Chapter 3 Time to act.

THREE

AVA's POV

I had just gotten out of the shower when I noticed a car pulling up in the driveway. As I peered out the window, I saw Ashton Knight getting out of the car, and my heart sank. What was he doing here?

Oh right. To collect his damn money.

I hurried to the door and peeked out to get a closer look. He looked angry, and I knew he was here to talk about Olivia.

I had to admit that he was a striking figure of a man, exuding an air of confidence and sophistication. His muscular body was well defined and sculpted,evident in his crisp white shirt.

His face had a light stubble, revealing chiseled jawline and high cheekbones that would make any model envious. Standing at an impressive 6 foot 4 inches tall, he towered over my Mom and definitely most people too.

I wasn't close enough to see his face properly but it was obvious how ridiculously handsome he was.

Mom greeted him with a smile. "Ashton, what a surprise! What brings you here?"

He scowled at her. "Where's Olivia?" he demanded,his voice deep and resonant.

My mom hesitated for a moment before lying, "She just needed some time away.She'll be back soon."

Ashton didn't seem to believe her. "I need to speak to her about the money she owes me. She needs to pay it back, and she needs to pay it ASAP,"

Mom looked worried. "I'm afraid we don't have that kind of money right now, Ashton."

He looked at her coldly. "Well, then we'll have to come up with another solution. I want a contract marriage. If she can't pay me back in cash, then she can pay me back with her body."

I felt sick to my stomach at his words. How could he be so cruel and heartless? I knew that Olivia had made a mistake, but this was going too far.

How dare he?

Just then,my phone started beeping. It was from Brett.

I went back into my bedroom to pick it up.

Just as I put the phone down,my Mom flung my door open and I could see Ashton getting back into his car.

"Ava,there's a huge problem but thank God you're here to solve it," she said.

I didn't like what I was hearing. I wasn't some sort of miracle worker.

"What is it Mom?" I crossed my arms over my chest as I stared at her in anticipation of what was to come.

"Well uh Ashton just left.."

"I saw"

"He wants to get married to Olivia."

Okay I had heard him mention something about that but wait! He wasn't really serious was he?

Mom continued,"He wants a marriage contract for a year with her and he is also going to help with some money, help take down her leaked tape,also forgetting about her debts."

"And then what did you say?"

"I said to give me some time to think about it. He would be back in a few days,"

I didn't understand where this was going. Ashton Knight wanted to marry my sister just out of the blue?

This had just won first place out of all the craziest things I had heard since I returned.

I thought he liked changing girls like his expensive clothing and now he was willing to settle with just one woman?

"Ridiculous," I said loudly."Did he freaking hit his head somewhere or something? It's so weird."

"Well I don't care what the reason is." Mom said seriously."The good thing is that our problems can be solved with this singular act and you need to act accordingly,"

A frown marred my face. "Act accordingly how? We need to reach Olivia as soon as possible to come take care of this mess,"

"It is pointless. Here is the thing, you need to impersonate your sister."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. It's the only way. We don't got time on our side unless you wanna be kicked out of here in a few days and start living under a bridge or a homeless shelter."

I groaned loudly."Mom you've got to be fucking kidding me right now! How are we going to pull this off?"

"What do you mean? You both literally have the same face. How hard can it be?"

I was irritated. "Jesus Christ Mom, I do have a life remember? I just came back too and now I have to take care of everything. This is too much. I didn't come back to LA to come marry some man I don't even know. I came here to pursue my dream. Fashion is my life and I won't have it any other way,"

Mom was silent for a few seconds and then started shedding crocodile tears. I had seen it a lot over the years to tell it very quickly. She was very dramatic.

She always had to get her way somehow.

"So you want us to be homeless? You don't care about anything! You want us to starve to death?" She sniffled and wiped her nose with her knuckles.

Her eyes were as dry as the Sahara desert.

She couldn't fool me.

"Ava, do something! You have to save us," she closed the space between us and shook me,pleading.

Oh my God. I wasn't Wonderwoman.

"Do you want us to live miserably and --"

"It's okay, that's enough!" I yelled and broke free from her grip."Please Mom,just give me time to process all of this. It's too much on me,"

"Ava darling,promise me you would think about it,"

I sighed,rubbing on my temples. "Yes Mom,can you leave now?"

Never in a million years did I see this coming.

Arghhhh!

I grabbed my phone and started calling Olivia again hoping by some miracle she picked it up but it kept going straight to voicemail.

'Hi this is Olivia. Can't talk right now,please leave a message at the beep.'

It was hopeless.

I felt a wave of so many emotions at the same time. Hurt,frustration,irritation,anger,confusion. All at once. How was I gonna get out of this one?

I padded out of my bedroom to go get a glass of water first of all to calm my nerves a little.

And then I found Dad just walking in with a frown on his face.

He was a man in his late fifties, with a rugged, weathered look. He rarely smiled though. Only when he was watching his favorite game on television.

"Hey, Dad," I said tentatively. "How was the game?"

I knew he had been out gambling again.

He let out a gruff snort and slammed the door shut. "Another loss," he muttered, shaking his head.And then proceeded to run his fingers through his deep rich brown hair that were beginning to show signs of grey at the temple.

This wasn't the first time my dad had lost at gambling, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. But I couldn't help but feel frustrated that he couldn't see the damage he was causing to our family's finances.

"Dad, you can't keep doing this," I said firmly. "We can't afford to keep losing money like this. You need to find a better way to spend your time."

"What exactly are you saying?" He shot me a look with his deep set brown eyes looking at me like he could see through my soul.

"I'm saying that you're wasting time and money. You need to look for a stable job. Aren't you tired of all these? It's not like you ever win anything anyway,"

He scoffed at my words and brushed past me towards the room. "Mind your own business, Ava," he said, his voice tinged with annoyance.

I felt a lump form in my throat as I watched him disappear inside. It hurt me to see him so careless with our money, especially when we were struggling to make ends meet. But it seemed like he didn't care about the impact his actions were having on our family.

I turned on my heel and stormed out of the house, feeling a sense of anger and frustration boiling inside me. I knew I couldn't change my dad's behavior, but I had to do something to make sure that our family didn't suffer because of his gambling addiction.

I wasn't sure what I was gonna do yet but I had to fix things somehow. It was time for me to take matters into my own hands.