Chapter 5: No Place To Escape At All

Amelia’s gaze widened, and her hands trembled as she read the figures—one billion!

She flipped to one page, then another—her movement chaotic.

Then her heart wrenched so much so she couldn’t breathe, once her gaze landed on the signature written at the end of the document.

LIES they were all LIES.

Her grip on the document tightened.

“Back then, I forgave this debt. But as you rightly reminded me, our family has no relationship. It’s too much to ask that you pretend to be my son’s wife, just pay the debt and we will cut ties”

“It's fake, isn’t it?” her voice trembled as she crumpled the sheet in her hand.

“This has to be fake, a ruse to get what you want” She gazed at Mrs. Hughes, her eyes pleading.

“I see your father never told you or your mother…” Mrs. Hughes poured herself another cup of tea “When his business was failing, he’d borrowed money from me to help keep it afloat, and it did for a while, but it failed in the end”

Amelia watched as Mrs. Hughes took a sip of her tea, unperturbed.

“I kept my part of the bargain, but he didn’t. It's not too much to ask his daughter to pay, is it?”

Her throat tightened as tears threatened to fall. Her hand shook and the grip she had on the ball of paper tightened.

Amelia felt her head turn lighter as her brain felt inflated with something other than air.

“You are bleeding” Mrs. Hughes pointed out, raising her hands up to her nose.

Amelia dabbed her nose and indeed she was bleeding— it was probably due to all the stress. She cleaned her nose up.

“Take care of yourself more,” Mrs Hughes said, handing her a handkerchief out of concern which Amelia didn’t take.

There was no way she’d accept anything from this woman.

Trapped as she was in an intricate web made by her. She just couldn’t cheat a person not for money.

No! She wouldn’t no matter what.

“I’ll... find another way; I’ll pay you what you are owed” She dropped the ball of paper on the desk as she turned to leave.

“Rather arrogant, aren’t you Amelia?” Mrs Hughes placed the handkerchief quietly back on the table, her demeanor icy.

“I best believe you take the file with you; it contains a contract agreement to be my son’s wife and the other, the details of your father's debt, either way, you have to make a choice… make the right one.”

…

Walking past the private gate of the Hughes family estate, Amelia gripped her back tightly as she quickened her pace. Her movement fluid, not looking back for fear of hesitation.

Her plan was to trek to the Estates checkpoint, then she’d be on the road back to the city. She’d get a bus there.

But just like every other thing going on in her life right now such simple tasks proved to be difficult. She was two hours late for work.

Amelia regretted it. Storming out of the Hughes family house, and not waiting for them to take her back.

It’ll take nearly an hour for her to reach the checkpoint, and how much longer for her to be at the diner.

A car slowly followed from behind.

“Miss Amelia” Her steps faltered, and she turned and saw it was David Mrs. Hughes's guard.

“What do you want?” Amelia resumed her walk; she had no time to indulge another person. “Haven’t you all said enough?” she muttered. Her voice laced with resentment.

“I’ve been ordered to take you back to the city”

Amelia sighed, not looking at the car or the person anymore.

“I don’t need your help, “she snapped “I’m fine on my own” her stubbornness getting the best of her.

She was determined not to ask for help, not from Mrs Hughes or anyone else.

“As sad as that sounds, I can’t let you do that.” The guard stopped the car, and came up to the walkway, grabbing her by the arm towards the car.

“Let go of me” Amelia struggled. Startled by his action.

He’d done this early when he took her to that woman. Then she’d had no choice but now they had nothing to do with each other. This was ridiculous.

“Get in” he nudged her, opening the back seat for her to go in.

Amelia stared at him unabashed, and he too stared indifferently. The guard had no qualms about using force to get his way.

Her heart ached and her eyes watered she forced herself to remain strong as she got into the car.

They were all the same, him, Bobby, Mrs. Hughes... they all forced her one way or another.

In no time they were at the estate security checkpoint driving back to the city. A journey that would have taken at least an hour or more to accomplish.

Amelia gazed at the passing view; her mind wrapped up in the mess that was her family's financial state calculating.

Her mother’s debt was fifteen Million to Bobby, and her father’s a billion to the chairwoman, it will take a million more or less for her mother to undergo surgery.

That makes how much in total she needed to cough up.

Amelia sighed. Closing her eyes as her heart cringed once more.

The conversation from earlier haunted her and Amelia felt ashamed up to her bone. As every fiber of her being was suffocated at the ounce of the money she had to pay.

It was a pit dug by her parents—its depth unknown.

It could only be filled up by money, and wealth she could only dream of having but had to pay.

What an embarrassment and in front of the chairwoman no less.

Amelia felt cold; her hands, feet, nose, ears... heart, everything! It all felt cold.

Her life wasn’t hers, was it? They all plan to use her.

Wringing out everything she could offer. How the hell did she get herself into this?

Amelia gazed out the window, her demeanor brooding.

Easy—she was born.

In a family that previously had generations of wealth, it was all a fickle fantasy.

A show of some sort as they all borrowed money, to keep what they had down to the last of their generation.

And now she had to pay for their foolishness with her own life. A debtor's life.

A tear fell off her cheek, her misery unbecoming as it threatened to swallow her whole.

The image of her dad crawled into her mind, and the anguish she felt heightened remembering his face that smiled at her with so much care and love.

Hiding such a truth from us. How could he?

Her vision blurred as more tears streamed down her face. He left her with no room to escape—none at all.

“Miss Amelia we’re here” The guard called, snapping her out of her state.

He swerved the car to the parking lot near her place. And she came down not saying a word of thanks as she left in the opposite direction of her house.

…

At the diner a hot slap fell on Amelia’s cheeks, the pain stung her, but she held her grievance.

“How dare you!”

Amelia flinched as her boss raised her hands to slap her but was stopped by the head employee.

“Look at it, just look at the time you are coming for work, it’s 10 o’clock in the morning, is this when you wanna open my diner? Do you know how much money you cost me!”

Amelia flinched at the boss’s words. The other employee stared at her with a mixture of pity and somewhat annoyance.

In the expanse of the diner, it was only her and other employees in there with the boss. There were no customers thanks to her. She’d been the one with the key to the diner.

“Boss calm down,” the lead employee said as he stood between their boss and Amelia, his face contorted with worry.

“How am I supposed to calm down when I pay you all to do your job but cost me money instead, useless girl!” The boss fumed with rage.

The sight of Amelia infuriated her. “Do you know how much it cost me to keep this business afloat?”

“She must have had a family emergency, right?” the lead employee turned to Amelia for confirmation “She couldn’t—”

“Enough!” the boss spat out.

“Emergency my foot, which of us doesn’t have a family emergency? Do you think I pay you to simper about some family emergency?”

The boss locked gazes with Amelia; her rage could not be contained.

“Get out! Get out right now, you’re fired”

Amelia flinched as her world snapped. She looked miserable as she fell on the ground, kneeling her eyes covered in tears.

“Boss please, my family we don’t—”

“ssh” the boss raised her index finger, her eyes consumed by rage “Don’t you dare beg me, I’m not running a charity here, get out!”

The boss rebuked, and her hand went up to her knee as she removed the hands holding her, pushing Amelia to the ground and walking past her, slamming the door of her office on every one of her employees.

Silent tears streamed off her face and the employees walked past her gazing at her with pity, before going to open the diner for the rush hour.

Weak-kneed Amelia stood up to leave but not before dropping the keys at the diner's counter.