prologue

*Melissa's POV*

"What?" I screamed, my eyes pooling with more tears, as I stared at my father who in turn looked devasted.

"That's what Dr. Riley found. Your mother's two kidneys are damaged and she needs a transplant in three days, if not, she...," he stammered, diverting his gaze from mine, without completing the sentence. But I already knew what he had wanted to say.

I felt like my world just crumbled. My mother had been sick for about a year now and we had tried everything to manage the sickness until yesterday when she suddenly collapsed. I felt sad for my father, he had spent almost every penny he had and right now we were almost completely left with nothing.

"How much did he say the transplant would cost?" I managed to ask him, not like I had any hope of where to get money anymore. I had lost my job three months ago as an accountant in a small beverage company when they couldn't afford to pay most of their staffs again.

"Five hundred thousand dollars," he replied me, his voice breaking a little.

"Where did Dr. Riley expect us to get that kind of money?" I asked, finally allowing the tears in my eyes to flow freely. My dad came to meet me and pulled me into a hug, his hands slightly shaken. "I don't want mom to die...," I said hiccuping and he rubbed my back.

"Don't worry, I'll do everything to get the money. Your mom won't die, she would recover and come back to us," he said reassuringly and I nodded. Even though I knew he was just trying to placate me, the words still made me feel a little better. "I need you to stay here and watch your mom, I would be back."

He disconnected from the hug and made to leave but I quickly stopped him.

"Where are you going to, dad?" I asked wiping the tears that blocked my sight.

"I want to see if my boss could help, even if it's a loan," he said, looking at the scan result in his hand one more time before he handed it to me and left.

Immediately he left, a shitty feeling returned to my chest again and I turned to look at my mom lying helpless on the small hospital bed. She used to be a very beautiful, lively woman with great features and a very attractive face, but now she just laid there looking all fray and tired.

I walked to where she was lying and squeezed her hand softly.

"You'll be okay, mom. Dad and I would get you out of this. I don't know how we would do it, but we'll. Please just stay strong for us and fight this. I know you can."

Even though she was asleep and I knew she couldn't possibly hear me, I still felt like saying things to her. She had always been my chat buddy after all. Tears flowed endlessly from my eyes and I got up and began to pace around the room.

***********

After hours of waiting, the door finally pushed open and I immediately turned to it to find my dad looking all drained and sweaty. He closed the door behind him and rested his back on the wall, his eyes looking like he had been crying. I slowly walked to where he was and helped him to stand straight, before pulling him to sit on a chair.

"What happened,dad?" I asked, afraid of hearing he couldn't get the money. "Did he give you the money?"

He shook his head and I felt my world crumble into more pieces. I had always know the man was heartless and he wouldn't just help people even when he clearly had everything.

My dad was an employee in Brown's cooperation. One of the biggest beverage company in Los Angeles. The CEO, Alexander Brown, who was the oldest grandson of the all powerful Michael Brown, was known to be a very ruthless man, without much emotion. But the grandfather was rumored to be kind, contrary to his grandson who had a stoic heart.

"Why?" I finally found the strength to ask my dad.

He looked at me before staring back on the tiled floor.

"He said he would only give me on the condition that I repaid it in two weeks and if not, he would take...," He hesitates. "You."

"Me?" I asked in shock. "But why, what does he need me for?"

I shook my head not believing how evil the man was. So, he had the money but just couldn't give it without a condition. "Then why didn't you take it, dad? We could figure out what he needed me for later. But for now, we need the money. We can't allow mom die."

He shook his head sadly.

"It's almost impossible to repay such amount in two weeks, honey. And I don't want you to suffer for it at the end, I can't lose you both," he said, his voice bearing heavy emotions. It was the truth, it seemed impossible, but we just have to face the problem before us first, before we could think of the next.

"Dad! We have to take it, it's the only option we have. I can't lose mom, please. Who knows, a miracle can happen before that time and we can repay back," I tried to convince him, crying uncontrollably.

He looks at me finding it hard to come to a decision. The next moment, my mom began to shake and the machine by her bedside started to beep continuously. We turned to the direction and my dad rushed to her while I ran out to call the doctor.

Dr. Riley and two other nurses followed me hurriedly into the room and they began to check her, making several efforts to stabilize her. We were asked to go outside the room.

We left to the hallway, and my dad kept pacing up and down while I just stood in one spot, hopeless.

"Dad, please you have to go take the money."

I didn't know what would become of me if we couldn't repay at the end, but I was determined to face it, as long as my mother stayed Alive. The doctor soon came out and informed us that she was stable, for now.

"But she has to undergo the surgery as soon as possible," Dr. Riley said with concern in his voice. As soon as he left, my dad took one last look at me before he left and I guessed he was going to take the money.

_________

"I'm sorry, but she couldn't make it. We really did our best, but we were a bit late" Dr. Riley told us after hours of waiting for my mom to come out of the theatre.

I broke down and fell on the hard tile, wailing. The nurses came to get me up from the ground but I refused. My dad sat down close to me, his hands on his head. I felt like my heart was been torn out of my chest, the whole world looked blurry. What was this pain?

My dad had done everything in his power to save her, why did she still had to leave us? Why mother?