My Billionaire Husband

Kate asked if they could ask the school to help mediate or call the police. It might be possible that they were blackmailing them.

Max's classmate said no because if the school knew that, they would be expelled because their school had very strict discipline policies, and the guys looked to have a gangster background and they threatened that if they called the police, then they would cut Max's fingers off.

Kate was shocked, but she composed herself and asked Max's classmate to take her to meet them.

That afternoon, they met them in a restaurant outside the hospital.

They had three people, outnumbering Kate and Max's classmates by one person. However, they carried a much stronger air.

It wasn't time for meals, and there weren't any other guests except them. And the waitresses seemed intimidated by these three people and stayed away.

The leading guy was in his thirties and was lean, with a buzz-cut. He was a sharp contrast to the other two guys coming with him. They were big and muscular, with sophisticated and vicious eyes.

Kate took a deep breath after sitting down. "I want to see my brother."

The man laughed. "He is OK. We will take good care of him. As long as you bring the money, I will let you see him. I will let him go. He is intact. No one touched a hair on him."

Kate had to go for less. "Then can I call him? I need to hear it from him. How do I know if you are telling the truth?"

The man nodded at his guy. And one of them dialed a number and gave it to Kate. Kate said, "Hello." And she heard her brother's voice. "Kate."

She suppressed her sorrow and said, "Max, it is me. How are you?"

Max was choked. "Kate, I am sorry. I made trouble."

"OK. Let me ask you first. Did you hurt that person?" Kate looked at the man when she spoke, and he shrugged at her. Silence on the other side of the phone, and then he said with remorse, "I was trying to protect myself, and I picked up a stone…I didn't expect…"

Kate closed her eyes. So they could not get rid of it this time. Max continued, "Kate, don't agree with them. If they want my finger, let them have it. I didn't kill anyone. They cannot kill me."

After hanging up the phone, Kate paused a little and then tried to negotiate. "Two hundred thousand isn't a small figure for people like us. You see our conditions. We could never raise the number."

The man grinned. "Miss White, we are not blackmailing you. You have seen it yourself. My bro has been in ICU for three days. How much it costs each day, do you know? We offered two hundred thousand dollars because you are some poor students. For others, this could not be settled for less than 3-5 hundred thousand dollars."

Kate and Max's classmate went to the hospital earlier that day and saw that person lying in ICU with the oxygen mask on his face. They did meet the attendant doctor, who told them pretty much the same about the conditions of the patient as they heard from these guys.

Kate took another deep breath and smiled, "You have seen what kind of people we are. It is not that we don't want to pay. My brother is in your hand. You do as you like."

When she said this, she detected Max's classmate shivered and gave her a quick astonished glance.

After the three gangsters left, Kate sat still in the chair until she heard Max's classmate calling her worriedly. "Kate?"

She raised her head, and her eyes were reddened.

That boy pushed a cup of hot tea to her face and said, "You have a cup of tea, Kate?"

Kate took it mechanically and thanked him. She took a sip, and the hot liquid came through her throat to her stomach, and she warmed up a little.

Seeing her drinking the tea in silence, Max's classmate said to her, "We are sorry for the trouble."

But then he cheered up a little. "We achieved something today anyway. Now that the number came down to one hundred thousand, it is much easier. I will see if I can get something from my family…"

Her resolution in abandoning her brother worked, and they had reduced the offer by half. The deadline was not changed. Five days, money for brother. Kate knew clearly, one hundred thousand and two hundred thousand made no difference to her. She couldn't raise these amounts anyway.

****

After they got out of the restaurant, Kate refused with thanks, to Max's classmate Alan's offer of sending her home. She still could hold up, and she knew how to get home.

She thought of her grandma's pet words. "You won't miss a blessing, and you cannot avoid a misfortune." If she could not avoid it, she had to confront it.

Kate was exhausted. Her courage faded away as soon as the rivals and allies were gone. She felt lonely too, and she wished she had someone to talk to. She took out her cell phone from her bag, but with the last alarm, it blacked out and ran out of power.

It was good timing.

She saw a telephone booth and stepped into it. She hesitated a little before dialing, but she thought of what he said, "Call me anytime you want." She bit her lips and dialed the number she already memorized so deeply.

It went through, and a young lady answered calmly, "Who is that?"

Kate was surprised. "Is this Jimmy's cell phone?"

"Yes. Who is that?"

"I am his friend."

"Jimmy is taking a shower. Could you call again in a few minutes?" The woman said.

"OK. Thank you."

The phone was hung up, and Kate still could hear her own hollow voice echoing in the confined space of the telephone booth. She stood there, motionlessly for a while, and then walked out.

She didn't have a strong reaction to this. She just said inside, "Kate, you are so stupid."

The sun was setting, and the street got busier. Cars were rushing to their destination. The passersby were also walking hurriedly for somewhere. She would be busy usually, either at the supermarket sorting out the merchandise or rushing home.

But today, Kate was wandering in the streets. She passed by a bridge and looked down from the rail. The water was clear, and she could see fish swimming gracefully in the water. She felt jealous of the fishes. Why did she have so many troubles?

There was a digital advertising screen on one of the pillars of the bridge. This was what Max's project was doing, she thought. She stopped to watch the commercials. "Crown Hotel, Public Relations Department…If you are 20-30 years old, pretty and amiable, interested in socializing…monthly salary 30-50 thousand dollars…with incentive…please contact us at 400…"

She had experience working in the hotel earlier, and she knew the property of this kind of job. She closed her eyes and walked away.

The man she met at the restaurant earlier said to her, "It is not easy for men to make money, but it is not so difficult for the pretty women…" His eyes scanned her face and seemed to imply to her that she could easily raise the money.

Maybe this was her fate? Kate queried herself.

How hard was it to make the decision? Everything pushed her to this way though she had escaped a couple of times.

The next morning, she was standing in the magnificent lobby of the hotel. Her heart was beating fast, and she was desperate. She was preparing herself for the interview.

She was led to an office upstairs. A pretty and competent woman looked at her from behind a grand desk. She scanned her from head to feet and signaled her to sit down and came to the point when she opened her mouth. "Are you a v.i.r.g.i.n?"

Kate nodded.

The woman introduced herself as the manager of the department, and then she told her the job description and reimburs.e.m.e.nt for the job. She scratched something on a paper and asked her to have an overall medical checkup first; after getting the checkup result, she then came back to her for signing the contract; they would arrange for her to work after some image design, etc.

Kate received the paper from her and said, "I have a request. I need to have an advance payment of one hundred thousand dollars."

The woman paused a moment and smiled, "This could be acceptable. Almost everyone who came here needs money urgently." She scanned Kate's face again. "It depends on if you are worthy of it."

Three days later, Kate appeared in the hotel for the third time.