Chapter 13

Twenty Thousand Dollars

The room door slowly opened, and Peach walked inside to see Miss Grace, sitting upright on the bed,
looking extremely pale and weak. But she didn’t want her mother to worry about her, so she forced a
smile and walked toward her. “Mama,” Peach whispered as she got near the bed, “are you okay?”
Looking over at her daughter, Miss Grace siniled weakly and nodded her head, answering,” I’m fine,
sweetheart. I’m just a bit dizzy and nauseous, is all.” Placing her hand on top of Miss Grace’s hand,
Peach whispered, fighting against her tears,” I’m here, Mama. No matter what happens, I will always be
here for you.” “Oh, dear,” Miss Grace whispered, reaching over to squeeze Peach’s hand, “You have no
idea just how much I love you.” Smiling lightly, Peach leaned forward and kissed her mother on the
cheek gently, saying, “I love you too, Mama.”

After Peach pulled away and sat down beside her mother, Miss Grace hesitated for a moment and then
a look of concern spiked in her eyes as she asked, “What happened to our customers, Elijah, Matt…
umm… James, Ryan… yeah, and Rookie?”

The thought of how she treated Elijah earlier crossed Peach’s mind and she felt a sense of guilt as she
looked down at the floor, sighing softly and answering, “I… I don’t really know… Maybe they have
already left the motel.”

Raising her gaze to meet her mother’s eyes, Peach’s lips trembled as she spoke, trying hard to keep
her voice steady and to stop herself from breaking down, “I am so, so sorry, Mama-”

Before she could continue speaking, Miss Grace quickly interrupted her by saying, “No, darling, it’s
alright. Everything is going to be just fine. We’ll figure something else out, I promise,”

Even though she knew that nothing was going to be fine, Peach smiled widely and nodded, faking a
look of excitement as she said, “Yes, yes, of course!” Clapping her hand against her pocket, she
thought of the twenty thousand dollars medical bill the doctor had given her, and her heart dropped into



her stomach. She didn’t dare look at Miss Grace, afraid that she would notice her sadness and worry,
but that didn’t stop her from feeling helpless and useless. It was silent for a while as her mother ran her
tender hand through Peach’s hair, and Peach closed her eyes tightly, wanting desperately not to cry,
but unable to stop her tears from slipping out of her eyes.

“What did Ben say about the cost of my surgery?” Miss Grace asked finally, still stroking Peach’s hair.

Pinching her jeans, Peach took a deep breath before whispering, “Don’t worry about that, mama. He
gave us a lot of grace period to pay the bills.”

“Is that so?” Miss Grace asked, sounding slightly amused but clearly unconvinced.

Nodding, Peach kept her tears in her eyelids and whispered, “Hmm,” “That’s good then.”

“Yeah,”

The room grew silent again and Peach couldn’t help but let the silence become comfortable for a
moment. She hated that this was happening, but there was nothing she could do to change it. “You
look drained. Maybe you should go home and rest,” Miss Grace suggested, her tone soft and loving
Peach shook her head immediately, “No, Mama. I’ll be fine.” “Please, Peach, take care of yourself. I will
blame myself if you fall ill because of me,” Miss Grace pleaded, squeezing Peach’s hand. A sob slipped
out of Peach’s mouth before she could stop it, and Miss Grace reached up to wipe away Peach’s tears,
smiling at her affectionately. “Now why are you crying?” she asked playfully, caressing her daughter’s
cheek with the back of her hand.

“I… sorry for being a crybaby, but … well…” she trailed off, sniffling lightly, her eyes filling with more
tears. Taking Peach’s face between her palms, Miss Grace kissed her forehead and softly said, “.
There’s nothing wrong with crying. You don’t need to apologize for anything. Now, go home, take a
bath, eat something, and rest yourself, okay?”



A sense of hesitation washed over Peach and she wondered if it was wise to leave her mom alone right
now. But the words she wanted to say wouldn’t come out, so she simply nodded and kissed her
mother’s forehead.

“Okay,” Peach said, getting up from the bed.

Then she gave her mother one last look before walking out of the room, feeling weak and

completely defeated. Where would she get a sum of twenty thousand dollars to discharge her mother
from the hospital was now her biggest concern. And as much as Peach tried to put it aside for now, it
was breaking her heart. Sighing deeply, Peach turned down the corridor, her head bent and eyes
watery as she mumbled, “Should I sell the motel?”

Shaking her head and wiping away more tears, she felt a sense of betrayal toward her father because
that was the only thing he left behind for her mother and her. The land that that motel was built on was
very expensive, and a front view spot of the city. That’s why her uncles have been trying to get their
hands on it because of its value. Their every attempt to make the motel run out of business was so they
could force Peach and her inother to sell it to them in the end. And the thought that she has to sell the
land made Peach feel like her devilish uncles were breathing down her neck again and winning when
she hated them with everything she had in her.

After arriving outside the hospital, she stopped a car, opened the back door, and climbed into the
passenger seat.

She was met with the coldness of the air conditioning and sighed heavily, turning to look at the driver
smiling at her in the V-mirror. “Where to?” He asked, starting the engine and pulling out of his parking
spot. “505 West 6th Street. Paz motel,” Peach said as she rested her head back, closing her eyes and
enjoying the cool wind on her face. Finally, after a while, the cab parked in front of the motel, and
Peach paid the driver before opening the door and stepping outside into the chilly afternoon air.



Her mind was disturbed as she made her way through the front door, and then she froze, looking at the
spotless tiles and cleaned walls

There were no blood stains or broken pieces of vase anywhere to be seen. It felt strangely… clean.
“Hello…!” Peach called out not moving an inch from where she stood, feeling a sense of dread and fear
fill her chest.

After some quiet seconds, she took two steps back and said in a firm tone, “I have the police on speed
dial, so if you don’t show yourselves right now, I will call them.” Knowing the only five people who have
been here recently, Peach swallowed hard and shouted, “Elijah!-“.

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