CHAPTER 39: THE ACCIDENT.

For the next few hours, I stayed by her side, holding her hand, listening to her shallow breaths, and waiting for her to say something. But most of the time, she just lay there, her eyes closed, too weak to speak.

By the time I was ready to leave, the sky had already turned dark and cold. I dragged myself out of the house, my mind too heavy to even look around.

In the car, I sat in silence, staring blankly out of the window as the driver pulled away from the estate. Even with the gentle night breeze that filled the car as we rode through the city, I couldn’t breathe. It was as if my lungs were frozen.

She was dying... the words kept repeating in my head, overshadowing every other thoughts and feelings. No matter how much I tried to push them away, they kept coming back, louder and more suffocating each time.

I shouldn’t have felt like this, because all my life, I had been nothing more than an afterthought to her. She never treated me like I was a thing let alone her daughter. But after all, she was still my mother, someone who gave me life, and no matter how complicated our relationship was, I never wanted to lose the privilege of having a mother figure in my life. But now, she was slipping away... and I didn’t know what to do.

I exhaled sharply, hot tears filling my eyes. If only our lives hadn’t turned upside down, she would have been in the best hospital, surrounded by professional doctors who would do anything to make sure she was alright. But my father couldn’t afford that anymore, neither could I. She was just going to lay in that suffocating room, waiting for the inevitable.

I shook my head in disbelief, the tears falling down my cheeks. I couldn’t allow her to die that way, unattended to. I needed to help her as much as I could. But what would I do?

There was only one person I could turn to. And that was Alexander.

However, the very thought of asking him for help made my chest tighten. He hated my family. He wouldn’t see this as a plea for help, rather it was an opportunity to laugh in my face and remind me of my place.

But... I have no choice. I couldn’t let my mother die without trying.

So, I pulled out my phone from my purse and scrolled through the contact list. When I found his number, I was too scared to dial it. What if... Cut it, Anna, you have to do this, for your mother, I told myself.

Taking a deep breath, I steadied my shaking hand and moved to press the call button.

And it happened out of nowhere.

Our car was suddenly hit off the road by a white van. The force jolted me forward so hard that my seatbelt painfully dug into my chest, the impact causing my phone to fly from my hand.

Glasses shattered around me as the car spun wildly with screeching tires. For a moment, I couldn’t even scream. The world felt like it was flipping upside down as the car slammed into something hard and finally stopped.

Then, everything went still.

****

Alexander leaned back against the car seat with his eyes closed, trying to focus on anything else other than the intense throbbing in his head. He was suffering now all thanks to the long, tedious meeting about his containers that sunk somewhere in the Pacific ocean.

The shipment worth billions of dollars and the loss wouldn’t only affect him financially, but also every part of his other businesses. He just hoped that the back and forth negotiation with the representatives at the sea embassy would really come through, otherwise... he couldn’t begin to imagine what would happen.

Exhaling sharply, he opened his eyes, only to realize that they had arrived at the Villa. He pulled the car door open without waiting for the driver to do it, then made his way to the Villa. It was dark and quiet inside, but he didn’t bother to turn on the lights. All he needed right now was a few hours of rest before his flight back home tomorrow.

Just as he reached for the door knob, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Frowning, he pulled it out and saw it was an unknown number.

Alexander thought of letting it ring out, but then decided to take the call. With his current position now, every call mattered.

"Alexander Vaughn speaking."

There was a brief pause at the other end before an unfamiliar male voice echoed.

"Good evening, sir. I’m calling about an accident. There is a young woman here, she’s unconscious and your number was on the speed dial before the crash... I think."

Alexander’s brows furrowed. "What woman? Who are you talking about?"

The caller hesitated, then added, "She looks about 20 or 21, around 5 feet tall, with long white hair."

White hair? His grip on the door knob tightened. "Where is she?"

"She is with us, but in bad shape. We have called for help, but I thought you should know."

"Give me a moment," he curtly said and ended the call. Then he immediately dialed Ethan.

"Boss?" Ethan’s voice came through

"Where is she?" Alexander demanded.

"Who? Linda?"

"No, my wife."

Ethan was silent for a second, before responding cautiously. "I’m not sure, boss. The butler mentioned she left the house this afternoon with the driver."

Alexander cursed under his breath, as he pushed the door open. "She has been in an accident."

"What? How?"

"I don’t know. Track the GPS in her ring and send someone to get her. Take her to the vacation home for treatment. And make sure no one finds out about this."

"Yeah... sure," Ethan said without hesitation

"Handle it quickly," Alexander added, and the line went dead.

Entering the room, he stopped, his eyes scanning the room blankly. It hadn’t even been three days since he left and she was already courting disaster. Where was she even going? She sure knew how to give him troubles when he hadn’t even solved his.

He shook his head with a frustrated sigh, then shrugged off his suit jacket, and tossed it on the couch in the room. As he was about to remove his tie, a thought flashed through his mind. He quickly took out his phone and redialed the unknown number again. The line rang for a few moments before the same voice answered the call. "Yes?"

"Is she still breathing?" Alexander asked.

"She is," the caller replied. "But it’s... faint. She will be fine, though. Help is on the way."

"Alright. Just stay with her until my people arrive."

"Yes, sir."

He ended the call and dropped the phone on the nightstand, then strode into the bathroom for a quick shower.

He wasn’t sure why he felt a little bad for her, but the thought of her laying there in the pool of her own blood with no one of her own by her side gawned at his chest in the wrong way. It reminded him so much of himself. But that didn’t matter now. If she survived tonight, it was her luck, none of his business. Not that he even cared.