TWO YEARS LATER
PRESENT
Caleb suddenly comes back to the city one day without informing his parents and Abigail in advance.
The first few days went well as he made an excuse to take a few days off from college and they were happy to see their son after so long. Especially Abigail, she can't put her feet on the floor when she sees him. But suddenly one day two men in black suits came to meet him in the house. His parents thought they were his friends while Abigail felt something was not right but what? She can't guess.
After those men left the home. They saw how Caleb's face lost all his color as he was on the verge of death.
Only then besides Abigail, Dale and Erma realized something is going on with their son.
"Caleb, What happened? Who are those men?" Dale questioned, looking at his son with a serious expression.
Abigail was standing in the corner with worried eyes but couldn't go so close to him as his parents were talking to him and she's not a member in their eyes.
Not after their son confessed his love for her too dearly that he was ready to go against them.
"Mom! Dad!" His complete body started trembling while his voice turned to shake. His eyes looked at the floor with grief.
Erma saw his son's reaction and felt anxious for him.
She sat on the couch beside him while Dale still stood and looked at his son with a straight face.
"What happened, son? You are scaring us!" She muttered with nervousness now.
Abigail also felt anxious to see him like this and could guess whatever is the reason. That was big.
"Mom, Dad…"
"I'm in a big debt…"
His voice turned weak while he was all-time shuddering with nervousness.
Hearing his sudden declaration, Abigail and his parents were completely shocked.
"What?"
"What do you mean 'In debt'?" Dale angrily shouted at his son.
"What debt are you talking about Caleb?" He questioned angrily while gritting his teeth with frustration.
Abigail wanted to support Caleb so she ran beside him without caring about his parent's anger.
But before she could go beside him, Erma glared at her and warned her with eyes to not take more steps.
Abigail stopped to see her reaction and just stood behind the couch and touched his shoulder from there to give him some comfort. As she could feel. How much pressure he is under right now.
Caleb felt her touch and looked at her for a second. He deeply inhaled before telling the complete truth to his parents.
Dale is still glaring at him angrily. He didn't mind Abigail at all. His all attention is on his son.
"Mom Dad!.." He looked at his parents as he started.
"Me and my best friends wanted to start our own business for a long time so, finally we planned to make it happen, as we are already in our last semester of college and could graduate in a few months."
"As you all know, starting a business needs lots of money and a nice spot where we can build our small business. So, after thinking for a whole week. We finally made up our minds to get a loan to buy land to start a new business in partnership together. We started our search for perfect land and it was finally over after ten days of searching."
"You bought the land?" Erma asked with shocking eyes.
"Yes…" Caleb answered.
"Where the hell did you get a loan to purchase land?" Dale yelled and threw the flower vase next second which was just beside him on the small table.
The loud sound of shattering shocked everyone.
"Honey! Please control your anger and let our son explain himself!" Erma rushes to her husband and holds his one arm to control his anger.
Abigail also gets frightened to see how angry uncle Dale is with Caleb.
"Alright! Let's hear him!" Dale's eyes turned sharp.
Erma nodded hurriedly and signaled her son to start speaking.
Caleb understands and nods in pressure.
"For a loan, My friend used his old home as a mortgage. While I used all my college savings to combine it with the loan money. And finally, we purchased the land. Everything goes well! But after a few days of purchasing land. We got the notice that the land is under the government and we were deceived by the landman! He was a fraud!"
"Ohh my goodness!" Erma pressed her hands against her mouth.
Abigail felt shocked while her eyes widened.
Dale clenched his fist with anger.
Caleb could see how big a blow they got because of him and he truly felt sinful about it.
"We were in losses and suddenly we started to get a notice from the bank for paying their money or else we need to face the consequences." As he spoke, his eyes closed with frustration.
"My friends told me that we can earn so much money from casinos. And we finally decided to take the last risks as we don't have any options."
"What happened then?" Erma inquired with worry.
"But in the end, we got into more debt! And lose our last single penny also!"
Both his parents felt speechless and horrified as they could not handle his words anymore.
On the other side, Abigail doesn't know how to react. For her, Caleb was not like that before. He never does small things without his parent's permission. And if he did not tell them, he would surely share with her. But now he is in huge debt without even knowing any of them.
"Debtors started to threaten us and asked for their money. We were so scared as they were powerful people and they would not be willing to listen to our words, so we finally decided to run back to our cities. To save ourselves! We thought they wouldn't find us. But we were wrong. As those two men in black suits work for casinos' owners, they come to warn me. Not to try to run and pay my debt in a few days." He looked guilty.
