Chapter 4
I had no idea how long I'd been out.
When I finally woke up, it was already pitch black outside.
There was dried blood on my nose.
I let out a bitter laugh.
Frank's slap had almost taken half my life.
I turned on the light and looked at the photo of Frank and me hanging on the wall.
In the picture, he was gazing at me with so much affection, as if I were the only sunshine and hope in his world.
Then it hit me: that was actually the darkest time in Frank's life.
In this novel, Frank was the very definition of a tragic figure.
As a kid, his mom abandoned him.
The only family he had left was his dad, a violent drunk.
Whenever things didn't go his way, the old man would lose it and beat Frank like there was no tomorrow.
After struggling to grow up, Frank was bullied again.
In college, his teammates accused him of copying his project.
That time, he nearly broke.
I was the one who raced up to the rooftop when he was about to end it all, desperate, grabbing him before he could jump.
I looked him in the eye and said, "It doesn't matter if no one else believes you. I do."
And in return, he put all his faith in me.
But when did all that disappear?
Now, after all this illness, I stood before him: sick and frail, nothing but skin and bones.
Even when I told him I was dying, he refused to believe me.
Everything had changed.
When I finally made it back to the hospital, I was surprised to see Yvette actually awake.
As the tumor in her brain kept growing, she was awake less and less.
When she saw me, the worry on her face finally eased.
"Nora, you're back. I'm so glad you're okay," she said.
I looked at Yvette, feeling guilty as hell.
I was fine; she was the one suffering.
I couldn't hold it in anymore. I just hugged Yvette tight and broke down crying, tears streaming down my face.
I choked out, "Yvette, I'm sorry. I couldn't bring Frank here for you.
"He just doesn't believe me."
Yvette gritted her teeth and muttered, "What a jerk.
"It's fine. If he won't come, whatever. We'll just find someone else.
"Dr. Green just told me there's a top neurosurgeon overseas, who is even better than Frank. If we can come up with 200 thousand, we can get him to come here and operate on me."
My eyes lit up.
Looks like there was still hope.
200 thousand was nothing for Yvette and me.
Both Zack and Frank were big shots now.
After hustling for so many years, we deserved a little payback.
I got in touch with Alex and let him know we could pull the money together, asking him to help us reach out to the expert.
But when I tried to pay, I realized Frank had frozen my card.
Yvette just scoffed.
She said, "Use mine."
But her generosity was cut short because her card was frozen, too.
Yvette stared at the message on the card reader, frozen in disbelief.
I walked over and squeezed Yvette's hand, my heart going out to her.
"Don't worry. I'll go straight to Frank and ask him for the money. Seriously, who does he think he is, freezing my card like that?" I said.
Yvette reached out and grabbed my hand.
She said, "You're right. Who the hell do they think they are, freezing our cards?
"I'm calling that bastard Zack right now."
Yvette's face lost all color again.
I could tell the pain was back.
Her hand shaking, she clutched her forehead and called Zack.
Zack's manager picked up.
"Yvette, what's up? Zack's busy right now," the manager said.
It was midnight. What could he possibly be busy with?
He just didn't want to deal with Yvette right now.
Yvette let out a cold laugh and said, "Tell Zack he'd better wire me 200 thousand, or I'll spill the beans about him and Iris.
"I will let everyone see that the goddess they all worship is nothing but a shameless homewrecker."
There was a quick shuffle on the other end, and then Zack's voice came on.
He used to be a total mess, clinging to Yvette as if she were his last hope. Now, his voice was cold as ice. He demanded, "Yvette, how can you be so shameless?
"Iris is so sweet. Why can't you just let her be?
"Just like Iris always says, you're bad to the bone."
Yvette gripped her chest hard, fighting the pain.
She took a deep breath and said, "Yeah, I'm bad. So for your oh-so-sweet Iris, mark my words: get that money on my card within three days.
"Otherwise, I'll make sure the whole world knows what you two really are."
Zack finally caved.
But it wasn't like Yvette came out on top either.
Her headaches lasted even longer now.
Even the pain meds stopped working.
Alex had some great news for us. The top overseas specialist agreed to take the case and come over.
As long as we transferred 200 thousand to his account within three days, he'd be on the next flight here.
But in the end, the money from Zack never came through.