds.

“What proposal?” I ask, peering at him with one of my eyebrows raised.

He gazes at me silently as if contemplating on telling me or not. And then he bridges the gap between us before saying so confidently, “Marry me.”