صدى الحب الصامت

A car passed a viaduct at a fast speed. The flickering lights shone on the handwriting on a note in a girl's hand.

She was in the back seat of a taxi. The note said, "11 o'clock in the evening. Room 8888, 28th floor of Hilton Hotel."

A teardrop fell on the note, the wet spot blooming underneath it. She hurriedly wiped her tears away but the sadness and bitterness remained in her heart. Her shoulders shook as she cried silently.

"Miss, are you alright?" The taxi driver noticed her. He must be thinking how strange she was, wearing a fancy looking dress but looking like a spooked child. She tightened her hold on the note. It took her a while to even tell the driver the name of the hotel she was going to, as if she were a foreign tourist.

"I'm fine. It's just… my feet hurt," Nina Bai stammered in reply. She kept on wiping her tears as she pressed the already crumpled note on her knees.

It was Nina's first time wearing such high heels. Her feet were killing her but the fear for what was about to happen was even more painful.

"Remember, don't piss him off. He has a bad temper but he's very generous. He's the key to raising money for your younger brother's operation. You know how difficult it is to find a matching kidney donor. If you don't hand in the money on time, the hospital will not be able to secure the kidney. Don't expect to be so lucky the next time around."

Daisy's words rang in Nina's mind. Daisy was also in the hospital for uremia. But unlike Nina, Daisy wasn't lacking in money. She only had to wait for a matching kidney donor to appear. Leon, Nina's younger brother, already missed one kidney donor because they didn't have enough money. They managed to find another donor for him but Nina didn't have enough money to cover for the expenses. This time, Daisy told Nina she had to do everything to secure that kidney for Leon - including selling herself.

Of course, Nina was against it at first. But after looking at her younger brother's swollen face and limbs, she knew she had to make a difficult decision.

"I'm not forcing you to do something against your will. All the girls I introduced to the customers made the decisions themselves. I don't want to destroy what's left of your innocence. But… what can we do? This is how society works now. And you two don't have parents anymore. How else can you save Leon? To be honest, if it weren't for your pretty face, I wouldn't even of given you this suggestion. But think about it. You can get three hundred thousand overnight. There are few women who earned this much this quickly! And very few men could afford this payment, too. Little girl, this man I'm introducing you to is not an ordinary person. You can't wear these clothes to meet him. But don't worry. I'll get you some fancy outfit you can wear. Tsk, tsk. It's a good thing you're already eighteen years old."

Daisy's words continued to ring in Nina's mind. She crumpled the note in her hand and said to herself, "You can do it, Nina. Do it for your younger brother. It's just for one night. You can get through this. Just choke down the pain and bear it."

Creak… Nina pitched forward as the sound of brakes pierced her ears. She looked up just in time to see the commotion.

Bang! Clap! The car made a half turn after the impact. Nina's head hit the seat in front of her.

Fortunately, the car skidded to a stop. She also had the foresight to fasten the seatbelt before the trip. Otherwise… it would have been horrible. Still, the impact of hitting her head on the seat hurt a lot. She covered her forehead with her hand and took a peek at the driver. "Sir, are you alright?"

The driver shook his head to clear his mind. He muttered that he was fine before he opened his door to check the hit on his car. It turned out they bumped into a beautiful sports car. Nina didn't know much about cars but she could see how expensive the other car looked. From her seat, she could see the taxi driver's face pale.

Nina didn't have time to wait for the taxi driver to sort out his matters. She hurriedly opened the car door and got off. She only had half an hour to get to the hotel.

"Sir, here's my fare. I have something really urgent to deal with so I can't stay here with you…" Nina handed the taxi driver some bills just in time to see a very handsome man step off the sports car. He was tall and slim, with his long hair framing his sculpted face. As soon as Nina's eyes found his, all thoughts flew out of her head. "Bobby Teng," she whispered in recognition.