Chapter 22: Extra Burden

Just as I was puzzled, I faintly heard a female’s voice coming from the other end of the phone, which sounded like a nurse.

I frowned slightly, asking, “Quin, what’s wrong? Where are you?”

Quentin laughed and said casually, “Well, where do you think I am? Company, of course. I’m working.”

“No. Are you in the hospital?” I guessed so because I heard something like “dressing change.”

“No. I’m fine. Why do you think I’m in a hospital? Well, anyway, I gotta go. Bye.”

With that, Quentin hung up the phone in a hurry. Obviously, he was lying.

But he refused to tell me what was going on no matter how I asked him.

Worried and anxious, I asked a lot of people and then finally learned that in order to get money, Quentin went to work as a stunt double in a martial arts drama.

Last night, he even performed an extremely dangerous scene for an actor. But because something went wrong with the wire, he fell from the air and injured his legs.

When I rushed to the hospital, Quentin was leaning against the head of the bed, calling someone to borrow money.

He appeared so humble right now, which was totally different from his previous carefree look.

I stood at the door, feeling like crying.

His legs were still covered in thick plaster, making it impossible for him to even get out of bed.

He claimed that he could help pay off Dad’s gambling debts, but that was just him comforting himself.

Quentin was always like this, handling everything all by himself and never making me worried.

In the past, a lot of people said that he always goofed off all day. But in my heart, he was the best brother in the world.

“Quin…” I called out in a sobbing tone and walked in with tears.

When Quentin saw me, a trace of panic flashed across his face, and he quickly covered his injured legs with the blanket.

With a bit of surprise, he chuckled and asked me, “Ralda, how did you find I was here?”

Seeing him being like this, I felt even sadder in my heart.

He used to be a carefree and proud young man, always the center of everyone’s attention.

But now, he had ended up in such destitution.

I sobbed, “You don’t have to risk your life to get money.”

But Quentin took my hand and grinned, “I’m fine, all right?”

“Fine? You broke your legs!” I looked at him with both anger and worry. “This time, you hurt your legs. What about next… No! There is no next time!”

I quickly changed my words, feeling very anxious and afraid that my unlucky words would come true.

I advised Quentin anxiously, “Don’t be a stunt double anymore. I’ll think of a way to pay off the remaining gambling debts.”

But Quentin asked me with a hint of sadness in his tone, “What way could you think of? Go to Reynaldo for money?”

I didn’t say anything.

Quentin touched my long hair and sighed in a low voice, “I didn’t ask too much about the current situation between you and Reynaldo. But I know he’s not good to you.

“If you ask him for money, you’ll definitely be humiliated, and I don’t want that to happen.”

I immediately retorted, “But you even risked your life to get money. Why can’t I go to him for help? It’s really nothing to me!”

Looking at Quentin’s haggard appearance, I felt so worried and sad.

Compared to the sacrifices he had made, the humiliation I might suffer was really nothing.

However, Quentin hurriedly grabbed my hand and said, “Ralda, don’t feel too burdened. I’ll find a way to gather money. Just leave it to me.”

“But this is the second day. After tomorrow, the people from the casino will come to collect the debt. Where else can you go to get money? You know, we’re in dire straits now, and no one will be willing to lend us money.”

“Ralda…”

“Don’t worry, Quin. Just leave it to me. You should take a good rest…”

The line disconnected abruptly. I knew it was my dad who hung up. I hastily called back.

Before I could say anything, my dad yelled at me hysterically, “What the hell are you doing, Ralda? You should go to Reynaldo for money! He has so much money! We raised you for nothing. At least you have to get more money and let all of us live a good life! What did I do wrong?”

“But have you ever won? Even once?” I cried out of anger. “And stop using those lame excuses! You just wanna gamble! You just wanna feed your addiction to gambling!”

‘Alright, enough! I didn’t wanna lose, but I lost. You should go and ask Reynaldo for money. 3 million dollars at least.”

“No!” I growled to refuse.

Dad got anxious and snapped, “Why not? They’ll come to collect debt in two days. You want them to cut off my hands and legs? Go today, and ask Reynaldo for money!”

“I said no!” I roared. “Reynaldo doesn’t owe us anything! Why do you think he will give us money?”

“Because he’s my son–in-”

I interrupted, growling, “Stop it! He’s not your son–in–law anymore! He owes us nothing! I lost the money in gambling, so you will take care of your debt! That’s it!”

With that, I angrily hung up the phone.

Then, I sat on the flower bed beside me, so angry that I cried.

Originally, Quentin had already gathered 510 thousand dollars. Maybe I could solve the remaining half of the debt by asking Lavonne for help.

However, Dad brought us an extra 800-thousand-dollar debt.

Now, the remaining debt was over 1.3 million dollars. What should I do?

At that moment, I really hated my dad.

We were already in dire poverty now. Why couldn’t he realize it? Why did he always think that Reynaldo owed our family?

Asking Reynaldo for 3 million dollars?

Dad was really daydreaming.

However, even though I hated Dad now, I couldn’t just leave him alone.

But how could I gather over 1.3 million dollars in a day?

I opened the dialogue box with Reynaldo.

If being humiliated in front of Reynaldo could help my family, I would do it.

After taking a deep breath, I sent Reynaldo a text.

“Hello? Will you come back tonight?”

I waited for a while, but he didn’t reply.

Maybe he was busy and didn’t see my message.

Or maybe he saw it, but he just didn’t wanna reply to me.

Sure enough, as I wanted to borrow money from him, I should go to him and ask for help face-to-face. That would be more sincere.

But he was so pissed off last night. And from his appearance this morning, I could tell that he was still a bit angry.

Maybe he wouldn’t come back in the next few days.

However, I only had one day.

So, I put away my phone and decided to go to Reynaldo’s company to look for him.

But as soon as I stood up, a wave of dizziness struck me.

My vision went black, and I stood still for a long while before regaining my sight.

Rubbing my cold face, I laughed at myself silently.

My days had become worse, and so had my health.

Later, I arrived at Reynaldo’s company.

When I walked into the lobby, I noticed that several people were staring at me with strange looks.

Weird.

This wasn’t my first time coming to Reynaldo’s company. Why did they look at me like that?

Just as I was confused, a curse suddenly came from the elevator.