Tessa wiped her tears and rushed to the bathroom. She refused to accept that Aaron took a sudden turn in their relationship and decided to fire her.

Everything was going well, or so she thought. He was kind to her during the day at the office and later in the night, he wouldn’t let her go until her legs began to shake.

She failed to believe someone who was so passionate in bed didn’t love her. Besides, he was her first. She wasn’t willing to give up that easily.

Perhaps he had heard some rumours or thought she did something and that made him break up with her.

Tessa was madly in love with Aaron. She would go to any lengths to make things right. After showering, she picked up her phone and tried to call him but the call went unanswered.

As her heart continued to sink into her stomach, she typed in a message.

[Aaron, I’m sorry if there’s anything I’ve done to upset you. I love you so much. I don’t think I can live without you. Please hear me out. I’ll be coming to the office to return the cheques you left. In case you thought I was with you because of the money, that’s not true. I’m not that type of woman. I may come from a poor family but I believe in working hard. This is the reason I pushed myself to work harder than everyone else because I want to depend on myself. I love you genuinely and I’m willing to prove that to you. I hope you can give me another chance.]

She sent the text and waited until it showed that it had been delivered. But even after waiting for ten minutes, there was no reply from Aaron.

Tessa swallowed the stubborn lump in her throat and grabbed the cheques before walking out of her apartment. If he didn’t want to answer her calls, then she would see him physically.

Tears were threatening to fall from her eyes on her way but she blinked them back. It’s not over till it’s over.

When she arrived at the company, Tessa immediately rushed towards the elevator and went up to the CEO’s office on the topmost floor.

What she didn’t know was people were staring at her and whispering to each other. She was more focussed on meeting Aaron and begging him to take back his words.

She had just passed the assistant’s office when a voice made her stop in her tracks.

“Tessa, the CEO is not yet in.”

Tessa whipped around and forced a smile at the young woman who was standing by the door to the assistants' office.

It was none other than Nora Miller, the junior assistant and her subordinate.

Tessa frowned. “Where is he?”

It was strange for a workaholic like Aaron to not be in the office at 10:00 am. She thought he had come straight to the company after he dropped that bomb on her.

She was about to go look for him but she realised she didn’t know where he stayed. They mostly spent nights at the apartment he gave her. She had never been to his real home.

Now that she thought about it, she had been naive. How could she date someone and not know where their home is?

Of course, she knew the address since she was his assistant, but she hadn’t been physically there to know where exactly the house is. Aaron hadn’t offered to take her there either.

“Tessa, is something wrong?” Nora asked because Tessa was acting weird today. She wasn’t even in her usual formal office attire.

She was wearing a white tee and some blue jeans and her hair was let down messily.

Tessa was startled by the question but she quickly composed herself and shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I’m off today but there’s something I want to discuss with Mr Wentworth. He’s not picking up my calls.”

Nora looked at Tessa incredulously. “The CEO might not come in today. He’s gone to receive someone at the airport. Didn’t you know that? I thought you were with him that’s why you didn’t clock in.”

A feeling of unease crept into Tessa and settled in the pits of her stomach. She held back from looking shocked and chuckled awkwardly.

“Ah, Mr Wentworth must have felt sorry because I wasn’t feeling well. Perhaps he didn’t want to overwhelm me. Who has he gone to receive? Is it an important client?”

Nora suddenly giggled. “Mr Wentworth went to pick up the woman he loves.”

Tessa didn’t hear what she said after those words as they continuously resonated in her ears.

‘Mr Wentworth went to pick up the woman he loves.’

‘The woman he loves.’

Her stomach turned but Nora’s voice snapped her out of her reverie.

“It is said that Mr Wentworth has had a crush on his childhood friend for a long time. He’s always been waiting for her no wonder he doesn’t fall in love with someone else. Isn’t it sweet? I hear they are going to get married soon. She’s been doing her studies abroad and she's also a famous pianist abroad. Let me search for her and see what she looks like. I heard she’s a beauty.”

