Chapter 3 The Encounter

Jennifer's eyes widened as she saw her sister laying lifeless and pale on the stretcher. Her heart began to ache as she rushed towards them," Erica!! , Erica, please don't do this to me" she called out, her face covered in tears as she followed the paramedic towards the ICU.

"You need to wait right here ma'am. Who are you?" A nurse interrogated.

"She's my sister, please save her" she lamented, her eyes already swollen from the constant crying. Everything seemed to be getting out of control making her helpless. She crashed down to the floor and began to sob, silently praying for her sister's recovery.

The doctor headed out of the ICU few hours later, "Miss?" He called Jennifer whose face was faced down weeping.

"Jennifer" she replied as she stood up, wiping away her tears. "How's my sister, Doctor?"

His facial expression became sober, "I'm afraid the situation has escalated."

Jennifer's eyes widened, "how doctor?"

"Your sister has blood cancer, it appears she had been undergoing treatment however, the treatment do not seem to be working anymore. "

Treatment? This was a shocker to her. Her sister never mentioned any of it to her before , whyy?

"What can we do to save her" she replied desperately without hesitating

"A bone marrow transplant is her best chance of recovery," the doctor explained

She nodded quickly, "Let's do it then , do whatever it takes."

"Uhmmm the thing is, this transplant will require the substantial amount of 15 million dains"

Jennifer took a quick gulp of her own spit but didn't hesitate, "I'll get the money , begin with the transplant immediately."

The Doctor's expression changed with a slight frown, " The thing is, we can't operate without the full payment being paid."

Jennifer began to bit her nails, she wasn't sure on what to do. Grandfather, yes, he was definitely going to help her.

"Give me some few hours doctor, I'll get the money" she responded hurriedly.

"Please do hurry, every minute counts and we must start the transplant as soon as possible"

She hurriedly rushed out of the hospital, wondering why all these were happening, Why didn't her sister inform her about it. She could've helped, was that why she constantly demanded for money for some school related issues and took side jobs?

Jennifer's boarded a taxi as she headed to the Evans mansion. The Chairman loved and cherished her so much, he had helped her throughout her childhood at the orphanage. He sponsored her education , got her a car after graduation and made her his secretary at his company.

They shared a father and grand daughter relationship and their bond was much stronger than that of his Children.

As she pulled up at the Evans mansion, she raced towards the door and hits the doorbell repeatedly before the butler opened the door eventually.

"Morris, I'd like to see Grandfather" she protests in a rush.

"Miss Jennifer, I do not think that will be possible. The situation..." the butler responded before being interrupted by a man.

"So this is the Jennifer I've heard so much about hmm?" The man spoke harshly, one could sense so much anger in his words.

Jennifer stared at him. Who was he? And why did it seem like he resented her? His face appeared a little bit familiar, and she tried recollecting where she had seen his face before.

"I'll excuse you sir" Morris bowed before excusing himself.

"You wouldn't be needed here anymore" he warned with a stern look on his eye.

"Sir, allow me introduce myself properly. I'm.." Jennifer insisted before being cut off by the the man. He moves closely to her.

"I know who you are alright, you've been brainwashing my dad into giving you money and helping your misfortune."

Jennifer stood still, dad? He must be the Chairman's Son, Paul Evans. That must mean the Chairman's family were back in the country. She could hear the chattering inside the house.

"I'm so sorry Sir" she kneeled and immediately began sobbing. "I just need to meet Grandfather, he'll understand" she concluded.

"Grandfather? He's sick and laying on his sick bed right now. Aren't you his secretary? What exactly have you done to him? You should be lucky I let you keep your Job" He yelled fiercely.

Jennifer eyes widened in surprise, how was that possible? He was alright when she left on the business trip, He had insisted on she being part of the trip.

"Grandfather, Grandfather!!" She began yelling in protest, trying to struggle to get her way in.

Paul who was getting irritated with her behavior called for security to throw her out of the house. Jennifer repeatedly pleaded with him, Grandfather was the only person who could help her at that short period of time.

Just as the securities pulled her out of the mansion , she sighted Damian's car parked at the garage. It couldn't be him, could it? She asked herself, wondering why he would be at the mansion.

Being thrown out of the Evans mansion, Jennifer tried giving the Chairman a call once more but he didn't pick up.

She's left wondering how he was doing, she hasn't been able to reach him for the past two weeks now. She was going to contact Morris later to find out the situation in the house.

She boards a taxi heading to the office, hoping to get an advance pay in order to pay for her sister's treatment.

Just as she arrived at the company she rushed towards the manager's office, her attempts end up in vein as the manager declines assisting even after explaining her situation claiming it was against the Company's policy and he had gotten permission from the new acting Chairman to detest from giving her any funds when it wasn't due.

"Why don't you try getting a loan from the bank. They should be able to grant you the money you need" the manager suggests, his eyes filled with pity and hope.

Jennifer sighed, the bank was going to get closed any moment from now, was it going to be possible? She had to get the money somehow, she had about 2.3 dains in her possession and it wasn't going to solve anything, Erica's life were on her hands

Her attempts to get the loan backfires as the employees refuse to pay her any proper attention as it was almost their closing hour.

She walked along the deserted road with a heavy heart of disappointment. She was going to try giving the doctor what she had, she couldn't possibly find a buyer for her car as it was heavily damaged from the accident.

Suddenly it began to rain but she kept walking, her mind fixed on getting to the hospital on time. A car on full speed begins moving towards her direction as she kept walking in the middle of the road not realizing.

In a blink of an eye, a man rushes in and saves her, pulling her to the end of the road.

"Miss Jennifer, are you ok?" He asked in a warm tone, using an umbrella to shield her from the downpour of the rain.

She stared at him blankly trying to recognize the unfamiliar face.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" She asks reluctantly.

"Let's have this conversation over there" he responds, his finger pointed all the supermarket few walks from where they were.

Jennifer disagreed, she wasn't going to wait and have discussions with a random stranger who had just saved her life. She needed to be at the hospital by her sister and trying to sort out those pending bills, she proceeded to leave.

"Our conversation might just be the answers to all your problem" He calls out.

Jennifer is taken aback, her curiosity intrigued. Who was this man and how did he know she had problems or to what extent exactly did he actually know?

She turned back to face him. " What do you mean?" She asked cautiously.

The stranger smiled with a faint mysterious curve on his lips, he moved closely to her, and places an umbrella over her as they moved to the supermarket.