Forced Marriage With Adored Superstar

Pearl Lucas walked into the house smiling, she was home late but it was worth it as today had been a good day for her, she had been given a good tip today in her place of work, she works in a beauty parlor and some actress she had applied make up for. She loved her work and had been invited to the actress' show the next day to fix the actress' make up.

The actress, Yvonne, had been so pleased with her that she added some extras to her payment, Pearl was so happy, she could use the extra pay, her mother would certainly love this piece of good news, life hasn't been easy with them since their father had lost his job and was yet to secure another, her mother who was merely a cleaner in a small company had tried to make sure she always put food on the table, but her salary just wasn't enough to sustain them all. so Pearl had taken up a job at a beauty salon to assist with the house expenses.

"this should be able to feed us for at least two days" she smiled to herself, eager to announce the good news.

"Mom, Dad" she called out as soon as she entered the house but silence greeted her, she frowned, where is everyone?

"Jenny?" She called out her younger sister's name but also got no response, she entered the only room in the house and saw no one inside.

"where is everyone? Is no one at home?" She hollered as she entered back into the living room, did they all just go out and left the door unlocked? She checked her time, it was past seven, her mother should be home now and her father had nowhere to go, so where could they be?

The door suddenly opened and her sister Jenny walked in breathing like someone who ran Marathon race,

"oh thank goodness you're here Pearl, what the heck happened to your line, I've been trying to reach you".

"oh, I have a flat battery, where is mom and dad?" She eyed Jenny tempted to tell her of her day's event but restrained herself, Jenny seemed worried.

"Dad had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital" Jenny cried and Pearl felt as if the bottom had dropped from beneath her, she felt a hollow in the pit of her stomach.

" what! heart attack? Which hospital is he?" Pearl's joy soon faded replaced by worry, her father has been battling depression because of his joblessness, what could have triggered the heart attack?

"He's at City hospital, shall we?" Pearl was numb as she nodded, she followed Jenny to the hospital and saw her mother crying in the hallway, she quickly hugged her, tears brimming in her own eyes.

********************************************

In the hospital

"how's dad, what happened?" She stared into her mother's eyes, waiting for a reply.

Her mother sniffed, " not good, some test has been carried out and I'm waiting for the results".

Pearl led her mother to a seat, "come sit, dad will be fine, I'm sure if it, you'll see, the test result will show nothing serious and in no time, he'll get better and be discharged."

she turned to Jenny, "get Mom a bottle of water."

Her mother shook her head, halting Jenny, " no please, I don't want water".

"Mrs. Lucas" the doctor called and she jumped up from her seat

"That's me, doctor, what's wrong with my husband?"

The doctor shook his head, ", your husband will need surgery as soon as possible."

"What! Surgery? Doctor what exactly is wrong with my father" Pearl cuts in.

"You see, we've observed he has a tumor in his brain that would need an immediate operation, that is why he is always complaining of headaches and dizziness and it could be what had triggered the heart attack. At this point, he needs an immediate operation or it might be too late".

Pearl felt a pang in her heart, she stared at the doctor, "what do you mean by it might be too late?"

The doctor shrugged, "I'm afraid, your father might die if he is not operated very soon".

Her mother covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes rounded fearfully as her legs gave way, Pearl and Jenny rushed and caught her, and they helped her to sit down.

"Did you hear that? The doctor said he might die, we might lose him."

Pearl quickly put her finger on her mother's lips to stop her rant, "nothing will happen, mom, we won't lose dad, okay, I promise" she turned to the doctor, "what do we have to do doctor?"

"You'll just need to pay five hundred thousand dollars to perform the operation, then have faith".

"Five hundred thousand dollars? That's huge, we don't have such amount." Pearl protested

"Well, if you can get at least, two hundred thousand dollars, we'll commence with the surgery while you look for the balance and you need to get that as soon as possible, the more it is delayed, the more danger he's in."

Pearl hopelessly watched the doctor walk away, how in earth are they going to raise the sum of five hundred thousand dollars?even if they sell all their properties, they won't even realize half of the money, no, something have to be done, her mother's soft cry pierced her heart, Pearl ran to the doctor,

"why not perform the operation while I run around to look for the money?"

The doctor shook his head, " except the initial deposit is paid, there's nothing I can do, no operation will be carried out, and the money is just for the operation to be done, you'll also have to pay for his recovery process when the operation is done".

Pearl nodded desperately,

"I understand doctor, I am not saying we won't pay, we will, just perform the operation first".

"When you're ready for the operation to be carried out, you'll pay up, that's the only way it can be done".

Pearl watched as the doctor walked away

"How are we going to get such a huge amount? "

Her mother wailed and Pearl immediately ran to her side,

"hush mom, nothing will happen to father, I'll think of a way out, we can ask for help from some of his friends, I believe their contribution will go a long way".

Pearl brought out her phone and called a lot of people, but none agreed to have such an amount, some contributed so little that it didn't cover a quarter of what was demanded,

"I'll go to my place of work and see if I can be loan money" her mother stood up, wiping her eyes with the back of her .

Her brain did overtime, "mom, I'll go to my beauty parlor to ask for help and I also have an actress, you know her right, she's very famous and generous, I believe after applying make up for her, I believe she will pay me well, it might still not go anywhere but trust me mom we'll look for a way, together, we'll overcome". She hugged her mom tight and they sat hurdled close throughout the night.