Oops, He did It Again!

"What else do you want?" asked William angrily. "Do you want me to report this to the police?"

Ava was inflamed. She couldn't just let William go because, of course, Martin wouldn't let her go. "Do you think I agreed to con someone for no reason?" Her eyes stared intently, demanding William to answer her question.

William laughed sneeringly. "Do you think I care?"

"You have to! Because I'm risking my life to help you," said Ava, making William just stare at her, still mockingly.

Ava suddenly felt stupid. It was clear William said he didn't care. Supposedly, the girl was not too complacent when she saw how loyal William was to Paula. Even a cruel man could be loyal to the woman he loved, no?

"What do you want?" asked William later.

"Money. Please give me an interest-free loan. I need two and a half million," Ava replied enthusiastically, happy that William still wanted to hear her reason. "My family is in debt to the mafia. I have to pay the debt this week if I want to survive. If not …."

"If not?"

"The mafia wants me as a payment," Ava said, staring at her client awkwardly. "I know it is cliche, but since I am so beautiful, many cliche things happen to me," she added, sneering.

William didn't budge. He studied Ava's face. There was no hint of deceit on the young woman's face. Especially in her eyes … those eyes, her eyes were so much the same as Paula's. There's no way Paula would tell a lie when she looked at him like that, right?

Because the amount that Ava mentioned was also not too big for a gazillionaire like William, the man finally wrote down some amount on a check. He handed it to Ava expressionlessly, deciding not to question whether what Ava was saying about her family was true or not.

"Take this! Think of it as a gift from me," said William.

"Wow," Ava gulped. "I—I will pay the money back to you, sir! God bless you!"

"No! You don't have to—"

"I will."

The man then left the room, leaving Ava stunned, looking at the check that William gave her for free. She didn't expect William to give her exactly two and a half million. However, more than she expected, he wrote three million!

Ava's eyes filled with tears of joy. She thanked God for a miracle and immediately ran away before any of Martin's men saw her betraying them.

***

Six months later, things were getting better. Ava's father has recovered from illness since Ava has managed to pay off her father's debt and no debt collectors have come back to them. However, they still had to get out of the house they lived in before.

Luckily, Ava had found a new place to stay … for cheap rent. Even though the facilities were pathetic as there was no automatic water heater and the air conditioning was broken, they could at least last until autumn was over.

"Why don't we rent a better place? Didn't you say the ring sold for three million dollars?" Andrew asked his daughter.

Ava did tell how valuable the ring her father gave her was and said that she earned money by selling the ring. But in reality. Elia, the pimp, tricked her. She took Ava's ring without paying a dime.

Ava didn't even dare to ask because she would face Martin and Elia, at the same time. She didn't dare to dig her own grave.

"With that much money, we should be able to live in a more comfortable place," grumbled Andrew again.

Her father's behavior was annoying since he recovered from illness. Ava already thought that if the money was in her father's hands, it would run out quickly. Therefore, Ava did not give access to her father to touch the few hundred thousand dollars that remained.

Of course, she went through a lot of terrible things to get the three million she borrowed from William. Even though William said it was a gift, Ava didn't want to take it for free. She had pride. Therefore, she would use William's money in the best way possible.

"We're going to renovate this place, dad! It will be cheaper than having to find a new house at a high price," said Ava with a sigh. She wasn't in the mood for anything to be bothered about when she was so focused on the jewelry business plan she was designing. "I'm going to use this money to start a jewelry business so that one day we can buy grandma's ring back and live as well as we used to."

Andrew pouted. According to him, it would be better to invest his money in the stock market. Money will come quickly if they are lucky. No need to work as hard as Ava was currently doing.

"I know better how to get money in an instant," Andrew grumbled again while chewing the shortbread which was not so tasty because of the cheap quality of the butter used. He threw away the remaining bite and said, "Don't you know how I got rich overnight by buying the stock of an airline company?"

Ava glared at her father. "Have you forgotten how did you go bankrupt overnight because of the same stupid thing?"

Ava didn't want to snap at her father. However, for her, her father had to retire and entrust financial matters to her. In her way. Had her father realized that she was trying to take another path that made more sense to her?

"Father, I'm sorry," Ava said softly as she held her father's wrinkled hand. "It's not that I don't like it when you invest. However, I don't want you to use all the money we have and put it on the stock market."

"I know, baby! Do you think your father will repeat the same mistake? I will only invest ten thousand ... only. You know that's not much, right?" Andrew defended himself. The blue-eyed man stared at his daughter fixedly. "Ava, I was the one who gave you the ring. Do you think I have no right to touch the money you received?"

Andrew's words made Ava feel that she was selfish and dictatorial. Finally, Ava decided to give some money to her father.

"Promise me you'll use this money wisely," Ava said quietly, smiling weakly.

"Sure, baby! I promise you!"

***

The next day, after returning from a store location survey at a department store, Ava was stunned to find an empty house. Her father's room was empty. On his bed, there was only a piece of paper that read:

"Sorry, Ava. I had to leave you because Seth's men were looking for me. I bought you a ticket to New York. We'll meet there in six months."

Ava was freaking out. She quickly checked her account and she almost passed out when she realized that there were only a hundred dollars left in it.