She drilled her gaze through me. “Are you showing concern for me now?”
“Not really. Who are you to me? I’m just reminding you of the possibility of things getting worse if you carry on with this,” I turned aside and replied.
She sat on her small bed and a pathetic smile played on her lips. “Isn’t life just ironic? You, of all people, are the one who came to my help when I’m in the deepest pit.”
I did not know what to say, so I kept quiet.
Kristina looked at the name card in her hand and said mockingly, “It’s not like I’ve never thought about going back. I don’t want to go back to J City like this. I told myself when I left that I’d only go back when I’m happy and accomplished. But what am I now? I’ve lost everything. How can I go back like this? I’d rather just die here.”
A pang of sadness ate away at me as she spoke. “Why are you so hard on yourself? There are so many options available, why do you have to choose the hardest one? Don’t you know your family is still waiting for you?”
“No one is waiting for me. I’m the only person who’s waiting for myself,” she said with her head low as tears rolled down her eyes. “My parents were gone when I was two, and my uncle sent me to the orphanage for ten years before he took me back again. He did that because his wife couldn’t bear a child herself. But they had a boy after that, and I became a burden to the family. Come to think of it, life is really a joke. I thought I could have a perfect family if I found someone I could spend forever with. I thought I could give my children the best if I could just find that right person, but I went a long way and ended up being all alone.”
I did not know how to comfort her. Looking at her crying her heart out, I could only pass her a tissue and listen to her. “Everyone has their own hopes and dreams.”
“I guess this is just my life. I should accept it,” she said derisively, pressing her hand against her chest.
“What’s the matter?” I asked, looking at her contorted face.
“Get me the painkillers in the drawer,” she said, sucking in a long breath.
I drew the drawer open and started looking for painkillers among the many medications she had. I passed it to her and got her a glass of water.
She looked much better after taking the pills. “Thanks,” she said.
I looked around the cramped room and then at her. “Have you been staying here all this while?” I asked.
Ashton and his group of friends might have very different personalities, but when it came to their women, they were never stingy. Take Rebecca for example, the three of them made sure she lacked nothing.
Since Kristina was with Jared, there was no way she would spiral down to this state if she spent her money wisely.
“Jared has a house for me, but I rented it to someone else because I needed money. It’s cheaper to rent a small room here since it’s further away from the city center.”
I had a rough idea of how much chemotherapy would cost. Given the high cost, she must have spent most of her income. That was probably why she was selling her own body.
Neither Kristina nor I slept that night. Camelia was the only one who slept through the night. When morning came, Kristina could not take it anymore and finally fell asleep.
I left my bank card in her room and left with Camelia to get breakfast.
“How did we end up there in the morning? What were we doing there?” Camelia bombarded me with questions after sobering up.
“I didn’t know where else to bring you, so I brought you there,” I replied.
“What about the bank card then? Is that for the night’s stay?” she pursued.
I nodded.
She was clearly not satisfied with my answer, but before she could probe any further, I beat her to it. “Do you have any plans later?” I asked.
“Not really. What about you?” she said after a brief silence.
“Do you have your bank card with you?”
She nodded.
“Then let’s go to the hairdresser later. We’re stopping by the beauty salon and the mall after that.”
“But Tobias is still home,” she said.
“Is the nanny home?”
“She is. I told her I’d be out.”
“Then all’s good. You have the whole day to yourself,” I said.
After getting breakfast, we went to the hairdresser. The hair salons in K City were either low-end or super high-end. For the latter ones, they were not accessible by just simply anyone. I contacted Emery and told her I suddenly felt like getting my hair done. “What got into you? Why do you want to cut your hair all of a sudden?” she asked.
Her words rendered me speechless. “It’s my friend, not me. Are you free today? Wanna hang out?” I offered.
