Chapter 13: Asking for Help
"What crisis exactly are you talking about, mother?" Holding her mother's hand, Ingrid asked, very concerned.
"Daughter dear..." Her mother said anguished. As she spoke, tears were streaming from her eyes, "Something strange happened. We were summoned to be evicted from the house, saying that we are living here illegally, and we have no right to stay here, but I have the receipt of purchase. However, the court says it is invalid, that we are missing the deed for the house and now we have to move... Daughter, you know how much this mother struggled to save and be able to buy this little house, it was such a shock that I couldn't take it and ended up fainting..."
"Monica, you have nothing to do with this, right?" Ingrid asked with undisguised anger.
"You are crazy Ingrid! How could I do something like that?" Monica was defensive; she still didn't know that Ingrid was not raped by the guy from which Bernardo took a bribe. She just thought it was strange that Bernardo disappeared this morning without telling her anything. 'That son of a bitch... He must have run away with all 'my' money."
"Yes, my daughter. Monica may be a little vain, but I don't think she would be able to do something like this to her own family." Their mother defended Monica. Clearly, she didn't know that Monica had sold her sister for money.
"Mom, don't worry so much. I'll fix this," Ingrid said softly. She wasn't one to depend much on other people, but she thought she was at least a little close to Luan to be able to ask him for help.
"You? Haha! This one I want to see," Monica sneered. She did not believe that Ingrid was able to resolve this situation. After all, the other side had the deed of the house, while they only had a receipt for the purchase and sale of the house. In addition, they had already received an eviction order. There was nothing to do.
"Was I talking to you?" Ingrid looked at her sister with anger. If her mother was not present, she would have already taught Monica a lesson.
"Humph!" Monica snorted but was silent. She feared that Ingrid would end up telling her mother what she had done. Now, more than ever, she needed her mother since Bernardo ran away with all the money. Although she did not live together with her mother, Monica still asked her for money since her Aunt Lucia did not help her financially, just gave her a place to stay. Although Lucia's husband "helped" her a little...
Ingrid ignored her sister and continued to talk to her mother, reassuring her. Initially, her mother was very worried and nervous. They only had a month to go, and she didn't have the money to rent a house. Her mother's salary was no longer high enough to be able to rent a house and buy groceries for the month.
When Ingrid left the room, Monica followed her. In the kitchen, near the door leading to the street, Monica crossed her arms around her chest and said sarcastically, "Dear little sister, how do you intend to resolve this matter? Are you going to sell your body again?"
Monica let out a giggle full of mockery as she continued to speak. "I bet Rafael would be willing to pay to have a hot night with you again. By the way, have you been with him all this time? If so, I bet it was 'hot' since it only came back to the news that our mother passed out."
*Slap!*
Ingrid's body was shaking with anger as she slapped Monica hard, which made Monica's body go against the wall. Monica looked at Ingrid in shock, not expecting her to react that way. She tried to fight back, but her hand was held tightly, and she took another slap.
*Slap!*
"You bitch! I'm not like you who go around sleeping with any man for money. It is better not to try to provoke me, even being my sister. With the anger that I have now, I am able to dismantle your pretty face that you are so proud of," Ingrid warned.
Monica, who now had two swollen cheeks, was breathing fast with anger. She looked at Ingrid with hatred, almost eating her alive with her eyes.
When Ingrid saw that Monica wanted to go back to their mother to pose as innocent, Ingrid said threateningly, "Don't even think about it. If our mother gets sick again, I swear on everything that is most sacred, it won't be just two swollen cheeks that you will get. You better not make a scene and let our mother see your face now... Listen to what I'm warning you..."
"Ingrid... You will pay for this!" Picking up her purse on the chair, Monica went out the door huffing, full of hatred. She had never seen her sister act so fierce. She admitted to herself that she was a little scared by Ingrid's threats and did not doubt what she said, since Ingrid was always overprotective with their mother.
Ingrid took a deep breath, calming down, and left as well. She needed to resolve this matter soon; she couldn't leave her mother worrying about it for long. When she left, she saw Sebastian waiting for her, and she also saw Monica staring at the car with envy and greed.
"Are you coming back now, Miss Ingrid?" Sebastian opened the back door of the car and asked her respectfully.
Seeing her sister receiving this treatment, Monica's mouth was wide open and her eyes almost flew into orbit; she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"Who- how?" Monica looked at Ingrid, then at Sebastian without understanding anything. Then she became even angrier as she saw this situation unfold.
