Neighbor

Chapter 3: Neighbor

I have been here for more than a month in my mother's house, and this family has been cruel to me. They also abuse Ella.

Even my mother did not defend me. I stopped washing my clothes when the cellphone that mama gave me before I left, vibrates.

This is an unknown number. Even though I was wondering, I just answered it so that I would also know who was calling.

"Hello, Laila?" I almost screamed when I recognized who was calling.

"Ma?" My eyes are watering. I miss them so much. When I heard mama's voice, it was as if I wanted to teleport there but then I had no powers.

"Oh, my dear Laila. How are you, baby?" I sobbed in anticipation of hugging and being with mama again.

I want to report to her everything my mom's family does to me, but then I can't. I'm afraid that mama might get sick from worrying about me. I can't bear to risk my mama's health.

"It's okay, ma. Don't worry. You know ma, I've been visiting many beautiful places that we only saw on TV before." I need to lie not for me but for them. Only in my imagination, I can visit such places.

"Ma, I love you. Give my I love you's to them ma."

"We love you too, baby. You'll be careful there and don't be sad, right? You'll be home soon too." I wiped away my tears. We said goodbye to each other. I washed my face so no one could notice that I was crying.

After rinsing my clothes, I took them to hang in the yard.

As I hung up the clothes, I felt someone's watching my every move.

I looked behind me. I shook my head when I realized that our Cold-creature neighbor was watching what I was doing.

He quickly closed the curtain of his window. I just laughed softly. He was my first customer, the one who bought three salted eggs.

I just continued what I was doing. Ever since I had no rice and dish, I have always woken up early.

Mom doesn't care if I already eat or not. She puts her workers first. She prioritizes them over me.

When I came back inside, mom had a baby in her arms. Whose daughter is that?

"Laila, meet your sister Alexa." said mom.

"When did you give birth?" I can't remember if she was pregnant.

And I thought her husband was barren?

"We adopted her." Are we not enough?

Mom warned us that she would beat me and Ella if something bad happened to their baby.

We are babysitting Alexa. I guess she is half-Japanese and half-Pinoy. You can see the most common features of the Japanese on her face.

Messy and thick eyebrows, Chinita eyes, white skinned-tone. She only got her nose from the Filipinos.

The next day Ella and I went to the market to buy something to eat. Their market here is a walking distance.

Ella is planning to move out of my mom's house by the time she finishes high school. I will only support her in her plan.

I will not be here for long because next month I will return to the province.

This is what we always do. Ella and I got used to it. I want to explore, but mom won't let us.

We can only visit different places when mommy, my mother's sister, is here. Last time we watched a movie.

When we had bought everything we needed, we went home.

I prevented Ella from entering and motioned her to be quiet first. Someone got my attention.

"Yes, we will go home next week. We have already booked our flight." I pressed my ear to the door.

"Tashia and I are the only ones going home. What are you ... oh fine! I'll end your call now."

How could they do this to me? So this is their plan. Mama should know this. I don't want to live here.

I didn't know what to do so instead of entering; I ran away... away from the house of demons.

I ran as fast as I could. I don't care about where I am right now and where my feet take me.

But it seems like fate really loves to play with me, I do not know that I will collide with the car. Its impact on me is too strong. I flew away. My body hurts so much. I see people around me before I lose consciousness.

=========

The one who ran over Laila quickly came out. Many people are already gossiping. Luther Han checks the girl as if it's still breathing.

"Please h-help me ... Take me away from here," Laila said weakly. Luther heard the girl's request, so he carried her in a bridal style.

He rushed her to a well-known hospital, the Han's Hospital. When they arrived, they immediately rushed Laila to the ER for surgery on her head wound.

It unsettled Luther. He called his dad for help.

"Dad, I need your help right now," Luther said while walking back-and-forth.

"What is it, son? I'm happy that for the first time you asked me for help." Mr. Han is a workaholic person so Luther is not very close to him.

"Please clean the mess I made. I know it has reached you already." Luther knows it will put him in jail. Luther is only fifteen years old and did not have a driver's license.

He is a car racer. But because he is still underage, what he is doing is illegal. No one is stopping him because he is the son of Mr. Han, the richest man in the country.

The doctor came out. Luther immediately approached.

"Who is her family?"

"I don't know. I know nothing about that woman." Luther answered bluntly. He only brought the woman here because it was his obligation.

"We cannot operate her without her family's consent." Luther had to clench her jaw to suppress his anger.

'Damn their rules.'

"I don't care. Start the operation if you don't want to be kicked out from this hospital right now." At his young age, you can see its ruthlessness. The superiority is within his soul.

The Doctor obeyed Luther's command, even though he did not want to, but he was afraid to lose his job.

Luther went to the nurse's station to fill-up the form. After that, he called his hacker friend.

"Sup bro?" Nathan greeted.

"Clean up all my mess in Malabon. Clear all the CCTV footage and silence the people who saw the incident."

'No one should know what happened' Luther thought. He had to hide the woman and he would start that right now.

Luther could not understand why he had to do this to the woman. Luther can't deny that the woman is beautiful. Laila's beauty is rare, near to being perfect.

"So what's the compensation?" Nathan asked. Luther knew that there is no free in his friend's vocabulary.

"Tsk. Just get the Ferrari there in the garage." He heard his friend on the other line say yes. Luther rolled his eyes to his friend, being childish.

4:15 P.M. the operation ended. They have moved Laila to a private room. Laila's condition is dangerous right now. There is a possibility that she will be comatose.

Luther does some background checks about Laila's Identity. And he found something unpleasant.