CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO Sarah’s utterance was met by a long period of silence, as there was a sudden disbelief in the eyes of everyone close to her, Kelvin didn’t seem as surprised as his parents, like he had been expecting it to happen someday. “Honey, do you mean Marcos? Are you sure of what you are saying?” Sarah gasped, and then she leaned forward and looked at her mother in disbelief, she couldn’t believe that she could ask her that type of question, while she was still trying to be sure of the right response she was to give to her, her father spoke. “Yes Sarah are you really sure of what you are saying, Marcos would never do anything to hurt you, there must be a mixup somewhere.” “Even you, father?” Sarah exclaimed, the sensation of uttermost disappointment running into her body as she looked at her parents, one after the other, with her mouth agape, and her eyes widened in disbelief. “Please don't misunderstand us, Honey, we are just surprised that you would even think to say

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR “Sarah is right Mum, we need some explanation, and we need it right now,” Kelvin added, almost immediately after his sister had spoken. “Honey? Please come and have a seat.” Maya said to her husband, who felt like his valor had left him. “Please come and sit.” Maya urged again with a soft tone, looking at her husband with so much pity and pain. After a few seconds, Mr. Jones walked toward the chair and sat down slowly, while his wife drew closer to him and caressed his left fingers, while their children waited anxiously for them to speak. “Are you ok?” Maya asked her husband, but she certainly wasn’t asking the right question, as he looked at her for a few seconds and exhaled sharply with a countenance that answered the question. “You need to speak to them,” Maya said to her husband, in a very low tone, which was a little above a whisper. Mr. Jones knew that there was no way he was going to run away from the discussion, so he braced himself to bear the conse

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX Jane drew closer with two steps forward and standing between her siblings, she looked at her parents one after the other, and then she exclaimed sharply, perusing through the thoughts in her mind. “Three billion?” She asked, with every form of doubt, both in her voice and in her countenance. Sarah turned to look at Jane with an expression that showed that she didn’t think that it was possible for them to owe that kind of amount, but when she turned to look at her father, the look she saw in his eyes said otherwise. “Dad? She is wrong, right?” she asked, but Mr. Jones didn’t blink, and as Unexpectedly, his countenance didn’t show that Jane was wrong. “Talk to me, Dad, how much is it?” Mr. Jones looked at Sarah for a while, and then he took in enough air and exhaled sharply. “Jane is right, that’s the figure.” His children widened their eyes in disbelief, they didn’t think they heard it right, or probably he was joking, but the look on his face said otherwise

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT Catherine scoffed loudly, and then she groaned with the same tone as well, resuming her patrol around the living room. “He is my best friend, and there is nothing she can do about it. Yes, I know him, I know everything about him. I know his best food, his favorite color, his favorite sport, his favorite book, and the best places he likes to be. I know everything about him!” Catherine tried to build her confidence, but the more she tried, the more she failed, and this made her groan angrily in intense frustration. Ciro helped Sarah to sit on one of the Couches in the lobby, and when he was certain that she had gotten a grip on herself, he proceeded to find out what was wrong with her. “Sarah? What happened? Why are you so sad?” “I can’t believe that my father used me as collateral for the company, I feel like I am some property sold in exchange for money!” Ciro thought about the words Sarah uttered, but he couldn’t understand any of them, and this made him t

CHAPTER FORTY “What?” Sarah gasped, scoffing almost at the same time, while she glued her eyes on Ciro, in awe. “Yes, you don’t have to pay me back, not even a dime.” Sarah thought about the entire situation, and nothing seemed right about it, she didn’t think it was right for her to accept such a huge favor, she felt it could come with a lot of trouble, just like the previous one from Marcos and his father. “I don’t think you really do understand the amount of money involved here, Ciro. We are talking about one freaking billion dollars.” “Yes, I figured, I am not so bad with numbers you know?” “No Ciro, no. I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I can’t accept that kind of money from you, at least not for free. This kind of gesture normally comes with a huge price, and I don’t think I am willing to be in that situation again.” Ciro chuckled, and then he looked at Sarah for a few seconds, and then he scoffed loudly. “I am sorry Ciro, but there is no way I am going to accept tha