Chapter 3

The loud laughter of Reggie Adams filled the room. "I have never seen that look on you before, it's amusing."

Kain blinked twice, not fully grasping his grandfather's words. "What do you mean get married? What does that have to do with M&A?"

"For you to inherit the company Kain, you are going to get married and have a child within the year."

"I don't understand grandfather, why do I need a child?"

"Because I said so." Reggie replied, the humour in his voice gone. "Being a family man is very important in business Kain, you might not see it now but you will later. It's why I tell you to make time for family."

"But marriage and children, that's a different task on its own." He tapped his fingers on the table. "It's not easy to have a family, I'll neglect them and only care about the company. I don't wanna that, not now or ever."

"Then you better start reconsidering Kain. Your chance to become CEO of M&A Corporations is on the line." He stood up from the table and walked away leaving Kain lost in thoughts.

****

Amanda laid awake all night thinking about the words of the doctor and the painful realization about her mother's health; She had stage three stomach cancer and needed surgery as soon as possible.

"I can't believe we're going to loose mum too!" Cynthia cried.

"Keep your voice down, she's in the next room." Amanda hissed.

Her mother got discharged and they brought her home to rest.

"We aren't going to loose mum so stop being dramatic. Tomorrow I'm going to the bank to access all our savings and use it to pay for the surgery."

"The ba…bank?" Cynthia stammered. "Isn't that my college fees? I thought we weren't touching that anytime soon."

Amanda sighed. "I know and I'm sorry Cynthia but I promise to work twice as hard to get it back. You might have to stay back for another year but I promise you'll go to college."

Cynthia swallowed nervously. "I really am sorry Amanda."

"There's nothing to r sorry about Cynthia. It's not your fault and mum is going to be alright, the doctor said so and I believe him."

At the first light, Amanda made her way to bank to access the savings account her father had left in her and Cynthia's name.

"Good morning I'd like to make a withdrawal of the Diez account."

"Okay, please can I have a means of identification." The bank teller said.

Amanda handed the bank teller her I.d card and other documents.

As she waited, she thought about her mother. Finding out about the cancer left her scared and she had prayed silently that the surgery would go well and everything would be back to normal. She couldn't handle losing another parent.

"I'm sorry Miss Diez," the bank teller said, her face a mixture of confusion and pity. "Someone else already withdrawn all the money from the account.

Amanda's heart skipped a beat. "What? That can't be right." she stammered, her mind reeling. "I and my sister are the only ones who can access this account, and I definitely didn't authorize any withdrawal."

"It appears your sister, Mrs Cynthia Diez, was the one who made the withdrawal." The teller continued, her expression sympathetic.

Amanda stood there in shock, trying to process what the bank teller had said. Cynthia? Her own sister had taken out the money that she was going to use to save their mother.

Without saying another word, Amanda stormed out of the bank, her anger and disbelief fueling her steps.

Amanda arrived at their apartment, anger boiling through her veins. She kicked open the room door where Cynthia was still asleep.

"What the hell were you thinking Cynthia?!" Amanda yelled.

Cynthia stirred from her sleep, "Why are you shouting?" She mumbled.

"Why am I shouting?! I just found out that you withdrew all the money in the savings account that dad left for us. I still don't want to believe it, how could you do that?!"

Cynthia sat up immediately, her expression clouded with guilt. "I am so sorry Amanda, let me explain."

"You're sorry! You're sorry! That was the money I was going to use for mum's surgery!" She dug her hand into her hair. "Why did you take the money out?"

Cynthia tightened her grip on the sheets. "I gave it to Malcom." She whispered.

Amanda's eyes widened in disbelief. "You gave out mother's treatment money to your loser boyfriend! Are you crazy?!"

Cynthia looked up, startled and defensive. "It was before we found out about mum's sickness okay?!" She cried. "I gave it to him because he said an investment and that he could double the money. I could go to college and you'd still have enough to take care of you and mum."

"And you believed him?" Amanda scoffed. "That idiot can't even keep a job, he dropped out of high school and he sells drugs Cynthia. Why do you look so suprised, did you think I wouldn't notice? I have warned you countless of times to leave that idiot and focus on your studies but you didn't listen, now we are in the mess that you created with your own hands. "

Cynthia's face crumpled, her eyes welling up with tears. "I'm sorry Amanda. He promised me it would be okay and that he'd pay it back before anyone would even notice it was gone. When you told me last night that you were going to use it to pay for mum, I was so scared."

Amanda dug her hand deeper into her hair, tugging at the roots. "Where is he? Call him right now and ask for the money? I don't need his interest or whatever, I just need the money now Cynthia!"

Cynthia picked up her phone from the nightstand and dialed Malcolm's number.

"Put it on speaker." Amanda said the moment he picked up.

"Hey baby." His voice drawled from over the phone.

"Malcolm I need the money I gave you from my family's savings account. My mum is really sick and she needs money for the surgery."

The line went silent for a moment before Malcom spoke. "Cynthia, I was going to talk to you about it today, the investment went wrong and I lost all the money."

Cynthia placed her hand over her mouth while Amanda slid down to the floor.

"What do you mean you lost the money? You promised me it would work, that you were sure of it!." Cynthia cried

"Give me the phone." Amanda snatched the phone from Cynthia. "Malcolm you better be joking or so help me God, I will make sure you get busted for those stupid pills you hoard around."

"Am.. Amanda." Malcolm stammered.

"Where is our fucking money?! I mean, I knew you were an asshole but exploiting money from a 19 year old just because she cares about you is a different kind of low."

"I swear I dont know what happened to the money, I also invested in it too and I lost my money."

Amanda took a deep breath, trying to rein in her anger. "Malcolm you have today to puke out all the money or I'll make sure you sleep in a cell. Don't think I don't have enough evidence of the kind of bullshit you do." She hung up the phone without waiting for his reply.

Amanda glared at Cynthia. "Mum will die if we don't get the money needed for her surgery. The cancer will eat her alive, I hope you understand the gravity of what you've done."