Tessa was frozen on the spot as she tried to register the words that Nora had just said. Aaron had someone he had always loved and he would get married soon.

Why was he with her if that was the case? Why did he take her virginity? Why did he string her along and give her hope when he had no plans of marrying her?

Tessa felt like an iron hand was squeezing her heart. She could feel the pain in the pits of her stomach as if someone had punched her in the gut.

Two years!

Two fucking years! She had wasted it on that man! Loving him with all her might! And all her soul! Making his meals, giving him good sex and breaking her back to contribute to the progress of the company, thinking she was doing the right thing as his soon-to-be wife.

Yet he didn’t have the audacity to tell her he was in love with someone else. Tessa’s heart ached and she felt like a fool.

Nora’s words were like a stab in the chest.

‘They are going to get married soon.’

‘She’s a beauty.’

Tessa didn’t know what to do. She clenched her fists so hard, her nails dug into her palms. How could he do this to her?

“Oh, I’ve found her! Take a look. Her name is Serena Winston. She’s twenty-four years old and her father is the owner of the Winston group.”

Nora enthusiastically showed Tessa her phone while listing the said woman’s qualities.

Her eyebrows creased when she saw her picture on the internet. The woman in the picture had silky dark hair with the greenest eyes she’s ever seen. Fair skin like snow-white and petal-like pink lips.

Tessa’s heart thudded twice. The woman in the picture looked oddly familiar but she didn’t want to think deeper into it. Nora had noticed it though.

“Oh, my God! Tessa, you look like her! Same eyes, same hair and skin! If she wasn’t a rich woman, I would have thought she was your twin. You two are so similar.”

Nora didn’t know that her words were cutting through Tessa like a knife cuts through butter. She didn’t know Tessa had just received the shock of her life.

The man she thought was her world turned out to be a liar. A lightbulb went off in her head and her chest constricted.

‘He made me a substitute for her. I was his fake Serena while he waited for the real one to return. No wonder he gave me money and was in a hurry to chase me away.’

Tessa felt like she had been hit by an avalanche. If she knew this would be the outcome of her love, she wouldn’t have fallen for Aaron in the first place.

How was she supposed to live without him now? How was she supposed to carry on? All she had been living for is him for the past two years. She even took extra short courses to be able to run the company better since she thought she would one day become his wife.

“I can’t wait to meet the lady boss-”

“Nora,” Tessa stopped her. She couldn’t hear any more of the words. She was dying of jealousy.

Serena Winston looked more sophisticated and elegant. Her on the other hand, she looked average. No wonder Aaron rushed back to his crush the moment she returned to Ashford City.

“Huh? What’s wrong, Tessa? You look pale,” Nora asked but Tessa forced a smile at her.

She didn’t want Nora to know what had happened to her. Nora was hired a month ago by Aaron and now Tessa knew she was brought in as her replacement for the senior assistant position.

“I’m still feeling under the weather,” Tessa faked a cough. “I’m going back now. Will you do me a favour and give this to Mr Wentworth?”

She handed over an envelope where she had placed the cheques and left, not wanting to meet Aaron with the love of his life in case they decided to come to the company.

When she reached the ground floor, this was when she noticed that several eyes were on her and she could now hear what they were saying.

“She looks distraught, she must be sad that the real lady boss has landed.”

“I know right? She thought she had hidden it well but we all knew she was the boss’s mistress. How shameless. She joined this company by opening her legs and she still has the audacity to look like a victim. She's so loose. I knew the boss would get tired of her.”

“Her golden days are finally over. She thought she owned the Wentworth group. She’s just a whore who was an SA during the day and a mistress at night.”

Tessa’s heart sank further and further to her feet as she walked out of the company with her head lowered in shame. It turned out everyone knew she was Aaron’s mistress.

Everyone knew she was a substitute.

Everyone but her.

Just as she had stepped out of the company, a convoy of cars suddenly pulled up at the entrance. Knowing these black Bentleys belonged to Aaron, she quickly hid behind a pillar so as not to be seen.

