Chapter 2

The next day, Lisa received a call from a strange number.

"Hello, who is this?" she asked.

"It's Kendrick," Lisa didn't need to ask further; she already recognized that devilish voice.

"What do you want? I already said no to you many times. Can you please just leave me alone?" she said angrily.

"Can you hear me out first?" Kendrick said in a cool voice.

"Okay, go ahead," she replied.

"I heard about your mom."

"So, what does that have to do with you?"

"Why can't you calm down first and let me finish?" he said angrily.

"Okay, go on. I want to know what you are going to say."

"Okay, I heard about what happened to your mom, and I want to help. I know what you are worried about, but it's not going to happen. Come to the Westlake clubhouse in Luna hotel. Come over there tonight and have a drink with me. I will give you the money with no conditions." The phone disconnected after that.

Lisa stood there, not knowing what to do. She knew it was a trap, but he already threw in an enticement, so what if it's a trap? At least she's doing something rather than just thinking every day with no solution. She braced herself and decided to give it a try. "I just need to be careful."

Luckily, they are to meet in the hotel's clubhouse. What could ever happen in such a place anyway? If he had asked her to come to a hotel room, maybe she wouldn't even consider it a second time and would quickly turn him down.

One hour before the agreed time, Lisa started getting nervous. After calming down a bit, she got dressed in a red gown. The gown wasn't too long or too short, and, above all, it wasn't very revealing. She purposely wore such an unrevealing gown to avoid problems.

She didn't apply much makeup before leaving. She held her purse tightly while flagging down a cab. The cab stopped in front of her, and she hurriedly hopped in.

"Luna hotel, please."

The cab driver looked at her suspiciously, but he didn't say anything and drove off. A few minutes later, the cab stopped in front of Luna hotel. She paid the cab driver and hurried to the hotel.

On reaching the hotel, she didn't know where the club was located, so she asked one of the hotel attendants, and she led her there.

She saw Mr. Kendrick sitting with a pot-bellied stomach. He looked forty and was bald, but he wasn't in any way ugly; in short, he looked way more handsome than most other men.

When he saw her, he gave her a very kind smile, like a doting father. Lisa forced a smile and walked towards him under the weird gaze of the attendant.

"You came?"

"Of course, you said you will help me?" she asked to confirm.

"Yes, and also I will not demand anything from you. I know that's what you are worried about, but trust me, I'm being sincere," he said smilingly.

"But why do you want to help me?" she asked, confused.

"Listen, I love you so much, even if you don't love me back. To me, your family members are also my family members, and your mom is also my mom," he replied.

She felt disgusted. This man was clearly older than her mom. He might look forty, but his age is clearly more than that, yet he had the audacity to say her mother is also his. "My mom can never give birth to an old baby like you," she thought inwardly.

Whatever his reason, it's better not to probe further; the main thing is that she received the money he promised.

"Now let's drink a toast to our newfound understanding," he offered smilingly as he opened the red wine on the table and poured two glasses, one for her and one for himself.

Lisa wasn't in the mood to drink, especially since she doesn't drink alcohol. But she didn't want to offend him, so she drank a glass full and refused to drink more.

Mr. Kendrick didn't persuade her; soon she started feeling dizzy and hot. She looked at her wine glass and seemed to have realized something.

"You...!" she was so angry.

Mr. Kendrick had a wicked smile on his face. "Do you really think I will give you almost a million dollars for no reason? You think too much of yourself. First, I will ravage you tonight, then after that, if you still want to help your mother, then you can become my mistress. Then, based on how much you perform, I will choose to help if you perform well enough. Haha!" he laughed maniacally.

"You are mad," she cursed. "You think the hotel management will allow you to act wantonly?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetheart, but you see, all these people are well tipped off, so they won't say a thing. You don't have to worry too. I will take care of you very well."

Just as he was about to grab her, a deep masculine voice called out.

"Stop right there, don't you dare touch her."

Mr. Kendrick paused and wore an unpleasant expression, "Who are you and why do you want to interfere with my business?"

"None of your business, just leave the girl," he ordered.

Lisa looked up and saw it was the poor guy who eats at the restaurant where she worked. She felt touched; even though it wasn't his business, he stood up for her against Mr. Kendrick, who was very famous in this area of Pennsylvania as a ruthless man who is very unforgiving.

"Okay, I understand now," Mr. Kendrick nodded with a smile. He dug his hands in his pocket and brought out a wad of dollars. And handed it over to Williams.

"Here, this is ten thousand dollars. It is more than you can ever make in a month. Now take it and pretend you didn't see a thing." He thought that the man just wanted money. Even if he doesn't, nowadays everything could be handled with money.