"Yes, let's go." Ingrid ignored Monica and got in the car.
Sebastian closed the car door and then got in through the driver's door and drove away, leaving the stunned Monica looking at the car in the distance, not understanding what was going on.
'Was Rafael that rich, or was he about to let my sister have a private driver?' Monica gnawed her nails, full of envy and hatred. Upon seeing that people noticed she was pointing at her while laughing, Monica became increasingly angry with her sister. 'This won't end like this; it really won't!'
*
When she had returned to the Dallas Hotel, Ingrid said goodbye to Sebastian and took the elevator. Once she got off the elevator and arrived in front of suite 916, she took a deep breath and calmed down. She did not know how to approach this matter and ask for Luan's help.
*Ding, Dong!*
She pressed the bell and Luan opened the door.
"Please, come in." Luan gave way for her to enter.
"Thanks." Entering the suite, she felt increasingly nervous.
"Okay, do you need my help with something?" Luan noticed Ingrid's strange behavior, and thought that something serious must have happened to her mother, and asked worriedly.
"..."
"Go ahead. If it's within my power, I promise to help you." Luan said attentively when he noticed her silence. Now, he was sure she needed his help.
"So... where do I start..."
"From the beginning, please," Luan said jokingly, trying to make her laugh, seeing that she was being very reserved and nervous.
In fact, it helped a lot. Ingrid laughed a little and started to speak softly, "As I was going to say, my mother bought herself a house, but it was through a receipt of purchase and sale. Like, this is super common in the neighborhood where we are currently living, but apparently the owner of the land with the deed of the house showed up and took her to court. And while I was away, there was a hearing and it was already proven that it was a real deed. The result came out today and now we have to leave the house within 30 days."
"But what about the person from whom your mom bought the sales receipt? Did she get to talk to that person?" Luan asked.
"No. It was really a blow. That person, a few days before the owner appeared, he had already moved and nobody knows where he went..." Ingrid said with regret. She knew about the struggle her mother had to buy their house and how many sacrifices she made to get it, being that she alone raised Ingrid and her sister.
"Mm, let's get straight to the point. I can buy you a new home. And before you reject it, listen to me," Luan told her.
"Okay." Ingrid waved her response.
"Ingrid, as I said, I can buy you a house; this is very simple for me. But I believe I already know you a little, and I imagine that you will not want this for free. So, how about this? I'll talk to my mom later, and get you a good job. Of course, it won't be many hours of service, just a few hours a day, to give you time to go to college. What do you think?"
"Can you do all this for me?" Ingrid was about to cry when she heard Luan's proposal. It was a fantastic thing to be able to work at Dimas Corp. Besides, she would be buying a house for her mother. That would be even more incredible. Since Luan would be helping, she wouldn't have to worry about someone wanting to take their house later, since for him, this would be a simple thing for him to achieve.
"Of course I would." Luan smiled at her, "To be very sincere, now that you are a cultivator, it is not difficult to get this kind of money, and what I am doing for you will only help until you get something better. You may even be able to excel in one of my mom's companies. Everything will depend on your performance."
"I will do my best!" Ingrid promised seriously.
"Okay, it's too late to do anything today. We are going to look for a real estate agent tomorrow, and we will find a good home for you and your mother. Mm... And your sister?" Luan asked doubtfully.
"My sister no longer lives with me and my mother; she only sometimes appears. Now she lives at my Aunt Lucia's house..." Luan noticed that when Ingrid said "Aunt Lucia" there was a twinge of anger in her voice.
"Okay, so tomorrow we can see to this and I'm going to talk to my mom and get you started working in two weeks." Luan asked, "What do you think of that?"
"Very good." Ingrid smiled gratefully. "Really, thank you very much for the support you are giving me. You don't know how much this is helping me, so, thank you very much, from the bottom of my heart."
Luan put his hand on her head and said, "Don't think too much about it. I think you're amazing, and I like you a lot. Don't think too much. As I said before, these are simple things for me. Now, let's go to the living room and have some food before bed."
"Okay, I'm just going to wash my face and hand quickly." Ingrid was deeply touched in her heart. At a time when she most needed support and help, Luan was there for her. It was a strange feeling, but very pleasant.
Ingrid went to the bathroom and washed her hands and face. She looked at herself in the mirror and saw that her cheeks were pink. She took a few deep breaths, calming down, and then she went into the living room.
{Edited by: Azurtha}