Chapter 8 Bryle
I’m so scared right now. His cold demeanor screams no mercy. He turns to look at me. “Stop crying. I’m not going to hurt you,” he firmly says, “Why did you come with him if you’re not a slut?” He asks me, “What’s your reason? Are you a serial killer?”
I shake my head abruptly. “N-No! I’m not! I’m just so desperate for money!” I explain while wiping my tears with the back of my hand.
“Why do you need the money? How much do you need that you’re willing to sell your body to a stranger?”
I hiccup. “I-I need more or less than sixty thousand baht for m-my mom’s operation. She needs to be operated as soon as possible or I will lose her forever. I-I don’t want her to d-die just yet.”
The images of my mom’s pale and pitiful state appears in my head and I can’t help but feel pain. The cancer is starting to defeat her, I can tell. I’ve seen a lot of hair fall from her pillow and small bald on her hair.
Everything is silent for a while until he finally speaks. “I’ll help you with your mother’s operation...” My head immediately snaps at him. “... in one condition,” he finishes his sentence.
I finally stop crying and try to calm myself down. “W-What condition? I will do anything you want! I will clean your house if you want me to. I’ll do everything as long as you will help my mom,” I say eagerly.
He looks at me like he’s contemplating if he should say it or not but he still says it at the end. “You have to pretend to be my lover.”
He drops the bomb like it is just a normal task to do. My eyes widen in shock. “W-What? P-Pretend to be your l-lover..?” I repeat.
I don’t know if I heard it right or wrong but the way he looks at me tells that I heard it right. “Just tell me if you’re willing to do it or not. Simple as that. Then you can go on finding some potential customers if you don’t want to accept my offer.” I admit that he’s really very handsome than that horny douche James a while ago but he’s really a jerk just like how I think he is though he didn’t try to rape me.
I stare at the lamp post ahead and think deeply of his offer. If I accept his offer, then I can have my mom operated immediately and I won’t have to skip class just to work whole day at the restaurant. My mom will be saved and I will be spared from failing all the subjects. Though pretending to be his lover is a bit difficult...
“Can you tell me your reason first why you need to have a fake lover?”
“To run away from my dad’s unstoppable desire of getting me married to a girl I don’t love,” he answers shortly and I nod my head in understanding.
That’s why... So we have to pretend that we’re in love in front of his family so his dad would stop pestering him about marriage? But how will I act loveydovey with him if I don’t even have feelings for him? We barely know each other and are literally strangers. What if our act is not enough to convince his dad that we’re together and will notice that we’re just pretending? Then we’re doomed! What will happen to us if that happened?
“Think about your mom. If you accept my offer, I will immediately get her operated with the best doctor I know.”
His offer is really tempting. I don’t care anymore! I will do it for the sake of my mom.
I look at him with determination. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
“It’s all settled then. A deal is a deal. I will help you with your mom as long as you help me with my dad,” he states and I can finally see a small smile creeping on his lips.
“Okay. But how long do we have to pretend?” That’s the question I’ve been itching to ask him.
“Six months, one year, I don’t know. All I can tell you is that we need to pretend until my father is finally convinced of our relationship which I know will definitely take longer than we will anticipate.”
Fair enough. Sixty thousand baht or more definitely takes more than just a year to accumulate. Then suddenly, a very obvious yet shameless question pops out in my head. I don’t know if I should ask him about it or not but I feel like I have to.
“D-Do we have to k-kiss and such then?” I close my eyes while asking that question because I feel shy asking about it. Oh my gosh, Alwin! You’re so shameless! I’m sure I look like a ripe tomato right now.
“Yes, we have to, to make him believe our act.” We already sealed a deal but his tone with me is still cold. “What’s your name, by the way? We’ve been here for so long and already made a deal yet we still don’t know each other.”
Finally! He asks for my name. I’ve been also itching to ask him that but I’m already so shy by my recent question that I don’t feel like asking him any more question.
“I-It’s Alwin. My name is Alwin Chaidee,” I introduce my name in a barely audible tone and he hums.
“Okay, Alwin. The name’s Bryle. Give me your number so that I can call you later in terms of your mom’s operation and of course to sketch out a smooth plan for our act. I can’t just introduce you to my family carelessly, can I?”