It seemed Aaron was determined to tell the world about the woman he loves because he never used the main entrance to show up at the company.

Tessa watched in agony as he stepped out of the car and opened the door for Serena. He placed his hand on top of her head to prevent her from hitting her head and when she stepped out, he took a moment to smile warmly at her and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

All the while, Tessa watched this scene while she felt like someone was cutting out her heart piece by piece.

She gasped and clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle her sobs. Meanwhile, Aaron seemed to have sensed a gaze on him so he turned his head but Tessa avoided his gaze, hiding completely behind the pillar.

He frowned when he saw a faint glimmer of the end of an elbow but Serena hooked her arms with his and his attention returned to her.

“It’s good to have you back,” he whispered to which Serena replied.

“I’m back to keep my promise of being your wife. I’m finally ready to marry you, Aaron.”

The couple smiled at each other lovingly before walking into the company. All this was seen by Tessa from the corner where she was hiding pathetically.

At that moment, she had made up her mind to give up on Aaron.

Tessa didn’t know how she got back to her apartment. The moment she opened the door, a gust of cold air hit her and she shivered.

The place she called home now felt like a strange place. It was no longer warm. Perhaps it had never been warm. It was just an illusion.

She had gone deeper into things when Aaron was just having fun with her. The moment the woman he loved showed up, he threw her away like trash.

He didn’t even have the decency to be honest with her. To him, everything can be brushed away with a few dollars. He trampled on her heart and gave her money as if the money would heal her shattered heart.

Looking around the apartment, she was filled with resentment. This place was special to her. Aaron had taken her for the first time in this place. He had asked her to move in so they could spend more time together.

How could she not see it? The signs were there. Usually, if it wasn’t about sex, Aaron wouldn’t even bother with her.

Quite alright, they would order in food but they never went on dates. Thinking about it now, she realised he didn’t want to be seen with her in public for Serena’s sake.

Tessa was foolish enough to believe it was to avoid bad rumours about her that would destroy her reputation. The red flags were there. But she was blinded by love and ignored them.

Perhaps she had hope that things would change once they got married. But boy, was she wrong. Aaron had been playing with her all this while and she was none the wiser.

Anger flared up within her and she rushed to the bedroom and began to pack her clothes. Tears streamed down her face and there was a part of her that still wanted to beg him and ask him to choose her but she pushed it away.

She had already made a fool out of herself. She wouldn’t let him humiliate her twice. When she was done packing, she dropped him another text.

[I’ve left the apartment. It belongs to you and I don’t want anything that belongs to you. I’ve returned the cheques and left them with Nora. I have no use for your money, Mr Wentworth. I’ll leave the keys with the security. I never want to see you again and I wish you happiness in your marriage.]

This time, she didn’t wait for his response and immediately deleted his number.

‘I’m starting over. I may be hurt but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I’ll overcome this. I know I can,’ she said silently and left the house.

She had just gotten into a cab when her phone chimed. With a racing heart and bated breath, she took out her phone but her stomach twisted when she read the text.

[Good riddance.]

That’s all Aaron sent back. He didn’t even ask where she would go or show any care. Tessa could only blame herself for the little hope that had ignited in her heart when she heard the phone chime. Now she had to have her heart shattered all over again by his cold hurtful words.

She let out a sigh and couldn’t stop her tears from flowing down her cheeks. The driver noticed the lady he was driving wasn’t in a good mood so he put some music so that she wouldn’t feel embarrassed.

Tessa cried all the way until she reached her home town in the Countryside.

…

Aaron had been anticipating Serena’s arrival for a while now. After all, he had loved her all his life but she always gave him excuses as to why they couldn’t be together.

He even had his old man make a contract with the Winston group for him to marry her when the time was right.

They were supposed to get engaged two years ago but she suddenly left for further studies and became a famous pianist outside the Country. Aaron was devasted when she left to pursue her studies instead of trying to fulfil their marriage agreement but since he loved her, he supported her and told her he would wait for her.

