I felt sorry for the young lady. She must have suffered a lot after knowing that her survival cost the life of another girl.
After a while, I asked, “Do you know anything about Armond?” That day in the cowshed, Ann told me that some of the children never returned to the village after they were taken away.
I was not sure if it was what I think it was.
Upon the mention of Armond, Hailey’s clenched the blanket, her face darkened. After a long silence, she finally said, “That man is Satan! He has blood on his hands just for money. I suppose many people have died at his hands.”
I furrowed my brows. “You have never met him before. How are you so sure that he has something to do with the organ trade?”
She looked up at me and uttered, “I have never met him, but I knew that guy. My father was imprisoned because of him. Initially, my father only wanted to find me a matching heart. That man brought the girl of my age to my father. He told my father that her illness was incurable and that I could get a heart transplant after she died. As time passed, my health deteriorated, only then did he tell my father the truth. He asked for three million for bringing the girl to my father. After the girl died, he blackmailed my father and demanded a tenfold increase in the price as hush money. Having no choice, my father embezzled the company’s money. In the end, he was charged and imprisoned. It’s all because of him! That man is evil! You need to be wary of him.”
I was stunned by her revelation. “Did that girl really died?”
Hailey clenched her fists, her eyes reddened. “Yes. My dad told me he had buried her, but…”
The young lady burst into tears.
Seeing that, I stopped asking further questions and decided to leave her alone. Those children that never return to the village… Did they die just like that girl?
Hailey’s words made me realize that Armond must be hiding something. As soon as I left the ward, I made a call to Brandon.
His gruff voice was heard over the phone, “Hello, what’s the matter?”
“The kid’s test result is out. If the kid is to donate her organ, I need her identity card and her parents to sign the consent form. How are you going to solve this?” Hailey told me that the hospital wouldn’t perform surgery without the necessary documentation. I wondered how Brandon was going to deal with this.
After a while, the man said, “You don’t need to worry about that. As long as you agree with the surgery and pay us the money, we will take care of it.”
Since we hadn’t discussed the price yet, I asked, “How are you going to charge me?”
“Well, you will have to bear the costs of the operating room, the doctors, the medication, and also the money for the kid’s parents. Why don’t we meet up and discuss this? This is a serious matter, and I bet you wouldn’t want to discuss it over the phone.”
“Alright. You decide the time and the place.” I shuddered at the thought that the organ trade was rather systematic and well-coordinated. It seemed like the kids in that village were not the only victims.
When I was back in the ward, Summer had woken up. She hadn’t met a girl of her age for a long time, so she was chatty with Amy.
Meanwhile, Cameron was reading a project proposal. Although she had handed over most of her work in the company to Nick, the latter, being inexperienced, still needed her guidance.
Since Zachary was nowhere to be seen, I asked, “Mom, where is Dad?”
Keeping her eyes on the proposal, she answered, “He’s gone to meet his friend. Oh, he asked me to ask you from where did you find the kid? She’s healthy and fit. It doesn’t seem like she’s from the orphanage.”
I frowned. “Orphanage?”
Cameron nodded. “Your father has contacted an orphanage before. Now, he wanted to donate to the orphanage where the kid lived as a token of gratitude. But, it seems like that little girl came from a village and not an orphanage. Boris told me it took you guys more than seven hours to travel to that village where you found her. Who gave you the address of the village?”
I suddenly understood the reason Ashton became mad at me yesterday. The man knew from Zachary that the latter had contacted an orphanage. Hence, he knew I was lying to him, for Amy was obviously not from an orphanage.
I started to feel the throbbing in my temples. If Ashton knew I was the one who turned to Armond for help, it would be a disaster.
I gave Cameron a seemingly convincing answer. “I got it from a friend of mine.” I was relieved that Cameron was absorbed reading the proposal that she didn’t ask further.
