Ashley's POV

The phone nearly slipped out of my hand as I took in every one of his words.

"Are you still there?" the guy asked in a concerned tone.

My mouth became dry as tears welled up in my eyes.

"Yes," I managed to answer.

Tristan was now staring at me puzzled, trying to figure out what was going on.

"As I've said, your mother is not doing well. You need to get here right now." He repeated.

What could possibly have happened to my mother? She was fine this morning.

My legs weakened as I leaned on the wall for support.

Tristan noticed the state I was in. He took the phone from my trembling hand to answer the guy.

He listened to the man on the phone as he paced on the spot.

"Where?" Tristan asked on the phone.

Seconds later he hung up the call.

Tristan looked at me earnestly. I felt like my whole world was falling apart. For a long time, my mother was all I had.

"Let's go," Tristan spoke.

He grabbed my hand as we rushed out of the clinic and to Tristan's car.

He instructed his driver of the location of the hospital as I tried to hold back my tears. My mother had to be alright soon. Was this my punishment for all my recent lies?

I hadn't expected Tristan to be this kind. He probably had a heart deep down.

The car must have been at its speed limit. We arrived at the hospital in no time. I think we must have driven through a few red lights. Under normal conditions, I would have been fearing for my life but all I could think about was my mother.

I rushed out of the car with tears streaming down my cheeks. I nearly bumped into people as I raced into the hospital building.

It wasn't difficult finding the receptionist's desk as I inquired about my mother.

Tristan was following behind me.

I nearly crashed into the large desk as I struggled to catch my breath.

"I'm looking for my mother. She was recently admitted here." I breathed heavily.

"What is her name ma'am?" the receptionist asked.

"It's..."

"Ashley!" I heard my name down the corridor.

I turned around to see Ivy running towards me.

Wait, what was she doing here?

I paused as I turned my attention to her.

"I'm so glad you could make it this fast, it's really bad." She spoke.

How did she even know my mom was in here?

Was this her plan? I don't think anyone could have planned anything like this.

But all of those questions didn't matter. I just wanted to know that my mom was okay.

Ivy grabbed my hand, leading us to the room as we rushed down the corridor.

We finally stopped at a door.

"The doctors are busy with her in there, it has been a while," Ivy spoke.

Tristan waited for an introduction as Ivy continued to explain the rest of the situation.

Of all my problems right now, he was the least significant.

"Tristan, this is Ivy and Ivy this is Tristan." I introduced the two.

Ivy responded with a mere, "Oh."

Tristan had extended his hand for a shake when Ivy turned away from him as if she hadn't seen it.

Tristan was left hanging as he stuck his hands into his pocket trying to look cool.

After the way she got crazy looking at his pictures in the magazines, I hadn't expected this to be her reaction on her first time meeting him.

I paced the wall, unable to remain calm as my old habit of biting my nails kicked in.

All I knew was that my mother had a heart attack and that it was serious. There were so many blanks in my mind that didn't make sense.

Tristan was the first to break the silence.

"It's so nice of you to be here. You must be such a thoughtful friend. It's great that you were the first one to arrive." Tristan spoke directed at Ivy.

"Well actually, she is my cousin." Ivy stuttered. "They only called me first because Ashley didn't have a phone. They only called her just to make sure," Ivy replied.

Great, I had just discovered I had a 'cousin' plus my mom was in the hospital. Was there anything else she was hiding?

"You really don't have to be here; you are just nothing but a nuisance around here. Even the flies are more useful." Ivy continued.

What was she really up to?

Tristan was about to say something when the doctor walked out of the room.

All of our attention was now directed at the doctor.

"How is she, doctor?" I asked.

"She was in a very critical position, but we have managed to stabilize her for now. We are doing the best we can." He spoke.

The doctor gave us a look of sympathy before disappearing down the corridor.

"Of all the people that I know, she really doesn't deserve this. She is always such a strong woman; she always yells at us to eat healthier. I didn't think she would end up here." Ivy spoke.

I think I saw some tears in her eyes.

All the emotions I had been holding back imploded. My mother really wasn't well.

Ivy hugged me as she noticed the fresh stream of tears in my eyes.

"Don't worry, it's okay," Ivy spoke. She was soothing me like you would a two-year-old child, and it was working. "It's all part of the plan," Ivy whispered over my shoulder.

She continued rubbing my back until I had finally processed her words.

What did she mean by this was all part of the plan?

I pulled away from her hug waiting for her to explain.

Her eyes pointed at Tristan, indicating that it wasn't safe for us to speak.

"Let's get you a place to sit," Ivy spoke loudly.

Ivy held me, walking us towards the nearby bench for a seat.

I sat down, waiting for her to explain.

Tristan too walked away, disappearing into the corridor to take a phone call.

"Look, your mother is not the one in there, it's someone else." She explained.

"What?" I whispered as my eyes widened.

What had she done? That would explain why she stopped me before I reached the receptionist.

Ivy sighed before explaining the story.

"My cousin called me asking if I could just stay with this mother for the day because he had some important meetings to attend. He called me because apparently, I have the least important job in the family." She spoke sarcastically. "I was about to say no when I saw your messages. I saw this as an opportunity. I had someone call you so you can come here." She explained.

"Did you just say you exploited the situation of a dying woman?" I asked.

I don't know how many people find out that their family members are in the hospital and decide to use that as an opportunity.

"She is not that serious." She explained.

I still have other questions.