However, she stayed out of contact while abroad. Aaron was frustrated and he even wanted to follow her but suddenly, a young beautiful woman with similar features to Serena appeared for interviews at his Company.

At first, he was shocked that two people could look so similar. And then, a thought flashed through his mind. Since he missed Serena so much, why not keep her look-alike close until she comes back?

So he employed Tessa as his senior assistant despite her low qualifications but she surprised him by working extra hard until she became a worthy assistant.

He couldn’t stop wanting to be close to her and in no time, he found himself being intimate with her when they both got drunk. Her drunk look that time looked so seductive that he failed to resist the temptation. Coupled with the fact that she looked like Serena, he chose to use her to vent his longing for the woman he loves. He had tried to stop because he felt like he was being unfaithful to Serena but Tessa was just so addictive.

On the night that he learned of Serena’s return, he only planned to give Tessa money and ask her to leave but she came to meet him in only a tiny towel.

He thought with his manhood and ended up having sex with her, claiming it was the last time.

From Tessa’s apartment, he went straight to pick Serena up but surprisingly, the zeal he thought he would have when he saw her again was not there.

No excitement or anything.

He just felt normal. Like he was meeting one of his old friends.

This surprised him because Serena was the woman he’s always loved and he had been waiting for her for a long time so his reaction was somewhat strange.

But he didn’t think much about it. What mattered was that she was back and they could finally get married.

“I can see that they’ve been improvements to the company,” Serena commented the moment he came back from the bathroom and sat next to her in the small lounge area in his office.

Aaron nodded. “Yeah. It’s not me. Everything you see has been done by Te-”

The space between his eyebrows met when he realised he was about to mention Tessa’s name. Why the hell was he even thinking about her?

‘It’s because she’s been my assistant for years. Now that Serena is here, I just need to focus on her.’ He said silently but there was a strange emotion stirring in his chest that he couldn’t quite place.

“What?” Serena asked and Aaron turned to look at her.

“My assistant did all the work,” he said nonchalantly.

He kept quiet after that. He realised quite quickly that he and Serena had literally nothing to talk about. It was slightly awkward.

“Would you like to eat something?” He offered and she smiled at him.

“Sure. Let’s go home and have lunch there. I’m sure my brother and father are dying to see you. We can also discuss our engagement.”

Aaron nodded but he didn’t know why Tessa’s face suddenly flashed through his mind. He couldn’t help wondering.

‘How is she doing? Will she look for a job in the City? Maybe I should help her out.’

Serena noticed that he had zoned out again. This was the fifth time since he saw her again that he was zoning out. She clenched her fists as irritation flared through her. Aaron used to worship the ground she walked on but now, he was different.

Picking up the phone he had left on the coffee table, she handed it to him. “You received a text while you were in the bathroom.”

Aaron snapped out of his reverie and inexplicable guilt rushed into him when he looked into Serena's eyes.

‘What am I doing? I should be focusing on her right now.’

He smiled at her and got the phone from her. When he unlocked the phone, his eyebrows met when he read the message that Tessa had sent.

‘Thanks for the cash but I want more. I didn’t date you for nothing you know. What will that small amount do for me? Did I waste my time fucking you just for you to give me such a small amount?’

Anger surged within Aaron. He hated golddiggers the most. He gave her money that she could only dream about but she still wanted more. He stared at the text in disdain and his opinion of Tessa dropped down a notch.

He put his phone into his pocket and looked at Serena. “Let’s go.”

Since he was always in love with her, Aaron didn’t think it was a bad thing for him to see her family so soon.

Whilst they walked down the hallway and passed by the assistants' office, he couldn’t help but stare inside briefly. He felt a strange emotion in his chest when he saw Tessa’s empty desk and it confused the hell out of him.

‘Was I too harsh on her?’

Aaron didn’t see the smile on Serena’s face as he walked out of the company with her.

