★★★★★
“Girlfriend?” Jace asked, staring between Charles and Hailey.
Hailey removed her hands from their grasp and stepped backward.
“I don’t remember you asking me to be your girlfriend, Mister,” she said, glaring at Charles.
“Is there something I don’t know about here?” Jace asked.
“There’s nothing,” Charles said and walked away immediately.
“What’s wrong with him? He said you’re his girlfriend, is that true?” He asked.
“No,” she quickly replied.
Jace sighs.
“Then, what was he saying?”
“He has obviously gone crazy” she shrugged
Jace chuckled. She never seizes to amaze him with her words and actions.
Charles returned back and grabbed Hailey’s hand, he faced Jace.
“We will be leaving now, bye” he said and dragged Hailey away.
Jace stared at them with a creased brow. A low smile formed in his lips.
“Is he getting smitten with her?” He asked himself.
****
“Let me go!” Hailey freed her hand from his grasp.
Charles stopped walking and turned to face her.
“If I hadn’t stopped you, you would have followed him?” He asked.
She shrugged.
“It’s not bad, he can’t harm me that I know,” she said.
Charles stared at her in disbelief.
“Are you being serious right now?” He asked
“And why are you so worked up about it? Claiming I’m your girlfriend, that’s really crazy” she shook her head.
“Anyways, I need to get going. See you later, sir Charles” she said and then walked away.
“She would have gone with him if I hadn’t stopped her?” Charles asked himself.
“Now, can you tell me the meaning of what you displayed back there now?” He heard Jace’s voice behind him.
Charles turned to face him.
“Well, the old man thinks she’s my girlfriend right now,” Charles said.
“What? How?”
Charles explained everything to him and when he was done, Jace was already laughing his a*s out.
“That’s funny, like you’re in deep $h|t” Jace laughed.
“She’s gonna ki|| you when you’re done”
Charles frowned.
“That’s not funny”
“Was that the reason why you rejected Mabel’s advances? Because you have a girlfriend or should I say fake girlfriend?” Jace mocked.
Charles glared at him.
“f-__-k you” he walked away.
Jace laughed hard till his stomach started hurting him.
“Oww! My stomach” he groaned, holding his stomach.
***
KELSO, BROOKLYN’S RESIDENCE***
Hailey entered the house and oddly it felt empty. She removed her shoes and placed them in a corner before entering the house fully.
“Why’s everywhere so silent?” She checked her wristwatch.
“This is past seven, they couldn’t have gone to bed” she shrugged and went to the kitchen.
She opened the fridge and luckily for her, she found some chocolates and juice there. She picked them and delved in immediately.
After eating, she drank the juice and dumped it in the trash can.
“Now, I feel better” she picked her bag and left the kitchen.
She decided to branch to her parents room to check if they were awake.
She got to their room, she touched the doorknob and just as she was about to twist it, she heard them whispering among each other.
“Seb, what are we going to do? Marco is not gonna take it easy with us. How in hell are we going to find 500 hundred thousand dollars to pay the debt?” She heard her mom’s voice. By the way she sounded, she could swear that she was in tears.
“Debt?” Hailey whispered.
“I don’t know. I tried every way today but I couldn’t find any help. I’m fed up, my head is messed up right now” Sebastian said.
Hailey could take it in anymore, she opened the door and bursted in, startling Leah and Sebastian.
“What are you talking about? What debt are you talking about?” She asked, trying her best not to raise her voice at them.
“Hailey, yo… You’re back. How, how was work?” Leah stuttered in fear.
“Mom, answer me! What debt are you talking about? Five hundred thousand dollars?? From Marco??” Hailey asked.
“Look here, we can explain” Sebastian tried saying.
“Why??” Hailey screamed, tears falling down her cheeks.
“You know how dangerous he is, you know how dangerous he and his boys are! He can ki|| you if you refuse to pay him his money. How could you?” She sobbed.
Where in hell are they to find that huge amount?
“I’m sorry” Leah cries.
“What…. What did you use the money for?” She asked.
“For Jaime’s school fees and our house rent” Leah answered.
Hailey fell to the floor as the tears fell from her cheeks heavily.
“You told me, you were into savings” she whispered.
“You told me, you and Dad saved enough money to pay Jaime’s tuition fees. Why did you lie?”
“How could I tell my daughter that I’m poor? How could I tell my daughter that I can’t afford my son’s school fees? I’m a bad father already as it is, but I…” The tears couldn’t allow Sebastian to finish his words.
Hailey kept crying. When her parents paid Jaime’s tuition fees and their house rent at the same time, she was so surprised but they both assured her that they were into savings.
Jaime was lucky to get into Washington metropolitan highschool through the help of one of her dad’s childhood friends. He was the one paying the tuition fees till he died. Then, they had to continue from where he stopped.
It wasn’t easy for them but they had to continue pushing through it.
But now, how can they find five hundred thousand dollars in just a few hours??
“I’m so sorry, my child. I’m sorry” Sebastian begged.
“We didn’t know how to tell you because you’ve tried enough for us. You worked in different places just to make sure we’re okay. How could we tell you that?” Leah sobbed.
Hailey stood up, by now her face was already soaked in tears. She walked slowly to the door and left the room.
“Seb, what are we going to do now? What are we…..” Leah cries loudly.
Sebastian sat on the bed, his eyes were both red by now. He rubbed his face with his hands countless times.
He didn’t even know what to do. One thing he’s sure of is that Marco is surely going to ki|| them if they fail to return his money.
Hailey returned back with an envelope in her hand, she walked to Sebastian and stretched the envelope towards him.
“Here is two hundred thousand dollars, you should give it to Marco. I’ll find a way to repay the remaining money” she said.
Sebastian stared at her in shock.
“Where did you get this from?”
“For the late night job I did last night, My Boss gave it to me as a gift” she lied. The money was actually the one her ex boss gave her when he fired her from working at the bar. Or, should she say Charles?
“You should use this, Dad. You just have to plead with him to bear with us” she said.
“My baby, I’m so sorry” Leah pulled her to a hug, crying heavily, her body shaking as she did so.
Sebastian couldn’t control his tears as they fell from his cheeks. He was a bad father, he knows that. His daughter was the one doing everything and he couldn’t do a thing.
Hailey wrapped her arms around her mom as she cried softly. Even with the fact that she’s mad at them, they’re still her parents after all.
The only person who could help her at this moment was no other than Charles.
****
NEXT DAY, MONTERIO’S INVESTMENT***
Hailey entered Charles’ office immediately after Charles arrived.
“Good morning sir” she greeted slowly. Her face was all red as she was crying throughout the night.
“Are you okay?” Charles asked when he noticed her looks.
“I’m fine. I’ll get you your coffee” Hailey said and turned to go.
“Hailey!” Charles called. He left his table and walked towards her.
Hailey stood there motionlessly, her face was already soaked with tears.
Charles cupped her cheeks, staring into her eyes tenderly.
“Are you okay? Can you tell me what’s wrong?” He asked.
“I’m going to do it. The fake girlfriend act, I’m going to do it” Hailey suddenly blurted out.
Charles stared at her confused.
A tear slipped down her cheeks and he wiped it off with his thumb.
“What happened?” He asked softly.
“Can I hug you?” Hailey asked instead.
Without waiting for his reply, she hugged him tightly, resting her head on his hard chest.
Like that, her tears came falling like a river, soaking his shirt badly.
She couldn’t control herself any longer and she cried loudly against his chest.
TBC
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