Chapter 5 Chapter 0005

•LIANA•

I fell asleep in the waiting room while my father was still in the theater. He had been there for more than three hours, and I didn't want to leave until I had been told that the surgery was successful.

The nurses who were looking after him told me that he had a seizure and they had to find a way to stabilize him until there was a kidney donor.

I was so stressed and didn't know what to do. Ellis expected me in the office for Adrian's press meeting, and I didn't know how I was going to get there while my father was still in a critical condition.

My cell phone rang, waking me up. I sighed when I saw Maya's name on the screen. I was mad at her for even putting the underground club in my mind, but I also didn't want to tell her that I slept with someone in the VIP area.

"Maya?"

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," I answered, straightening my back. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, I—" she cleared her throat. "I'm sorry for bailing out on you last night. I had a very — ah — ugh, never mind. Are you okay? Did you have fun there?"

"Oh, please, did you call to make an excuse for choosing a dick over your best friend of five years?"

She laughed. "Come on, you know I haven't had anything in a while, and you won't believe this." She sighed, sounding as if she were in a happy mood. "That man rearranged my insides like never before. Whatever Wyatt used to do to me doesn't come close to what that guy did to me."

I leaned back in the chair and hummed. I liked listening to her stories because they sometimes took my mind off things.

I couldn't bear the thought of thinking about how bad things would be if I lost my father as well. He was the only family member I had left, and I didn't want to be alone.

"Well, I am glad you had fun at my expense, friend," I scoffed and looked toward my father's ward door. I wanted one nurse to walk out of that room and tell me that my father had been stabilized.

"Liana," Maya replied, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Are you okay? Where are you?"

Something in her voice broke the last bit of control I had left. My throat tightened painfully, and before I could stop myself, tears burned my eyes. I covered my mouth quickly, but a shaky breath still escaped me.

"Liana?" Maya's tone changed immediately. "What happened?"

I pressed my forehead against the wall beside me and squeezed my eyes shut. "My dad is in the hospital. He's in surgery as we speak."

"What?"

"He has kidney failure," I answered, my voice cracking. "They admitted him yesterday because his condition got worse. The doctors said he had a seizure yesterday morning."

"Oh, my God." Maya sounded horrified. "Are you serious right now?"

"We are waiting for a kidney donor so they can operate on him," I replied. "I can't lose him..."

"Liana…" Maya breathed. "Why didn't you call me sooner? Which hospital are you at?" she asked immediately. "I'm coming there right now."

I wiped my face. "No, don't come."

"What do you mean, don't come? You're crying."

"I'll be leaving soon anyway," I replied. "I still have to go to work this morning."

"What?" Maya nearly shouted. "Liana, are you insane? Your father is in the hospital."

"I know that."

"Then why the hell are you going to work?"

Because I needed the money. Because my life had completely fallen apart in less than forty-eight hours. Because Chris wanted his money back. Because I had signed a fake relationship contract with a Formula 1 driver for one and a half million dollars.

But I couldn't explain all that right now.

"I don't really have a choice," I answered. "But I'll check on my father again when I am back from work." I swallowed hard and looked toward the hallway leading to my father's room.

"Hey, Maya. I will call you later." I hung up the call when I saw a doctor walking out of my father's room with a clipboard in his hands.

I stood up when he reached my side. "Doctor, how is he? Is he okay?"

He sighed, and my stomach instantly dropped. I knew when I heard that sigh that it wasn't good. My mind started racing, wondering if he didn't make it or was at risk of dying if he didn't get the kidney transplant on time.

"I am sorry, Miss Cross, but your father's condition is not looking well," he answered. "He's in ICU and might not survive until he gets a kidney transplant in two weeks."

Time froze at that moment. I heard nothing after that. All I felt at that hour was how helpless I was to speed things up by paying the money that they wanted for his name to move up in the kidney donation list.

I remember just walking out of that hospital door feeling nothing. I was heading to my car, but my mind was all over the place, so I didn't pay attention to the cars that were passing by.

I heard screeching wheels and a honk after a long moment. Someone grabbed my waist and pulled me out of the way. I fell on top of the stranger, and when I opened my eyes and looked at him, my chest tightened.

"Adrian?" I scrambled up to my feet and fixed my dress. Instead of feeling grateful to him, I was irritated because how the hell did he get there? Was he following me? My mind span.

"You don't sound grateful that I just saved you from that speeding car," he sighed as he got up from the ground. "Did you expect me to let the car hit you?"

I looked at him and frowned. I rolled my eyes, clutched my handbag under my arm, and attempted to walk to my car when he grabbed my wrist and stopped me.

"I'm sorry, but you're not driving yourself after that suicide attempt."

"I didn't want to get myself killed."

"Yes, but to everyone here, you looked like you wanted to off yourself. And besides, I don't think it should be a problem to arrive together at the conference meeting. The people will love that."

A car stopped right beside us.