Back to present
Luna felt a bit cold as she sat on the floor, she quickly stood up and sat on the couch in the room. Lost in thought she stared at the sky that was filled with twinkling little stars and the cold that rushed in through the window made her wrap her arms around herself. Her gaze immediately turned to the door when she heard the sound of the room door opening.
Jasper who had earlier left the house angrily stepped in and slammed the door behind him. Luna's heart skipped a bit as she stared at a six-foot-tall man who had a powerful and intimidating build standing with his unreadable expression. He walked straight to the couch and sat right in front of her, the stench of alcohol lingered in the air, and his drunken dark ice-cold eyes pierced at her. His presence was scary which made her move backward but it didn't stop him from brushing her hair gently. Luna quivered from his touch as his hands slowly went down her neck, then to her shoulder. She felt vulnerable as she tried to resist.
Jasper didn't utter a word but it seemed his silence spoke and conveyed the message. Even though anger boiled within Luna, she could still feel her pulse quicken.
"Don't.. don't… touch me. You think you can just walk in here and…" Luna managed to say but she was cut short by the sound of her dress being torn and shredded to pieces, her round plumpy breast raced out of the torn nighty in excitement longing for a touch.
There was a rawness to Jasper now as a muscle tightened in his jaw, his darkened eyes bulged out and he inhaled deeply as he grabbed Luna into his arms and threw her on the bed. She quickly tried covering up her body with the torn clothes but they betrayed her as they were shredded into pieces and could only cover nothing. She felt embarrassed and her body was too weak to even crawl away. Jasper quickly undressed himself and pounced on her.
He caressed her soft pink lips, they were so soft and inviting, and for a moment, their eyes met, and both of them were caught in the silence.
He slowly moved closer and tried to kiss her, but she resisted and flipped her head away. He immediately gave her a hot slap on the face and forcefully turned her face towards him pressing his lips against hers. It was meant to be a passionate kiss but for Luna, it was disgusting, tears flowed down her cheeks but Jasper didn't give a damn.
"Let me go you bastard" Luna cried out.
"Please… please let me go.. you're hurting me" she pleaded, her voice becoming faint as she struggled to get out of his grip.
Jasper didn't give a fuck, he placed her two hands above her head, and with a strong grip, he pinned them tightly to the bed as he slowly caressed her breast.
"Damn, they are so pointed," he grinned.
He slowly sucked her left breast, and when he noticed she held back the moan which was meant to lighten him up, he twitched her right nipple making her moan loudly in pain.
"Urgh.. urgh.." He chuckled at his mischief.
He traced his finger into her making her whole body tingle, she was soaked. He quickly fixed his erect cock into her wet body.
"hmmmm….. you're so wet," he said slowly as he let out a joyful sigh.
Luna's curved mouth paved the way for the moan that came gushing out from her throat. Although she wanted this but not like this, her whole body was weak but she could barely resist him now. Jasper enjoyed the action as he jumped in and out of her without any breathing space, and in what seemed like some minutes, he let out a loud moan as he released into her, the sperm giggled in, not waiting to hear from her.
Sweat dripped from his whole body as he lay flat on her for some time. Then he stood up and pushed her away from him as he walked to the bathroom. She spread her legs and lay helplessly on the bed feeling pain all over her body. What was supposed to be pleasure caused her grief. A tear dripped down her right eye while she stared at the marble-made ceiling, anger and hurt cooked inside her, she felt like running away but her thoughts traveled back to why she must stay.
Flashback
The thought of losing her mother was the last thing Luna wanted to ever experience, she already lost her father a year ago and now her mother was on the verge of leaving her behind. This can't be happening Luna thought to herself.
"Well, your mother still has a slim chance of survival but It all depends on how fast we take action. If payment is made as soon as possible we will commence her treatment immediately" Mark explained.
After hearing what Mark just said, Luna felt a bit relieved, although her chest still felt heavy from the shock. She gently wiped the tears from her face with the back of her tender fingers.
Immediately, Mark's phone rang.
"Mark, your attention is needed urgently at ward 2, please come quickly" The voice at the other end sounded anxious and scary.
"I'm on my way," Mark replied abruptly.
"If you don't mind Luna, I'll take my leave now as I'm urgently needed. Try and do the needful as soon as possible" he added and left.
Luna on the other hand, still confused, went straight to the administrative office and requested the bill.
The printed bill was handed over to Luna, when she opened it and saw what was inside, her jaw almost dropped to the floor and her eyes widened in shock.