She had returned this time to get what always belonged to her. When she left two years ago, it was just an excuse to not get married. After all, she was still young and there were many fish in the sea. Why should she settle for Aaron when there could be someone so much better?

Quite alright, Aaron was one of the eligible bachelors in Ashford City. Not only was he stinking rich, but he was devilishly handsome and had achieved great things at a young age.

Who wouldn’t want him?

Serena knew he would always want her but she wanted to explore her options. What if she lost someone better if she settled for Aaron just because he had a silly crush on her?

Besides, at that time, it wasn’t known who would be the heir of the Wentworth group. It was a debate between Aaron’s elder sister and himself. How could Serena possibly know that Celia Wentworth would fall in love with a foreigner and leave the country, thereby leaving Aaron as the only heir?

Now he had accomplished many things and was incomparable to other bachelors in the City. Since there was no one who could match up to Aaron now, she decided to return and take her place by his side.

But she discovered he wasn’t the same. The way he looked at her… his eyes didn’t have the same twinkle they had two years ago when he bid her farewell.

She had expected a more lively welcome. By now, he would have taken her to his fellow bachelor friends to show her around but he didn’t. It seemed like there was something on his mind.

Aaron went to arrange for the arrival of his male assistant that had been away for two years so Serena was left alone in the car.

She wanted to go after him but his phone suddenly rang. Her eyes squinted when she saw that the person who was calling was saved as ‘T’ by Aaron.

Her gentle demeanour suddenly vanished and a look of menace flashed through her eyes. It dawned on her that Aaron was acting strange because there was a woman in his life.

Serena couldn’t have that.

At the moment, Aaron was the only man who matched up to her. There was no way she would let him slip out of her fingers when he had always been hers from the beginning. So she watched as the phone rang and rang again with a vicious look on her face.

When the calls stopped coming through, a message was received. She tried to open the phone but there was a password.

She tried to use her birthday but it was denied. Anger surged within her. ‘When did Aaron change his password? Am I still his world?’

Pursing her lips into a thin line, she took out her phone and made a call.

“Big brother, I’m back,” She said the moment the call went through.

“Hey, little sis. What’s up?” The man she had called responded knowing she wanted something.

“Can you help me crack Aaron’s phone password?”

“What do you need it for? Aaron isn’t someone you can do tricks on-”

“I know. But you know how he’s supposed to marry me but there’s another woman texting him.”

The man on the other side kept quiet for a moment. After a minute, he called out a string of numbers that Serena used on Aaron’s phone and it suddenly unlocked.

“Do what you need to do but be careful. Don’t lose this chance. We need the Wentworth group on our side. I’ll look into this female to see if she’s of any threat to you.”

The man was none other than Harry Winston, Serena’s brother. He was a tech expert and their company usually dealt with software development. Cracking a password was as simple as a walk in the park for him.

Serena smiled from ear to ear. “Thanks, bro. I love you.”

She cut the call and read the message but a menacing look flashed through her eyes when she saw what the contact named ‘T’ had sent.

Serena was about to reply to the text but she saw Aaron approaching the car from the corner of her eyes so she quickly deleted the text and locked the screen before placing the phone back where it was.

She was annoyed that Aaron wasn’t fawning over her the way he used to. He was being polite but wasn’t acting like someone smitten with her.

She thought this was because of the female texting him and hatred brewed in her heart. ‘Just wait and see. I’ll get rid of you.’

When they arrived at the company, she was elated that Aaron showed her off to his employees. This gave her hope that he still loved her. It was obvious this T woman was the one who was seducing him.

He had gone to the bathroom when they arrived at the office and that’s when a knock sounded at the door. Serena opened the door and frowned when she saw Nora standing outside with an envelope in her hands.

“And you are?” She snapped arrogantly, wrinkling her nose, thinking she was the T on Aaron’s phone.

Nora was taken aback by the hostility coming from the future lady boss. She silently took back her words. This lady was vicious and didn’t deserve the CEO at all!

