Dmitry Pushkin stood before his mother in one of the secret rooms in the mansion, his two hands were tucked perfectly inside his Pocket suit. Staring at his mother with a heavy heart. He grew up to see his mother this way- from what his grandfather had told him, his mother, Valentina fell into a Locked-In Syndrome immediately after she birthed him.
Valentina had wanted to abort her pregnancy but Mr. Pushkin had persuaded her not to. In the end, she kept it but after delivering the baby, she got swallowed up in one of the most terrifying illnesses ever- a rare neurological disorder that has no cure. His mother had been this way for twenty nine years, that is almost three decades.
Mr. Pushkin had employed the services of the best doctors all over the world but none could heal the woman. When Dmitry grew of age too, he used all that’s within his reach and means to make his mother get better but she was never better.
The woman is unable to move any part of her body, not even her mouth to chew food. There are special nurses that attend to her and ensure that food is passed into her body through PEG, a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy. This is how the woman has stayed alive.
Since when Dmitry was a boy, he would come here, lean on this same wall and watch his mother with a sad eye. Imagining how she would feel if his mother suddenly woke up someday. He had waited so long for a miracle but it never came. The doctor had even advised him to allow the woman to pass to the other end instead of watching her suffer for ages but he just couldn’t.
The only thing that moves in the woman’s body is the eyes.
Lately, Dmitry had brought the popular healer of Crying Sun, the blind old man, Mr. Peller to his mother and the man tried all he could, but his mother didn’t get better. Turns out both modern science and traditional medicine is unable to heal his mother.
Dmitry walked over to her and held her by the arms, he could feel the warmth in her hand. His head bled and he hated to see that he was helpless. After waiting on her for hours, he walked out.
He was a little bit surprised when he heard laughter coming from Titiana’s room. Titiana didn’t necessarily have a friend, has she suddenly made one. Dmitry walked over to the room and knocked. If Titiana will have a friend, then he should know.
When the door opened, Titiana greeted playfully, “hey big brother.”
“Who is inside your room?”
“Your wife to be. I told her to come and play with me.” Titiana said. Titiana wasn’t his blood sister but he already took her as one. Titiana was the daughter of his godmother.
Dmitry knew she was referring to Natasha. He only nodded and began to walk away. Natasha poses no threat to his sister so he wasn’t really bothered about it.
About an hour later, Natasha and Dmitry could be seen walking around the mansion, just cracking jokes and discussing all sorts like friends will do. Natasha was getting to know more about Dmitry from Titiana.
Soon, both friends engaged in a hide and seek game. And while the game was going on, Natasha went ahead and hid in a room she thinks is very secure. While finding a place to hide in the room, her eyes found a sick woman on the bed.
Apart from the fact that the woman was sick, the woman had a slight resemblance with Dmitry. Could this be Dmitry’s mother? He thought.
She walked towards her slowly, observing her. She soon discovered that the woman was bed paralyzed. After examining some parts of her body, she knew a possible case of brain trauma had led the woman into having this neurological disorder.
“Natasha! Natasha!” She heard Titiana called from afar. Apparently, she must have searched for her for so long and she had now given up.
Natasha carefully left the room and once Titiana saw her, she said, “where in the world did you hide?”
“That room,” Natasha pointed at the room Dmitry’s mother is in.
Titiana furrowed her brow and quickly held her by the arms and walked her far away from the scene, “Dmitry must have forgot to lock that room. He doesn’t give me access to every room, he calls some rooms his private room, one of them is the one you entered.”
“You saw something, right?” Titiana asked. Seeing the expression on Natasha’s face, Titiana confirmed her guess. “You don’t have to tell me but I think you should go home now. I think Dmitry will find out somehow, I wouldn’t want him to hurt you in the heat of his anger.”
Natasha realized she entered a room she should never have. “Okay,” she hugged Titiana and then left.
The following day, Natasha branched to the bank to withdraw the money she will pay Kenji with. For she had been procrastinating going to the bank and that’s mostly because her work is 8 to 4, most times, the bank will have even closed before she finished from work.