"Five hundred thousand what?"
"Where the hell am I supposed to get this huge amount of money from?"
"Are you sure this is my mum's bill?" Luna asked
"Yes, it is". The admin manager replied.
"It's so huge" she exclaimed
Luna, feeling dejected and confused, slowly walked out to the room where her mum lay. She didn't understand why her mood suddenly changed but it must have been the outrageous sum on the paper. Right now, all she thought of was how to raise $500,000 within a week, she had to act fast but how to begin was still a mystery.
Luna walked straight to the room where her mum was and took a glance at her unconscious mother.
"I'll find a way, Mum, please stay strong". She kissed her forehead and walked briskly out of the hospital. With a lot going on in her mind, Luna had no clue what to do next.
"Oh my God, it's 4 pm already, I'm damn late" she muttered as she stared at her wristwatch.
She was late for work and Mrs. Jane hates it whenever she's late. She quickly waved down a taxi and told him where she was headed.
As she got to Mrs Jane's apartment, she was already waiting at the door.
"I'm so so sorry for being late Mrs. Jane, I promise it won't happen next time" Luna apologized to Mrs. Jane who stood hands akimbo in front of the door, her wrinkled face filled with anger.
"That's what you said two days ago, what's your excuse this time?" She clenched her jaw so tightly that the muscles on her face twitched with the effort to keep from yelling.
"My… My… My.." Luna stuttered, searching for words.
"Can't talk? Do you need help?" Jane queried
"My mum is sick, I... I had to rush her to the hospital" Luna managed to explain.
"Last I checked, that's none of my business. Just so you know, your salary will be deducted at the end of the week and that's final, try this next time and you'll be thrown out completely" Jane shouted, her voice booming in the small room, echoing off the walls as she turned and walked away.
"Wow, it just gets worse, doesn't it? I'm searching for two hundred thousand dollars and here I am being surcharged, wow, just wow" Luna who stood quiet the whole time muttered under her breath as she matched into the house.
"Did I hear you say something?" Jane's voice could be heard from the corridor
"No Ma'am, not at all" Luna, who didn't know she thought out loud, denied and rushed into the kitchen to wash the dishes.
Luna after washing the dishes and cleaning the house, sat on the small wooden chair at the corner of the corridor. She brought out the piece of paper, her hand trembling as she stared at the figures. The figures seemed to mock her. She read it again, this time slowly as if somehow the amount would change, or maybe a miracle might happen if she just looked hard enough. All she needed right now was a miracle, but miracles didn't happen for people like her. Not in the real world.
"How… how am I going to get this?" She whispered. "I can't lose her, I just can't" She sniffed the mucus that almost dropped through her nostrils.
"Maybe… maybe I could ask Mrs. Jane for an advance. But what's the point? How could I ever pay back that much? I might have to work all my life"
Luna bent over her head and placed them in between her lips, her hands touching her hair in frustration.
"Maybe I should take a second job. Hmmm. Double shifts won't be enough, they'll pay peanuts and I won't meet up".
She thought about loans, but who would give her that amount of money with the little she made? And even if they did, how could she ever repay it? No answers or clues came and silence was deafening. The thoughts shook over each other, each was more hopeless than the next. Although she wasn't getting any clues, one certain thing is that she was never going to give up, not while her mum was still fighting.
Just then Mrs. Jane's phone rang and the ringtone distorted her thoughts.
"Hello Jane, how are you today" Sophia Jane's friend greeted from the other end of the call
"I'm fine and you"
"I'm fine too but I need your help and it's very urgent" Sophia sounded disturbed and anxious.
"What is wrong Sophie? Hope you've not gotten into trouble" Jane curiously asked.
"No, not at all, but I need a favor from you Jane"
"Alright, I'm all ears. What do you need from me?"
"Jasper needs to sign a business deal but before it pulls through, he must present a spouse and it's just in three days from now. Do you by any chance know someone who will be interested in a one-year contract marriage with my son?" Sophia asked hoping to get a positive reply from her blossom friend Jane
"Three days is so short for such a search Sophie" Jane complained.
"Please help me out, Jasper needs this and I'm counting on you, Jane"
"Alright, alright Sophie, I'll see what I can do but I'm not promising anything".
"Thank you. Thank you so much, Jane, I knew I could count on you. Bye for now" Sophia hung up.
Luna, who listened to Sophie and Jane's conversation was left dumbfounded, she paced back and forth as she replayed everything she just heard in her head.
"A contract marriage? Could this be a miracle?"