When Van woke up the next morning, she was alone. Tears of disappointment burned her eyes but she blinked them back.
What did she expect, that he'd stay and cuddle with her? Of course he'd gotten what he wanted, he'd made it pretty obvious since the very beginning that he wanted sex with her. When she refused the first time, he offered to pay for her father's heart transplant and just like that, he had her eating from the palm of his hand.
There was a manila envelope on the night stand and a note was propped against it, she reached out and grabbed it.
Your payment, just like I promised. You weren't that bad.
J.
This time, a tear did slip. He was treating her like she was a common slut, even rating her performance. She sniffed, angrily wiping her eyes and the morphed her expression to be cold and hard; she was doing this for her father.
The familiar buzz sounded from her cell phone and she frantically dug into her purse for it.
''Karl, is something wrong?'' she asked, a weird sense of foreboding washed over her. ''Are you at the hospital? Is father alright?'' she asked frantically.
''Van, you need to come to the hospital.'' her brother's strained voice informed before the line went dead.
Dread painfully stabbed through her chest and she froze in the empty hospital hallway just a few steps from her father's room where Karl stood with red rimmed eyes.
She swallowed, her throat feeling dry all of a sudden.
''Karl?'' she whispered her voicece choking.
''He's gone.'' He managed, a lone tear slipped from his eyes.
And just like that, everything began to spin, her breath was coming out in short laboured pants. She could hear Karl's panicked voice yelling her name but it was so far away.
She saw men in white coats before she blacked out and one thought swirled in her mind.
What have I done?
''Sir, someone's here to see you.'' Jake glanced up from the papers in his hands and his eyes zero in on a tired and pale looking Van.
''Thank you Ava, leave us alone.'' He said getting up from his chair and going around to perch on edge of the desk.
Ava shut the door behind her. Jake's eyes did not waver from Van, she was still clad in the dress she wore last night. Her face was pale and her eyes red-rimmed and puffy as if she'd been crying all day.
''What happened to you?'' he asked, his voice filled with concern as he strode towards her. He raised his hand to caress her cheek but she recoiled. His eyes narrowed at her cold demeanour, his jaw clenched as his hand fell limply to his side.
He walked away from her and stood behind his desk, his features morphed into a cold steel.
''State why you're here quickly, I'm busy.'' His cold indifference jabbed at her heart like a dagger. She dug into her purse and retrieved the envelope he had given her and placed it on the desk then she moistened her lips and said.
''I brought back your money, I don't need it anymore.''
She couldn't face her father's corpse because the guilt and humiliation was too much for her to bear. It was suffocating her.
''What do you mean? It's yours you earned it.''
''Please do not insult me.'' She frowned at him.
''Take the money Vanessa, you need it. Don't forget your father's heart operation…''
''I don't need the money because he's dead!'' she flared, fresh tears running down her face. ''My father's dead and maybe it's my fault, maybe he died from the humiliation that I might cause him. I loathe myself, I feel so dirty!'' unable to take it anymore, she dashed out of the room with a heart wrenching sob.
Jake balled his fists and stood his ground, he wasn't going to go after her, and he wasn't going to feel anything…
She was supposed to be like her mother and not be so cute and innocent. He punched the desk so hard it bruised his knuckles.
He loathe himself for caring, he wasn't supposed to care…
It wasn't part of his plan.