Chapter Twelve

Alicia got into her car and drove back home. Upon her arrival, she drove into the premises and parked her car.

As she got out of her car, Alicia was still nervously wondering how her family would react upon seeing the diamond ring on her finger.

She had refused to pick up her mother's call, her heart pounding in her chest as she moved closer to the house and rang the doorbell. She unlocked the door and entered the living room, meeting her mother seated there on the black couch and dressed in black.

Lady Jennifer shifted her gaze away from her phone and watched as Alicia strode into the living room.

"Good evening, Mom," Alicia greeted her mother, noticing that the time was past 4 PM.

Lady Jennifer sat alone in the chair in the living room and asked, "Where did you go, Alicia? Did you pretend like you didn't see my call?"

Nervously, Alicia moved away from the door and responded, "I'm sorry, Mom. I saw your call, but I was driving."

Alicia wasn't good at lying, and her mother looked at her before her gaze landed on the sparkling diamond ring nestled within Alicia's finger.

"Who gave you the ring?" Lady Jennifer asked as she sprang up from the couch.

"Who else, Mom? My boyfriend, Jonathan," Alicia replied with a subtle blush on her face, and her mother's expression fell.

"Do you want to have your father killed? How could you accept Jonathan's ring at this critical moment? Go on, take it off and hand it over to me now, before someone sees it on your finger and reports it to Damian," Lady Jennifer insisted, but Alicia refused.

"No, Mother. I cannot take it off," Alicia's voice was cold and firm as she looked away from her mother.

"Jonathan already promised to help us pay off our debt, and we still have until the end of this month to pay," Alicia said, moving away toward the stairs, but her mother blocked her path.

"Do you think that I am joking with you? Take the ring off now!" Lady Jennifer said, her voice loud and stern, but Alicia refused.

"No, Mother. I cannot take it off. You cannot force me to be with a man I don't want, and I am not going to accept Damian's offer. Just let me be!" Alicia quickly dodged her mother and ran upstairs.

Lady Jennifer frowned and paced about the living room as she watched Alicia go back upstairs.

Her phone rang, and she gritted her teeth before picking it up. She saw that it was Jeff Brody calling her.

Lady Jennifer hesitated before answering the call.

"Hello."

"Good evening, Madam," Jeff's cold voice came through, and Lady Jennifer swallowed hard, trying not to sound nervous.

"Good evening. How may I help you, sir?" she asked, laughing lightly, and Jeff replied, "You cannot help me. The proposal is why I am calling you. Has your daughter changed her mind yet and decided to accept my boss?"

Lady Jennifer gulped and replied, "No. Alicia doesn't want your boss. How about Samantha, my first daughter? She is willing to become Damian's bride."

The phone call went silent for a moment, and Jeff replied coldly, "My boss has been lenient enough. Do not make us do things the hard way. Your husband will be starved and fed only twice a week until the money is paid. Take care."

The phone call ended, and Lady Jennifer sighed as she didn't know how best to convince Alicia to accept Damian.

Alicia was her daughter, and she could not push her daughter into a difficult marriage.

Lady Jennifer frustratingly moved to the couch in the living room to sit there hopelessly, as no one was willing to help her husband in these trying times. Not even those she considered friends.

The sound of the living room door clicking open interrupted her thoughts, and Samantha strode into the room.

"Good evening, Mom. What's wrong?" Samantha moved quickly to sit beside her mother, and Lady Jennifer said, "Your father. He will be tortured and fed only twice a week if we don't come up with the money quickly. Also, Alicia got engaged to her boyfriend today."

"What?!" Samantha gasped. She bit her lower lip and thought of what to do.

"Mom, I don't have such a huge amount of money, and before I would be able to raise such an amount, it would take six months. How do we get the money to pay Damian's men?" Samantha asked, thinking of other possibilities she could use to beg Damian not to hurt her father.

"I don't know," Lady Jennifer choked on sobs as she cried in her daughter's embrace. "I don't know."

She cried, stood up from the couch, and returned to her room.

"Even at this old age, Mom still cares so much about Dad. I should get Jeff's contact and see if I can get in touch with Damian," Samantha thought as she picked up her mother's phone.

She quickly saved Jeff's number to her phone before she sent for a maid to return her mother's phone to her room.

Samantha stood up from the couch and rushed upstairs to Alicia's room.

"Alicia!" She pounded on the door very loudly and waited for Alicia's response. Yet, there was no reply from within.

"Alicia! I know that you can hear me in there! Don't be heartless and pretend like you don't care about Father. You should get the money, unless Dad will be killed!" Samantha shouted before moving away from her sister's door after she was sure that Alicia had heard her.

Alicia sighed and realized that because of the loan amount, her family hadn't remained the same. She shook her head and tried not to worry about her father's fate.

"I don't think Damian will hurt him," Alicia reasoned, a part of her believing he wouldn't want to do anything to hurt her father maybe because he wants her. So he wouldn't hurt her father.

Alicia pushed the thought of Damian Tucker to the back of her mind as she stripped off her dress to take a bath.

Her phone rang, startling her, and she moved over to her bag to answer it.

Seeing that it was a call from Jonathan, Alicia smiled with relief and answered his call, "Hello, John."