"Why would you have someone do that? Couldn't you have done it yourself and let me in on the plan?" I spoke.

I was extremely worried about my mother, only for the whole thing to be a lie.

"Well, you are not a good actress, and I needed it to look believable. If I had called you, you would just have too many questions and wouldn't believe me anyway. That's why I had someone do it." She explained.

She had a point.

After a while, I was now feeling better about the situation.

"What is your aunt here for?" I asked.

"She just recently had some breast implants overseas. Apparently, there was silicone leakage so now they have to have them removed." She explained.

I'm surprised anyone can pull this off in such a short time. She was officially an evil genius.

As grand a plan as this was, it meant I was stuck trying to cover up more lies.

"You owe me, I had to skip work for you." She spoke.

"How about the time I helped you out so Marcus wouldn't find out you were hungover?" I reminded her.

"We are equal now," she sighed.

This surely was a breath of relief.

This situation just gives me trust issues. The next time someone tells me my mom is in the hospital, I'm asking for pictures.

"Tristan is coming, pretend to cry," Ivy whispered.

I followed her instructions. I looked down, pretending to wipe my tears.

"You should try and calm down, it's not good for you or the baby," Ivy spoke soothing my arm.

Tristan approached us.

"Here you go," He spoke handing me a bottle of water.

The bottle was nearly empty after a few gulps. I needed the water to calm my nerves.

"I think it's time for you to go, the rest of our family will be here soon, and I don't think it would be good for you to be here," Ivy spoke.

Tristan's calm and kind attitude quickly evaporated.

"You know what, I'll stay here. I have all the time in the world, I just cancelled all my meetings." Tristan spoke.

I didn't want to deal with him here for a couple more hours.

"Wow," Ivy retorted. "You sound very supportive for a guy who recently called my cousin a whore."

My eyes widened at Ivy's words.

"First of all, that has nothing to do with you. Secondly, I just want to ask you a question." Tristan paused. "Are you sure your aunt didn't get a heart attack because you are such a disappointment?" He continued.

My jaw dropped at Tristan's words. I was used to him insulting me but I hadn't expected him to say that.

Ivy was also taken aback by his words too.

I needed to stop this before it escalated further.

"My mother is in there, show some respect," I interjected.

Tristan was slowly backing down.

"I would appreciate it if you leave. My sister will be here soon and I don't want anyone fighting around her." I spoke.

I covered my face pretending to cry. I think I was getting used to this. Someone needs to hand me an Oscar.

Tristan sighed as he stood up from his seat.

What he did next took me by surprise. He didn't leave as I had expected.

Instead, he stood up to hug me, gently stroking my hair. I didn't fight him to push away from his arms. I took a second to take in his strong sweet scent as my body sank into his.

"Shh, it's okay. Don't cry." He whispered.

Tristan's physic blocked away my vision of Ivy, I'm pretty sure she was smiling at us right now.

By the time he finally pulled away, I could still feel his arms around me.

"I hope your mom gets better. If you need anything don't hesitate to call me." He spoke.

I didn't respond. My brain was still having a meltdown over the fact that he had just hugged me. This was the longest we have gone without an insult.

Ivy did nothing but stare daggers at him as we watched him walk away.

With him gone, I felt I could finally breathe.

Ivy sighed.

"At first, I felt bad for him. I thought, no guy deserves to be lied to about a pregnancy but after this, I'm willing to help you get half of everything he owns." Ivy spoke. "The guy is such an ass."

"He probably thought you were rude to him," I spoke.

"I had to be rude to him, that's the only way of getting rid of him before he realizes everything that's going on." She spoke.

"I have to say, I think Tristan is a jerk but you two look cute together." She spoke.

I think this is what I needed to convince myself that Ivy had completely lost her mind. He was throwing insults at me half the time. There was nothing cute about that. I don't buy his apology; I think he is up to something.

The doctor from earlier was back now.

"I see your friend is gone; you owe me a hundred dollars you know?" He spoke.

It took me a second to process the situation.

"You were in on this too?" I asked puzzled. "Isn't there some kind of ethical rule against that?" I asked.

"I'm just trying to pay off my student debt." He answered. "Your aunt was awake when I left. She says she is bored." He spoke.

He placed both his hands in his pockets and then walked away nonchalantly.

I was still shocked that he had agreed to do that.

"Now that we are alone, I think it's safe to say that we need to prepare for war. The guy is a lot smarter than we thought. We need to bring in our best weapons." She continued.

We are at war now?

"Let me get this straight, what you are suggesting is that I have to keep lying to get out of this mess?" I asked.

"Yes," She answered proudly. "You are already in way too deep. Deciding to back out of this plan would just be suicide. If he is already buying you an iPhone now, imagine the kind of house you could live in?" She asked.

As soon as he finds out the truth, I won't afford to live in any house.

"You know, I'm already imagining his face when he finds out that this whole thing has been nothing but a lie," I spoke.

"You shouldn't be so negative; this will be over before he finds out the truth." She spoke.

"How long do you think it's going to take him to find out that you also work at the hotel?" I asked.

Ivy paused.

"He is going to fire both of us isn't he?" She asked.

I nodded.

I couldn't help but laugh at how far I had fallen. I was getting deeper into this mess every day.

"I guess we just have to work on our next plan, how you are going to tell him that you lost the baby." She said.

That didn't sound like too bad of an idea. It was what I needed to get me out of trouble. What could go wrong?

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A/N: Thank you so much for reading. Please vote and comment down your thoughts.