Amabel admired her dream car for a moment, several face slapping scenes flashing into her mind.
After a while, she calmed down as rationality washed over her.
It was too early to show off. Her foundation wasn't strong yet. If she messes up, she might end up losing face and Valentine as well.
It was still the best to tread carefully and avoid any conflicts until she gets strong.
With that rationality reining her in, she boarded the car and a few moments later, she was driving away and along the way, passed by other cars. Unlike the curiosity that normal people shows whenever they see sports cars, the people she met obviously weren't the same and it made her feel … complicated.
Anyway, knowing where she was and where she was going. Amabel used the fastest and safest route to reach there and in less than two hours, she was driving through the gates of the hospital where her mother was hospitalized. The reason why she couldn't move away from Harmony City.
Amabel naturally drove inside and found an empty parking slot and settled there. She didn't have anything to leave behind in the car, so she simply alighted from the car, and locked the car before walking away.
It's been a few days since she last visited the hospital and thinking about the sheer difference between then and now, Amabel wore a pair of sunglasses to avoid drama and gossiping.
She knew that with her current status, people were going to talk but she wasn't in the mood to tolerate anyone doing so today. She just wanted some peace and with that in mind, she covered herself a bit.
Amabel registered herself at the reception and sighed with relief when she saw that there was a new nurse and someone, she hadn't interacted with much.
After getting permission to visit her mother, she familiarly made way to the ward where she was and when she got there, she took several deep breaths, trying to suppress the complicated emotions that were building in her.
After trying her best for a moment to do so, she opened the door and entered inside the room her mother had spent so many months in.
"Mom!" she choked with emotion as soon as she spotted the woman who had become so thin and sunken after being in a coma for six months.
Rowena, was her mother's name. The woman who had showered her with maternal love and made her so confident to be who she is.
Without her mother, Amabel didn't know where she would be. In a word where women are questioned no matter what they do, especially when they were beautiful. Without her mother and father's daily dose of love. She might have been having low self-esteem right now. Thankfully, they taught her well.
Unfortunately, her father was long gone and in grief, her mother collapsed and never woke up again.
Their deep bond so strong that her mother couldn't even live without her husband. Then what about her?
As a daughter, she could only be filial and selfish.
As long as she could keep her alive for an extra second, she would do everything in her power. Even if that means selling herself.
Remembering one of the promises Valentine made to her, Amabel sat beside her mother, a smile on her face.
She reached out her hands to grasp her mother's which didn't have an IV drip on and caressed it gently and longingly.
"Mom, it's been several days since I last visited. I hope that you didn't think that I have abandoned you. I will never do something like that again. I can't live without you and as long as I breathe, I will do everything in my power to keep you here with me.
Heh, mom, do I sound selfish saying that? Do I look as if I am forcing you to remain here when all you want to do is being with father? But I can't help it," she laughed hysterically as certain unpleasant memories flooded her mind.
"Without you, I am afraid that I might truly go insane. I have been bottling it inside for over a year and every time I feel like I am about to snap, the thought of seeing you smiling at me brings me back to sanity," Amabel spoke solemnly as she looked at her mother with earnestness.
It hadn't been easy for her for these months. It was like a rollercoaster and the kind that didn't stop but kept on going.
Her mother suddenly fell ill and her father was forced to take more trips as a freight driver, and driving long distance routes so that the family could make ends meet.
At least, she was being supported by part scholarship and with her other part time jobs, she could manage.
Things should have gotten better with father working but misfortune was on their side. On his way back from a trip, her father got into an accident and died on the spot.
The news was too unbelievable. How could her father die so miserably like that?
She didn't want to believe and neither did her mother but when the truth was laid bare in front of them, another misfortune struck.
Her mother collapsed and it all fell on her to solve. There were relatives and they could help but to what extent?
Her mother was resuscitated and managed to bury her husband but she got depressed. It was so bad that one day she received a call when she was in class. Her mother had attempted suicide. Although she was rescued, she had been in a coma since then.
She didn't want to wake up. In fact, Amabel strongly believes that she was itching to die so badly but it was only her stubbornness that was stopping her mother from doing so.
To earn hospital bills, she was forced to drop out of school, borrow more money from relatives and took on several parttime jobs.
In a day with twenty-four hours, Amabel could only rest maximum three to four hours but she knew that if given a choice, she would refuse to sleep as well.
After all, every second wasted meant money lost but that undoable dream was shattered once again, a month ago when all her paths were blocked.
They were all determined to push her to her death and they almost succeeded.