Luna tapped her fingers on the steering wheel for the last time while figuring out if there's a chance she could ask for a decent price for it. She decided to sell her car to be able to raise enough funds to pay the hospital bills of her mother. With her current credit of twenty thousand, she was still short of another thirty thousand to settle it.
This car was the very first one she got ever since she started working. It took her five years to save a part of her salary, and giving it up made Luna a bit upset and guilty. Luna wondered if she could buy it back one day.
Rubbing her temples from an incoming headache that she had to endure later, Luna stepped out from her car and talked to the manager of the shop. After some considerations, the manager let her raise the purchase price for another five thousand. Luna left the shop with a smile on her face, excited to visit her mother and tell her the good news.
Taking the shortcut way towards the hospital with a packed lunch for her mother at one hand, Luna made a mental note to keep in touch with the shop manager. It would be nice if she could buy back her own car soon.
As she reached the floor where her mother was moved, a little girl with black curly hair bumped into her thigh, surprising Luna. If it wasn't for Luna's awareness, the little girl might have fallen hard on the floor. Still, Luna noticed the tears streaming down on the flushed chubby cheeks of the girl.
"Are you alright?" Luna asked as she knelt down to see if the girl was hurt by the impact.
The little girl shook her head and lowered her head as if she was ashamed to be seen crying.
"It's okay. It's not your fault." Luna took her handkerchief from her tote bag and wiped away the tears of the girl. Her gentle approach made the girl relax in her presence.
"You!" Someone yelled behind Luna. When she turned her head to see who it was, she saw a gorgeous woman in a red dress and five-inch stilettos. She almost cringed at the sight. How could a woman walk with something like that? She would never understand.
The little girl shivered in fear when she saw the woman walking towards them. She quickly hid behind Luna, refusing to see the face of the woman in rage.
"You naughty girl! You dare to run away again, brat!" The woman pointed a finger at the little girl.
"What are you doing? Please don't yell at her like that. She's just a child!" Luna interfered and pushed the little girl to stay beside her.
"You stay out of this, woman! Give me that brat!" Her eyes then landed on the child who was shivering under her gaze. "Amber Li! I swear if you don't come with me—"
"You will what?" There was a different kind of defiance in Luna's eyes. She didn't know this child and probably shouldn't poke her nose in someone else's business, but seeing the child about to cry again broke her heart.
The woman was about to pull the girl from Luna's hold when Luna slapped her hand away.
"You! How dare you?! Don't you know who I am?" The woman hissed at Luna. Her face scrunched up in disgust as she scrutinized Luna's appearance. "How cheap," she snorted.
Luna frowned back.
'What's wrong with this woman?'
"Are you this child's mother?" she asked. Luna wanted to know if this woman had the rights, or else she would never give the child back to her.
"No, but—"
"A relative perhaps?"
"No!"
Luna could see that the woman was losing her composure and about to lash out on her.
"Then what? You aren't her mother nor a relative. Who are you then? You have no rights to take her or to force her to do something she doesn't want to."
People around them started to notice the commotion. When they heard what Luna said about the woman, they looked at her with curiosity. Some even sent her judgmental looks. The woman's face burned in shame, and she glared back at Luna. If looks could kill, she would have killed and stab Luna a thousand times already.