But this time, she proposed to go to the bank first before going to work. Once she was done, she carried the bag of cash and walked out. She had already called Kenji to come and meet her.
Natasha, with the bag containing five hundred thousand dollars, walked a few meters away from the bank. She hoped that no one would suspect that she was carrying such a huge sum of money.
All of a sudden, a car parked before her. Believing that it was Kenji, she set her gaze towards the window. But instead of the window coming down, the door opened and a masked man stopped in, pushed her away roughly and took the money from her.
She had barely stabilized herself when another car drove in, the window came down and it was Kenji, “miss. Natasha, please drop the cash at the back seat.”
Natasha was still yet to recover from the daylight Robbery. The robbery happened so quickly that she didn’t have the time to react.
“Miss. Natasha,” Kenji called again.
Natasha shook her head slowly, “I’ve just been robbed.”
Hearing that, Kenji moved forward a little and parked, then he walked up to her, “you were robbed? When?”
“Just now. I had withdrawn the money and had the money right here with me but some robbers came around and took it.” Natasha said. She looked at him and said, “I’m telling the truth.”
Kenji sighed, “Do you have an idea how these men look?”
“Their faces were covered.”
“I’m sorry this happened to you, miss. Natasha but I won’t be able to offer you my service unless you pay me. I should leave now.” Kenji said.
Natasha understood how important Kenji’s protection is so she said, “I have another five hundred thousand dollars. Let me withdraw that.”
“Okay, I’ll wait.” Answered Kenji.
The remaining five hundred thousand was from the money Dmitry had paid her. Dmitry had said he was going to pay a million dollars in total should he fully heal his sister. As Natasha walked into the bank, she couldn’t help but wonder who could be behind the robbery?
In a few minutes, she withdrew another cash and then handed it over to Kenji who was already waiting for her.
“Thank you, miss. I’ll resume tomorrow. And don’t forget that you only pay for my five months of service.” Kenji said.
Natasha nodded in understanding and then watched as Kenji carried the cash and walked away.
Now her account is empty. From having a million dollars to having nothing. Natasha purposed to use Kenji to deal with her stepmother and stepsister the following day.
She then went back to the company. She had barely settled in her desk when skinny Fernando came in. With his big teeth protruding out of his lips, he laughed awkwardly and said to Natasha, “Natasha, the head of department demands to see you.”
Head of department? Natasha knew that Pavel had been fired, so definitely, someone else must have been appointed. “Who is the head head?”
“Miss. Violet,” he smiled.
“Oh… I see.” Natasha forgot Fernando is Violet’s errand boy.
She then stood and walked with Fernando, “Natasha, you once told me you may consider having dinner with me in the future. Many weeks have passed since I asked you out… Will you ever consider it?”
Natasha glanced at his glaring ugly face and said, “I’ll consider it someday, it’s just that I’ve got a lot going on right now.” That was Natasha’s way of dismissing him.
Soon, she was before the door that leads to Violet”s office. This was the same office that Pavel had occupied.
She then knocked and Violet’s voice came through, “come in.”
Once Natasha was in, Violet smirked sinisterly, “Dr. Pavel helped you to forge a fake result. You are a law student and should be in the legal department, not here, risking the lives of people.”
Natasha’s heart thumped. She didn’t expect Violet to find out so soon. “I do have medical skills.”
“Oh yeah you do.” Violet said angrily. “Didn’t you help Mr. Pushkin heal?”
“That’s right. I believe I can fit into the medical department. I’ve been fitting in anyways.”
“Do you know what punishment you’ll get should I report this to the authorities? Not only will you get fired. You will spend at least seven years in jail,” Violet said.
Natasha exhaled, “you don’t have to.”
“Reasons why I shouldn’t?”
“I was wrong. And I apologize. It will do you no good seeing me behind bars.” Natasha said.
“Listen, you are good in traditional medicine, no one is even doubting that bug we are no longer in that age. This is the age of science and you must be able to blend.” Violet said. She added, “I won’t have to report to the authorities, at least not yet. However, to save my job, I have reported to the CFO. You should go to see the CFO during break period and sort yourself out.”
Natasha nodded and walked out.