Nevertheless, she gave her the envelope and said. “Please pass this to Mr Wentworth. Tessa left it here.”

Serena’s brows furrowed when she opened the envelope and found two cheques. She immediately put two and two together and realised this woman named Tessa is the T who was calling Aaron relentlessly earlier.

She went back to her seat and placed the cheques in her Chanel handbag just as the phone on the table chimed.

Irritation flared through her. She knew it must be the same person texting. Grabbing the phone, she read the text and clenched her fists.

‘You think I will give you the opportunity to look good to Aaron?’ She sneered and deleted the text before replying with good riddance and deleted it as well.

She knew Aaron didn’t like material girls. Once he knew she was hungry for money, he would be disgusted with her.

Smirking, she sent her brother a message with instructions to make him hack into Tessa’s phone and send a message to Aaron’s phone.

A smirk crossed her lips as she put the phone back where it originally was.

‘Tessa or whoever you are. You’re no match for me.’

…

Days passed by fleetingly fast.

“When are you returning to work? It’s been five days,” Elena Hilton inquired as she peeked into her daughter’s room.

“I quit my job, Mom,” Tessa who was lying face down on the bed grumbled, feeling depressed.

“What? How can you quit your job? How will you survive now?” Elena was shocked to hear this piece of news.

When her daughter suddenly showed up, she was ecstatic to see her but then she noticed that something was wrong with Tessa. She looked like she had lost her whole world and no matter how much she asked, Tessa didn’t disclose what was actually the problem.

“I don’t know, Mom. I’ll look for another job, I guess,” Tessa mumbled lazily.

She didn’t feel like doing anything at the moment.

Her eyes were swollen from all the crying she had done for the past five days. She had gone through most of the stages of grief. During the denial stage, she couldn’t help but call Aaron’s phone several times.

Of course, Aaron didn’t pick up any of her calls or respond to her messages. This infuriated her and led her to the anger stage. Everything made her angry even the innocent soap operas on the TV that displayed a kind of love that could only be one’s fantasy. At the third stage, she found herself asking questions like, what if she was more submissive? Perhaps Aaron would have loved her.

She thought she would have managed to win his love if only she had tried harder.

Now she was in the fourth stage. The depression stage. She was not in the mood to do anything else.

“Did something happen at work dear? You haven’t told me anything and just keep moping around,” Elena narrowed her eyes, worry filling her as she wondered what could have happened to her daughter.

She was not a fool. Tessa clearly looked heartbroken so she was convinced this matter involved a man but since she didn’t want to tell her anything, she could only wait for her to want to talk to her about it.

“I want to be left alone, Mom,” Tessa said, turning to the other side, her back facing the door.

Elena sighed and left the bedroom. There was a reason she was anxious about Tessa being around. She had a problem that she didn’t want Tessa to find out about.

‘I just hope they don’t show up while she’s here,’ she thought silently and proceeded to her room.

…

Tessa was woken up by a commotion outside. At first, she was irritated because all she wanted to do was sleep all day and forget about her problems but then she heard her mother’s voice. She seemed to be pleading with someone and that person was being rude.

“Please, Mr Rodgers, give me some time to look for the money. I shall pay you back, please don’t take my house.”

Tessa’s heart sank into her stomach. If she had heard clearly, it seemed her mother had gotten herself into debt.

“Hmph! All you do is tell me lies. Today, I’m getting this house or your daughter. I heard she’s back. If you don’t want to pay you can give her to me as collateral. You will get her back once you pay…”

Tessa hurriedly got up from the bed and rushed outside. Anger surged within her when she saw her mother kneeling on the ground while the man called Mr Rodgers was staring down at her.

He was a balding man with a large beer belly. He had come with five of his lackeys and they had baseball bats in their hands as if they had come for war.

Tessa felt a chill when she saw this but she had to save her mother.

“Who are you people and what do you think you’re doing?!”

Mr Rodgers turned to face her the moment he heard her voice. When he saw that she was a beautiful young lady with skin that looked like she bathed in milk and honey, his eyes lit up with lust.