"Ohh my gosh!" Hearing Caleb's words, Erma felt she was going to faint any moment and lose her body balance.
"Mom!!" Caleb felt anxious and ran fast to held his mom at the right time not to hit the ground.
"Honey!" Dale comes beside her while Abigail goes to the other side.
"Aunt!" She tried to rub her hand. As she had already fainted.
Dale felt numb to watch his wife suddenly lose her conscience like this. He asked Caleb to take her to their bedroom.
On the other side, Abigail called the doctor urgently.
"The patient fainted because of stress and High BP." The doctor reported after checking Erma.
"Doctor, when will mom wake up?" Caleb asked with an anxious face while Dale also looked at the doctor with nervousness.
Abigail stood in the corner from them and listened to the doctor.
"She will be wake-up after resting. So, Don't worry!"
Caleb nodded.
"For now I'll give you some medicine names. Let her take it on time as per my prescription!" Doctor instructed.
"Thank you, doctor!" Caleb thanked him and the Doctor nodded.
"Now it's time for my leave!" The doctor announced and turned to leave.
After the doctor left, Dale looked at his son with anger and told him to leave them alone. As he doesn't want to see him for now!"
Caleb went to his room feeling upset and guilty for everything.
Abigail felt worried for him and instantly followed him behind.
She knew he would blame himself for everything and his mom's condition.
Abigail went to his room, as it was unlocked and the door was completely open. She could see Caleb standing on the window side. So, she steps towards him.
She stopped behind him and touched his shoulder while calling his name.
"Caleb…"
As soon as he heard her voice, he turned in her direction and hugged her tightly and tears poured down his cheeks.
"Abigail, this is all my fault! This is all my fault!" He repeated the same word again and again between his sobbing.
Abigail never saw him broken like this before. No matter what situation comes in their paths he is always a confident person. But today she saw how broken he is.
"Caleb!" She tightly hugged him while her tears also came out.
"Please don't worry! We will find a way to pay the debt!" She tried to console him.
"No! There is no way! Abigail…! There is no way!" He said helplessly.
"Caleb…" She broke the hug while holding his hands.
"You need to calm down first! If you think like that we will just lose time! And don't forget about your parents. They are still in big shock and you need to be strong for them. Do you get it?" She looked at him with seriousness.
Caleb looked at her and said, "I don't know Abi…"
"The debt is not a small amount!"
"What do you mean? How much money do we need to pay?" She asked, feeling shaking.
"It's one million..." He felt speechless.
Hearing him, her eyelashes flickered with anxiety.
"Wh...What?" Her voice turned shocked with this new information.
"One Million, Caleb?" She shook her mind in confusion.
"I don't get it! How could you get into this much big debt? Is there anything you didn't tell us? You hide something, Caleb?" She looked at him with serious eyes.
Watching her stare at him, he tried to avoid his gaze.
Abigail bit her lower lips as she already guessed he hid something.
"Caleb, what have you truly done?" She asked, raising her voice.
"I used our home to gamble!" Her eyes widened with disbelief.
"Our home?" Her voice was shaking.
"Abigail…" he squeezed her hands.
"I truly don't want to do that but because of the loan. I used our house as my last bet! But it's gone wrong! And I played again and again with the landed money from the gambler's owner."
"I don't know how many times I played that it turned out to be this big amount?"
"How could you do that Caleb?" She angrily shouted.
"Abi…"
She retreats from him.
"How did you get the properties paper?" She asked.
Caleb looked at the ground and said," When I come in on new year's day to meet all of you. I stole it from dad's cupboard!"
"Why did you do that?".
"What if they come and ask us to leave the house?"
Abigail felt terrible.
"I'm sorry! Abigail! I know I made a big mistake! but believe me! I never thought the landlord turned out to be a fraud and I need to gamble at last!" He knelt in front of her.
"But what if they come?" She also knelt.
"I don't know Abi…"
"I don't know! And that's what scares me!"
"What about your friend? Didn't he also gamble with you?" She asked, feeling curious.
"Abi. It was a lie!" He pressed his lips.
"What?" She started to feel Caleb changed. The more she spoke the more she felt.
"For gambling, it was only me who went to the casino." He explained.
"Then what about the loan?" She tried to understand the whole thing.
"He ran away after we got in debt!"
Abigail now understood everything.
"Abi...as you know mom and dad are still not aware of it. Please don't tell them about it!" He looked at her with pleading eyes.
Abigail feels like the Caleb she is looking at is not the same one. As she never thought he could do something like this.
But now what? He is already guilty and in a big problem.
And as his girlfriend, she needs to be there for him.
"Caleb…" she cupped his face.
