Rise of the White Dragon
chapter-12

"Hello?" After she finished meditating and was using the bathroom shower, Ingrid received a call.

"Ingrid? It's your Aunt Lucia." An aged voice from a woman about 40 years old came from the other end of the line.

"Hi Aunt. Is everything okay?" Ingrid asked.

"Is everything okay? You damn child, because of you..." Her voice was full of anger when she spoke, but she controlled herself and said everything in an orderly tone. "Come on over to your house. Your mother passed out and there is tremendous confusion here; I think you better come soon!"

Although she didn't like the way her aunt spoke to her, right now that wasn't important. She was more concerned over her mother. "Okay aunt, I'm going."

She then hung up without waiting for her aunt's reply which made Lucia's aunt burn with rage and scream from how rude she had been.

Luan was still meditating and seemed to be in the midst of a breakthrough in his cultivation. Ingrid, not wanting to disturb him, took a quick shower, changed clothes, and left a note saying that she returned home because her mother passed out.

After taking the elevator down, the receptionist recognized Ingrid and asked, "Ms. Ingrid, do you need me to call the driver?"

"There is no need, but can you call me a taxi?" Ingrid asked.

"Ms. Ingrid, Mr. Dimas made it clear that if you want to leave, you can always use the driver. You don't have to worry about calling a taxi." The receptionist said with a kind smile.

"... Okay, thank you." Ingrid reluctantly accepted. She could already imagine the excitement it would cause when entering her neighborhood in a luxurious car. But, as she was very worried about her mother, she ended up giving in.

"You don't have to thank me. It's my pleasure to serve you," the receptionist smiled.

Ingrid knew that she was receiving this warm treatment because of Luan, but she still smiled back at the woman.

"Good afternoon, Miss Ingrid." Sebastian, the same driver who took Luan and her to the mall, greeted Ingrid. He wore classic driver's clothing, wearing a black suit and hat.

"Sebastian, good afternoon," Ingrid said with a gentle smile.

Ingrid followed Sebastian to the black Phantom Rolls Royce and got in the car.

"Where does Miss Ingrid want to go?" Sebastian asked as he looked in the rearview mirror.

"João Almeida de Oliveira Street. At Chico Mendes," Ingrid replied.

Sebastian was a little surprised to hear where Ingrid wanted to go, but he didn't comment on that and nodded. "Okay, Miss Ingrid. It will only take a few minutes to get there."

"Thanks," Ingrid thanked him. She was feeling restless, worried about her mother. She found her aunt's behavior even stranger than usual. Although her aunt always treated her poorly, she was never that rude.

'What exactly happened that made my mom pass out?' Ingrid wondered as she looked outside the car. She couldn't imagine what could make her mother pass out since her mother was in good health and rarely went to the hospital.

Ingrid held tightly to her simple Motorola cell phone while waiting to get home. When the car arrived in her neighborhood, people on the street looked in the direction of the black Phantom Rolls-Royce with curious eyes, and because it was a discreet car with dark film, they couldn't see who was inside the car. If they saw that it was Ingrid... much malicious gossip would spread.

"It's this pink house," Ingrid said suddenly. The house she pointed out was a small pink wooden house with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen.

"Right away." Sebastian stopped the car near the sidewalk.

When Ingrid left the black Phantom Rolls-Royce, many people recognized her and were in shock, especially her aunt Lucia who was waiting with a fierce expression at the gate of her house.

"You bitch!" Lucia's aunt from Ingrid's father's side came towards her with bad intentions while cursing her loudly enough for everyone to hear.

Sebastian, who was in the car, got out and thought of helping if it became necessary. He was no fool; he realized how much Luan Dimas appreciated this girl and if he let something happen to her, his life could get complicated. Besides, he liked this girl who always greeted him with a kind smile, unlike the snobbish girls he was used to dealing with.

"Wow! Did she find a rich guy to tap?"

"Meeh, I thought she was a serious girl... To think that she sold herself to a rich guy. This is hilarious, taking into account that her mother was always proud of how studious her daughter was and always got high marks."

"Well, she really is smart to sell her body to get a rich man..."

As expected, many envious people began to release all kinds of malicious comments in order to defame Ingrid. The truth was that any of these people, especially women, would be more than willing to sell their bodies to be with a rich guy and get out of this poor neighborhood. However, they could only envy her and make mean comments to alleviate their frustration and envy.

When her Aunt Lucia came over and was about to slap her face, Ingrid dodged it naturally. Lucia looked at the empty space that Ingrid was supposed to be in and was stunned. She couldn't understand how Ingrid moved so fast.

"Don't you dare escape, you bitch!" Lucia did not give up and went after Ingrid again.

*Slap!*

Unlike anything Lucia imagined, this time Ingrid didn't deflect but retaliated. A very strong slap that made Lucia's aged face change to red and swell up instantly caught her without warning.

"Lucia." Ingrid didn't even bother to call her "Aunt" anymore. She said, "I don't know what happened for you to call me a slut and a whore and I don't even know why you are trying to hit me, looking like a wild beast, but don't think that I will stand still and let you hit me. You are not my mother and you have never helped us when my father, your brother, left and you have no right to try to discipline me if I did something wrong."

"You- you!..." Lucia was so angry that she was foaming at her mouth. She felt so much pain in her face, she could barely speak. She could only look at Ingrid angrily while pointing her index finger.

'I won't leave things be like this... Just let me talk to Abelard. Just wait and see, you bitch!' Lucia screamed inwardly as she thought about talking to her husband about all that happened.

Lucia needed Ingrid to 'deny it' and to stop the police from chasing Bernardo, or else her husband too... She stopped with her train of thought. She didn't even want to imagine having to be poor again, although she had never been rich by any means, but only ever slightly well off.

Sebastian, who was ready to help if necessary, was also surprised by Ingrid's actions. He couldn't help but lift his thumb up, seeing how beautiful the slap she gave her aunt was.

Even the random people watching didn't think Ingrid would be so fierce. Usually, she was a quiet girl who never got involved in fights or arguments. This was the first time they had seen her do it, but they had to agree that it was true when her scoundrel of a father ran away with another woman leaving a mother and two daughters behind, Ingrid's mother had to fend for herself, working as a cleaning lady in several houses to put food on the table.

Lucia stared hatefully at Ingrid but didn't try to attack her anymore. It would be nonsense to try again. She only did it before because she didn't think Ingrid would fight back so fiercely.

Ingrid ignored Lucia and entered through the wooden gate. Opening the door, she said, "Mom?"

"I'm here..." Her mother's voice came from her room.

Ingrid walked very fast and entered her mother's room and saw her lying on a bed. Next to Ingrid's mother was her sister, wearing a very ugly expression. When she saw Ingrid, her expression got even uglier.

"Mother?! What happened?" Ingrid walked over to the bed and held her hand in both hands while looking at her with concern.

From the facial features, one could see that Ingrid's mother was beautiful when she was young. She had blonde hair with blue eyes and a slightly wrinkled skin. Since she worked so hard to support her family alone, she seemed to be even older than she was.

"Daughter..." Her mother's voice was pitiful. She said to her daughter in anguish, "We are facing a great crisis."

[Edited by: Azurtha]