He licked his lips and raked his eyes lecherously up and down her body. Thinking he had really won the lottery this time, he grinned from ear to ear and said, “Your mother is owing me money. If you come with us, I’ll spare her. If not, I’ll grab your house. She put it as collateral.”

Tessa felt fury brewing within her. She clenched her fists at her sides and glared at Mr Rodgers and his minions.

“So you’re loan sharks? Do you know that what you do is illegal?” She couldn’t help but hiss.

The man’s eyes flashed dangerously before he burst into laughter. “Do you think the police don’t know what kind of business I do? You’re free to report me if you want. I’m just not sure if your house will still be yours by the time you’re coming back.”

Tessa knew the society she grew up in well enough. It was full of biasness and corruption. There’s nothing the local authorities would do if this man was powerful in terms of wealth.

He looked like an underground mob boss. The police were indeed powerless against those kinds of people.

In the meantime, Elena lowered her head in shame when her daughter came out. She had planned to keep her debt a secret until Tessa left but alas, Mr Rodgers decided to show up today.

Not wanting to involve her daughter in such matters, she grabbed onto Mr Rodger’s leg and begged. “Please, my daughter doesn’t know anything about the debt. Let her go. I’ll pay you back, I promise.”

Mr Rodgers felt a flash of irritation and suddenly kicked Elena in the stomach, “bitch! How dare you grab me?! I’m here to collect my money!”

Tessa’s heart squeezed seeing her mother being kicked viciously so she quickly took out her phone from her pocket and checked her account statement. Her eyes lit up when she saw the amount she had saved up for the past two years.

“How much is she owing you? I can pay back the debt!” She confidently said and Mr Rodgers squinted his eyes at her, stroking his grey goatee.

“It’s ten thousand dollars,” he said grumpily.

Tessa frowned. “That’s why you kicked my mother and threatened to grab the house?”

The amount was too little for the shameless loan shark to demand to grab the house as payment. It may have been a small house but the minimum price it could cost was fifty thousand dollars.

Thankfully her savings for the past two years were amounting to ten thousand dollars. She quickly asked for Mr Rodger’s details and sent him the money, much to his annoyance. He had hoped he would walk away with a beauty instead.

When they left, Tessa was about to grill her mother about the loan she took when she realised she was motionless on the ground. Her brows furrowed and a sense of unease settled in her stomach.

“Mom?” She called out and rushed towards her, only to gasp when she saw the blood trickling from Elena’s mouth. She was unconscious but she was still alive.

Quickly, Tessa booked a cab and took her to the hospital.

She was waiting outside the emergency room when the doctor on duty stepped out.

“How is my mother, Doctor?” Tessa hurriedly asked. Her stomach was in a knot.

The doctor sighed. “Your mother requires emergency surgery. She’s in her second stage of stomach cancer. Why did you take long to take her to the hospital?”

Tessa heard a ringing sound in her ears at the doctor’s words.

“C-cancer?” Her eyes had grown wide like saucers and her mouth couldn’t close as she stared at the doctor. “W-what do you mean? My mother doesn’t have cancer.”

“Well, our results show that she has. She got chemotherapy for the first stage but it recurred and she took long to come for treatment.”

Tessa swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, her stomach twisting. “Do the surgery then.”

The doctor scratched the side of his neck. “We can’t do the surgery over here but we can refer her to a hospital in the City.”

Tessa was in a daze the whole time she was in the ambulance accompanying her mother to the City. Apart from being sad, she felt guilty. She was busy having fun with Aaron while her mother had to get a loan to treat her cancer.

Heck, she didn’t even know her mother had cancer.

When they arrived at the hospital, a female doctor with glasses in a white coat walked out and handed her a paper.

“Make payment at the reception and bring this back. The price for the surgery is five thousand dollars.”

Tessa’s heart dropped to her feet. She had just spent her last money, where was she supposed to get that amount of money?