Chapter 5
"Give me three days."
Calliope's eyes felt like they were carrying weights. Eight hundred grand in three days? She couldn't scrape that together even if she sold a kidney.
But she had no choice. She needed to buy some time.
"Why should we believe you? What if you bail?"
Kevin leaned in, his nasty breath making her want to hurl. She scrunched her face to keep from puking.
"I don't have the cash right now. What else can you do but trust me?"
Kevin glared at her. She kept her cool, but sweat was soaking her back. No way she could back down now!
After what felt like forever, Kevin finally looked away.
"Alright, three days. If you don't pay up, I'll bust his right leg! And yours too."
Kevin reached out to touch her face, but she dodged. He sneered, "If you don't have the money in three days, you'll be working the streets to pay off the debt! Let's roll!"
With that, Kevin waved his crew off, and they slowly left.
Tom dusted himself off, acting all subservient as he saw them out. Once they were gone, he walked up to Calliope with a cold look and spat at her feet.
"Calliope, why didn't you say something earlier? If you don't have the money in three days, I'll kill you!"
Calliope didn't say a word. She stormed back to her room and slammed the door.
Tom snapped, "Calliope, how dare you throw a fit at me!"
Rose shouted, "You useless piece of trash! What's the point of having you around? You've grown up and only earned peanuts! If you had become someone's sugar baby, would we be in this mess?
"If I had known the Gray family wouldn't acknowledge you, I would've aborted you! You're worthless!
"If you had tried harder, I would have been Mrs. Gray by now! You're useless! Why didn't I strangle you at birth?"
Outside the room, Rose had been ranting for nearly half an hour before she finally walked away. Inside, Calliope pulled the pillow off her head. Today had been relatively short; usually, Rose would rant for at least an hour.
Calliope had grown up in this toxic environment and had become numb to it. It made her cold and self-serving. She cared for no one but her brother David, not even her own mother.
At that moment, her phone rang, playing "Imagine" by John Lennon.
She picked up the phone and saw the name "David" flashing on the screen.
Seeing that name, Calliope's eyes lit up, like stars in the night sky. A smile, like a young girl's first crush, appeared on her lips.
Excitedly, she swiped the screen and put the phone to her ear. Her previously cold and emotionless voice turned sweet and girlish. "David! Why are you calling at this time?"
"Just thinking about you. What are you up to?"
A familiar and gentle voice came from the other end, conjuring an image of a kind and gentlemanly man.
Calliope's first genuine smile appeared. Her face flushed, her heart raced, and her smile was sweet and adorable, a stark contrast to her usual icy demeanor.
"I was sleeping."
Calliope instinctively hid the situation at home. Her tone was light and cheerful. No matter how bad things were, hearing his voice filled her with strength and hope.
"It's so late, and you're still sleeping? By the way, Calliope, I might be transferred back home next month. I'll be able to take care of you all then. Excited?"
"Yeah! David, I miss you so much!"
Coming back to work? That was great! Finally, she wouldn't just hear his voice but see him too!
Calliope's eyes sparkled with joy, and she couldn't stop smiling.
"Just wanted to let you know. Alright, I have to get back to work."
"David, take care of yourself."
"Calliope, I'll bring you a gift when I return."
After hanging up, Calliope's smile slowly faded. She suddenly remembered that David was coming back, and her feelings became complicated.
If David came back and found out everything, he would definitely worry. Their father was a gambler and a drug addict, their mother a prostitute, and she had been through so much.
Such a family would be a total drag on him, right?
But what really had Calliope freaking out was last night's mess. It was obviously a setup by the Gray family. She had no clue if Sylvester had managed to keep it under wraps. If it got out, it would be a massive scandal.
With her mind racing, Calliope finally drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Calliope was jolted awake by her phone blowing up with notifications. She checked it and saw that yesterday's drama had gone viral!
Every site was pushing the news from yesterday!
Videos, photos, recordings—it was like a soap opera. Some sites even had polls guessing which Gray family sister would marry into the Moore family on the 28th of next month, with prizes for the right guess.
Entertainment mags and papers were all over the story of Sylvester and Calliope. But in all the pics, Calliope's face was blurred, and her name wasn't mentioned. They just called her the second daughter of the Gray family who had been studying abroad, so no one could tell it was her. Sylvester, though, was front and center—he was the main attraction!
On forums, the scandal was blowing up, with millions of comments, about eighty percent of them roasting him. He was a polarizing figure, and his cocky, reckless behavior made a lot of people hate him.
As Calliope walked past the TV on her way to the bathroom, she caught a glimpse of the entertainment news and froze. For the first time ever, she was getting the celebrity treatment and was on TV.
"Folks, more news from the Moore family! This time it's a scandal! On the 28th of next month, Sylvester and Vivian's wedding is set, but yesterday morning we caught Sylvester and the second daughter of the Gray family having a private meeting. They spent the whole night in the presidential suite at the SK Hotel! Let's check out the footage."
Meanwhile, outside the hospital, Sylvester, who had nothing to do with the situation, walked out of the hospital. He had just finished an IV drip for a stomach bleed from drinking. Even though his lips were pale, he still looked classy and unfazed.
He was used to the constant scandals and didn't let them get to him.
But as he reached the hospital entrance, a mob of reporters suddenly swarmed him like vultures, with cameras, mics, and flashbulbs all aimed at him.
Luckily, Sylvester's well-trained bodyguards were pros at handling this. As the reporters rushed in, they blocked them, shielding Sylvester from the chaos.
"Sylvester, who are you gonna marry in the end? On the 28th of next month, will it be the eldest daughter of the Gray family at the wedding, or the second daughter?"
Flashbulbs went off non-stop. Sylvester, rocking sunglasses, had an unreadable expression, but a sly smile played on his lips.
"How about both?"
All the reporters were floored by his answer. Both?
"Sylvester, there's a rumor that you're sick. What's the deal? Can you tell us?"
The world went silent at this question. The other reporters looked at the newbie with pity. He was toast!
Last year, someone asked this question, and it ended badly.
Everyone held their breath, thinking the reporter was done for. The reporter himself was clueless, not knowing what he had done wrong.
But to everyone's shock, Sylvester was in a surprisingly good mood today. Instead of blowing up, he smiled at the camera and said, "Kidney disease, hereditary."
The answer left everyone speechless. Who would've thought Sylvester would calmly admit to having a kidney problem? Everyone stared at him in shock. Sylvester, the carefree playboy, always had surprising answers!
But if he had hereditary kidney disease, didn't that mean his father, John Moore, had it too?
The reporters' eyes lit up with gossip, but none dared to interview Mr. John Moore.