JEROL'S POV

"Take the car and be my eyes at the site. I will stay here until her parents come." I say to my chauffeur.

"Are you sure, sir? I can keep watch over here. You are more needed at the site than here."

"Don't you dare teach me how to run my things, Jose. Do as I say if you don't want to say goodbye to your job." I yell at him. This wasn't me. This is not who I was. This is not how I was. But something happened that turned me into this aggressive person. I don't like it, but I cannot control it.

"Yes. Sorry, sir. Excuse me."

"One more thing. Nothing happened. Nobody should know about this accident."

"Sure, sir. Excuse me."

My chauffeur walks out, leaving me in this hospital room. I turn to the girl lying on the bed, a white bandage on her head and arm. "My head is already full, young girl, but you had to add more problems to my list. Why would you cross the road like you are walking into your bedroom?" Why are her parents taking forever to get here? It has been two hours now since we arrived in this hospital, and more than one hour since I called her mother. Didn't she tell me that they wouldn't take more than twenty minutes? I better get her something to eat when she gets up.

Walking back from the cafeteria with my packed food, I was about to get into the room of the girl when I heard the voice of a crazy woman shouting. I stand at the doorway and listen. She must be crazy to talk to someone who is unconscious like this.

"You better wake up already and start looking for ways to raise the bills. I can't believe you are stupid enough to have yourself hit by a car, you stupid girl. Even if you lie here for a whole year, just know that the bills will keep piling up until you wake up and sort them out. Ungrateful witch. Wait until you wake up and face me. You think I don't know what you did last night? Come to think of it, karma actually doesn't take long, huh? You caused some pain to someone last night; look what happened to you. You are now experiencing double pain."

Who the heck is this woman? Seriously, who can talk like that to a sick person if not some psycho? I knock on the door to announce my arrival and walk in to see the face of this psycho yelling at the girl like that.

"Who are you?" I ask the woman, placing the food on the table beside the bed opposite from where she stands. I then turn to look at her. Her face is bowed down, but she looks kind of drunk. "I asked who you are." I repeat.

"I am her mother."

Mother? I haven't laughed in about a month now, and if only I was not standing beside an unconscious person, I would probably be cracking my ribs right now. Mother? Yeah, right? What kind of mother could this one be? A mother would be kneeling beside this bed uncontrollably weeping and relentlessly praying, begging God to heal her daughter, not freaking out about the fucking bills, and calling whatever happened to her daughter stupid karma for fucks sake! What kind of mother would be rejoicing in this kind of situation? If she really is her mother, then I understand why the girl looked like a lost, confused zombie in the middle of the road. Goodness gracious!

"I know you overheard me talking to her, and you are having a hard time believing that I am her mother. You are wondering, What kind of mother am I, right?" I just stare at her, challenging her to explain this new version of being a mother that I just learned's existence just now. "I will break it down for you. I am a disappointed mother. This girl here has given me nothing but problems from the day I conceived her. Since she was just a seed in my womb, there have been problems after another, up until now. She is like a curse or a bad omen."

"How can you think that of your own daughter? Aren't you ashamed? Don't you love her?"

"On the contrary, I hate her. My whole life was ruined all because of her. I despise her."

"I can smell alcohol leaking from your mouth all the way from here. That must be it talking. I will leave you with some cash and my card. Call me when she wakes up so that I can take you both home. We can talk when you are sober."

"Listen here, Mr. I am always drunk. I can see that you are a busy man. So let's save both our times. Let's talk business."

"Business?" I turn to her again and listen to what she has to offer.

"I will go straight to the point. This girl is useless to me. She is a burden and a letdown. I'm sure you can fix her somewhere in your house. Take her as your maid, a slave, or anything. I won't charge much. I just want her out of my life."

If I thought this woman was crazy before, now I am certain she is suffering from the highest degree of madness. What did I just hear? A mother selling off her daughter? I should get out of here before she passes on the madness to me. She is better off in a mental hospital. I start walking out, but her voice stops me on my feet just when I was about to twist the door knob. What again? Can't she understand that I am neither drunk nor mad like her? Oh, well, I had a few glasses of whiskey this morning, but I still have my sanity intact.

"She is naive and hardworking. Are you sure you don't want her?" She asks, and I turn to look at the poor girl. She is beautiful, except that life hasn't been fair to her. The frown on her face tells it all. Even when she is asleep, she still looks tormented. She looks like she has been fighting demons all her life, and she is losing the battle. What exactly has she been going through? I bet it's total hell. "I will get rid of her anyway."

"How much?" The words just rolled out of my mouth, and I was just too late to hold or take them back.

"One million."

She sure is determined and desperate to get rid of her child. Poor girl. Someday, I hope she will find it in her heart to forgive me. Nobody should be traded this way, but if I leave her with this psycho of a mother, who knows, she might sell her off to the first dog she will run into.

"I will pay a hundred times what you are asking for. One hundred million for her, but there are conditions."

"What are the conditions?"

"You will sign a contract stating that you have willingly sold your daughter to me. Two, I will keep your ID until she wakes up and confirms that you are her biological mother. And lastly, after she signs her part, I will pay the agreed amount only to her account, but I will make sure you get your share."

"What if she doesn't sign the contract? I am warning you as early as now; this girl is so ungrateful and unpredictable."

"I will try my best to make her sign. If, in the end, she refuses, I will have to respect her decision. Either way, you will receive the one million. If everything is clear to you, hand me your ID and let's meet here at eight tonight."

"It's a deal, then. Just make sure she gives me a good amount from the payment." She hands me her ID and walks out, leaving her daughter with a total stranger. Is she for real? Like, she just sold her child like some kind of vegetable? This is the height of madness at its best. I would like to hear her side of the story when she wakes up. How will she react?

I take out my phone from my pocket and dial my attorney's number.

"Yes, attorney, how are you?" I greet him after he receives the call. "I want you to dig up some information about someone. I am sending you the details right away. While at it, I want you to prepare a contract ASAP with the information I am sending. I want all that information before seven tonight. Can I count on you?"
I hang up after he assures me.

Tessa Angeline! I hope you will forgive me for this and agree with my madness.