"Don't worry! We both tried out to solve this big problem in any way! And until then I'll not tell you about home things to your parents!" She assured him.
Her eyes turned serious with her words, even when she knew very well that the amount is not a small deal. It's big enough to make them homeless.
"Thank you, Abi..." He hugged her.
"Did you talk to them?" Abigail questioned as soon as Caleb came out from his parent's room who was still angry with him."They are still angry but don't worry I'll manage and try to find a way to solve the situation!" Hearing these words from Caleb's mouth, Abigail gave him a small smile.At least now he's talking in his usual confident manner. She felt glad."Good! Now you should rest also!""We will talk about this issue tomorrow!" She said as she looked at the dark sky from the living area's windows."Alright!" His voice turned gentle while he suddenly leaned his head and kissed her forehead.
"Go Inside!" One of the men ordered while stopping in front of the massive door.Caleb looked at the door with serious eyes and finally inhaled a deep breath before nodding.The man opened the door for him and he went inside.As soon as Caleb enters. His eyes went to all black suit men around. While he looked up straight, finally focused on the man who was sitting on the luxurious leather chair in an emperor's manner showing a powerful aura around him. He is young which made him a little stunned. He was in an expensive branded suit. While everything around him showed his uncountable wealth and power.When Caleb's eyes roamed from his clothes to his face, he instantly felt a coolness around his back
IN PARENTS ROOM "Mom, Dad!" "Now you don't need to worry! I already solved everything!" Caleb happily announced it looking at his parents who were still confused with his words on the other side. After coming from the mansion Caleb directly comes back home to meet his parents and tell them about this good news. "What do you mean son? We can't understand it!" Erma inquires with a confused tone while Dale feels annoyed by his son's statement. "Caleb, don't try to lie!" Dale furiously shouted. "Mom-Dad" He held their one and one hands in his. While both of them looked at their son. "
"Wh...What are you saying, Caleb?" Abigail sat back on her bed with shock while her body got frozen for a moment in disbelief. Her eyes turned bloodshot and tears almost ran down to her cheeks. Her heart completely shattered at this moment. She couldn't believe in her ears what she just heard from Caleb. He wanted her to marry the casino's owner in exchange for his home and money. Moreover, he has already accepted the deal! He sold her to an unknown big boss to save his neck. He sold her love, her care, herself to some random person for his own selfishness, and now advised her to accept this marriage. Marry the stranger and support him. How the hell doesn't she feel sad, upset, broken
"Caleb, did you see how she's glaring at us?" Erma stared at Abigail with a disdainful gaze like she was seeing something disgusting while she added, "And you want to talk to this girl with sweet words. She doesn't deserve that" "Mom!" Caleb tried to stop her mom from saying more as his hand touched her shoulder. He wanted to try one more time to talk to Abigail before his parents got to participate there. "Don't stop me, son! We gave you a chance! Now let us talk to her!" Erma coldly declared while Caleb finally let go of his hand from her shoulder. As he knows she's not going to listen to him. Erma came and stood in front of Abigail and started her talk. "Abigail! Listen carefully, we spent too
As soon as they all left her. Abigail fell on her knees and started crying with her whole might. Her chest felt so much pain at this moment that she clenched her clothes around her chest. She didn't understand why Caleb needed to betray her like this. She loved him blindly. She supported him in all his decisions even when he wanted to go to the city leaving her here, she blindly trusted him and waited for him. Moreover, when he fell into big debt she gave her dad's savings to him without any second thought. But what does she get in retribution? The betrayal of her lover! He sold her like a thing. He doesn't think about her and their love. How could a person change so much in one night? Is money so powerful that love couldn't survive there? His d
When Caleb and his parents were discussing Abigail. On the other side, Unexpectedly, they heard the door slamming a huge sound coming from Abigail's room. And moments later, their eyes enlarged to see Abigail appear in front of them with a frightening appearance with misbehaving clothes. Her hands carried a wooden chair while her body felt weak as she was shivering too hard. They calculated she was pushing the door with a chair to come out to save herself. Her clothes were torn and her body had some scratches on herself. Abigail also saw Caleb and his parents standing outside her room in a quiet manner which made her instantly st
"They are here!" Caleb informed his parents as soon as he got a call from Byron's man. "That's great!" Dale exclaimed, showing his bright-eyed to his son. "She's ready! You go outside and bring them here!" Erma happily orders Caleb. Caleb nodded to his mother and went outside the house. Dale and Erma glanced at each other with satisfaction in their eyes. The three BMW cars stopped right in front of the house. Caleb looked at the car with a single glance before making his way to the first car's window.