Chapter 22 My Father Gambled Again
Her professional tone made it sound like she was a nurse. Frowning, I asked, “lan, what happened? Where are you?”
“Where else would I be?” my brother replied, a little too quickly. “I’m at the office working.”
“That’s not true,” I insisted. “Are you in the hospital? I clearly heard someone mention a bandage change.”
“No, why would I be in the hospital? I’m perfectly fine,” he said. “Anyway, I need to go now.” He hung up abruptly, and it was obvious he was lying.
But when my brother didn’t want to tell me something, he wouldn’t reveal it no matter how much I asked.
Anxious and confused, I started asking around and eventually found out that he had taken a job as a stunt double to raise
the money.
The night before, he had filled in for another actor on a particularly dangerous scene, and when the safety harness malfunctioned, he fell and hurt his leg.
When I rushed into the hospital room, I found my brother slumped against his pillows, working his way down his contact list begging for loans. Hearing him sound so defeated–nothing like the confident guy I knew–hit me hard.
I paused in the doorway, tears already stinging my eyes.
His leg was trapped in a heavy cast, keeping him stuck in that bed. All his talk about having the debt under control was just to keep me from worrying.
He had always been like this–bearing every burden alone and never allowing me to worry about anything.
People called him unreliable and lazy, but to me, he had always been the best brother.
“lan…” I said, my voice cracking as I stepped inside, trying not to fully break down.
When my brother noticed me, his face flushed with embarrassment. He yanked the sheets over his cast and forced a smile. “Annie? How did you know I was here?”
It killed me to see him like that. This was the guy who used to light up every room he walked into, always surrounded by friends. Now here he was, broken and alone.
My voice caught as I looked at him. “You’re risking your life for money?”
My brother gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “Hey, I’m okay. Really.”
“Your leg is broken. That’s not okay!” I said, my anger mixing with concern. “First your leg–what happens next time?”
I immediately regretted my words, a cold fear settling in my stomach. “No, forget I said that. There won’t be a next time.”
I stared at him, stating firmly, “No more stunt work. I’ll handle the rest of the debt.”
His expression turned grim. “How? By going to Charles?”
I looked away without a word.
My brother sighed, his fingers gently brushing through my hair. “I haven’t asked about you and Charles, but I know he doesn’t treat you right.
“Asking him for money now would just humiliate you. I won’t let you do that.”
“But you’re risking your life,” I whispered, my heart breaking at how tired he looked. “My pride means nothing compared to that.”
Whatever shame I felt meant nothing compared to everything my brother had sacrificed for me.
My brother reached for my hand, his voice filled with urgency. “Annie, don’t carry this burden yourself. I’ll find a way to get the money together. Just let me handle this.”
“But today’s already the second day. When tomorrow comes, those collectors will be at our door. Where could you possibly find that kind of money? You know how things are now–nobody will lend to people in our situation,” I muttered.
“Annie…” He tried to comfort me.
“Don’t worry about it, lan,” I said softly. “I’ll take care of what’s left. You just focus on resting and getting better.”
My brother looked at me with concern and sighed quietly.
After reassuring my brother, I left the hospital with my heart feeling heavy.
He just told me he’d already managed to gather 1.1 million, but we still needed another 1.4 million.
The idea of asking Charles for help felt impossible after how cruel he’d been last night and how he’d mocked me this morning.
I needed to figure out what to do next, and talking to Diana first seemed like my best option.
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Chapter 22 My Father Gambled Again
I was just about to call Diana when my mother’s call came through.
She was already crying when I picked up.
The sound of her sobs made my chest tighten and my head start throbbing. “What’s wrong now?” I asked, my voice tense.
“Your father is such a jerk,” she cried. “He went gambling again and lost another 1.6 million.”
“What?” I snapped, my patience completely gone. “After everything we’ve been through? Why would he do this? Is he trying to completely ruin us?”
“Annie…” my mother said weakly.
“Watch your mouth,” my father cut in, grabbing the phone. “I was trying to win big to get our family back on our feet. What’s so wrong with that?”
“But did you win? Have you ever actually won?” I cried, furious. “Stop using us as an excuse. You’re just addicted and can’t help yourself!”
“Enough already,” he said, brushing it off. “The money’s gone. Just go to Charles for the money instead–see if you can get six million out of him.”
My jaw tightened as I snarled, “I’m not going!”
My father’s voice turned desperate. “If you won’t go, then who will? Do you want those loan sharks showing up here to cut my hands off? They’ll be at our door tomorrow. You need to go see Charles today and get that money from him.”
“I told you I’m not going,” I shot back. “Why would Charles just hand us money? What makes you think he owes us anything?”
“Because he’s my-” my father began.
“He’s not your son–in–law anymore!” I snapped. “He doesn’t owe us a thing. If you were so good at losing all that money, then you figure out how to get it back yourself.” After that, I hung up, my hands shaking with anger.
I dropped onto a nearby flower bed as hot tears of frustration rolled down my cheeks.
We had already managed to pay off nearly half of the 2.5 million debt, and I was hoping Diana might be able to help me come up with the rest.
But now, another 1.6 million had been added to what we owed, and I had absolutely no idea how I was going to come up
with 3 million.
At that moment, I felt a wave of resentment toward my father. He just refused to face reality despite our family’s dire situation and persisted in acting like Charles owed us some unpayable debt.
The way he casually suggested asking Charles for six million made it sound as simple as ordering takeout.
But no matter how angry I felt, I couldn’t simply abandon my own father.
Faced with the impossible task of gathering three million in a single day, I had no other options left.
I opened my chat window with Charles, realizing that swallowing my pride in his presence would be a small price to pay for solving my family’s problems.
Drawing a deep breath, I typed out my message. [Hey… I’m wondering if you’ll be coming home tonight.]
Several minutes passed without any response.
I considered the possibilities–maybe he was too busy to notice my message, or maybe he had seen it and decided to ignore me completely.
I recognized that if I intended to ask for money, I needed to do it in person to show my sincerity.
But he was still furious from last night–that much was clear this morning–so he probably wouldn’t come back for days.
The problem was, I had no time left. Tucking my phone away, I decided to go find him at his office.
The moment I stood up, a wave of dizziness hit me so hard that everything went black. I stayed still, waiting until the world slowly came back into focus.
Rubbing my cold cheeks, I let out a bitter laugh. It figured–when someone’s life fell apart, their health decided to join in.
When I walked into the lobby of Charles’s company, I noticed several people giving me strange looks.
It was strange–this wasn’t my first time here, so why were they staring at me like that?
Just as I started to wonder, I heard angry shouting coming from near the elevators.
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