The Alpha and The Hunter

Thirty years ago...

Amanda Cirillo lives on a calm and serene island, she grew raised in a humble household. Her father was a fisherman, but he perished from drowning ten years ago. In those instances, she relied only on her mother, Mildred. At the age of twenty, she was already supporting her mother in earning money for their family's income resources. They were just impoverished, although she was able to cope with all of her difficulties because she believed it was only a challenge that she had to overcome. Amanda is presently riding a bike to carry the fish she collected in the ocean to the market; she is aware that this work is solely for males, but she no longer considers it merely a means of subsistence. But then someone crashed into her bike, which was a costly automobile, spilling three buckets of fish she was carrying at the time. Her life was willing to ditch when she noticed that the fish had gotten into the mud and could no longer be recovered since the canal was full with dead insects and had an awful stench. She could not help but be upset because the fish were all she intended them to eat that day, but she was just unfortunate.

"What will be our food now?" She tells herself depressingly that she wants to weep but can not since tears are already gathering in her eyes. Soon, her attention was drawn to a man getting out of his automobile, which was wearing a sunglasses and also not far away, maybe with his age on it. Amanda just bowed since it was evident, even in the man's shape, that he hailed from a powerful and influential family, her character is excellent, since it is a custom on their island that if anybody affluent comes into their region, they should not stare them down right in their eyes as a form of respect, which Amanda did.

The man immediately took off his sunglasses and looked directly at Amanda who had earlier focused attention on her basket as she watched the fish being slowly carried away by the water in the canal. She wanted to cry, but she just kept these tears from dripping because she already knew that the man in front of her would only consider her weak. She knows that crying is only considered a weakness by anyone, and they do not care what your reason for crying is what matters to them is just what they see. She was almost sniffing her own cold because she was trying to hold back her tears, when she saw that the water had completely washed away the pile of fish she was carrying lately, she could not stop her tears from falling from her eyes. She knew that their stomachs would rumble again tonight with extreme hunger because she had no money to take home, if only she had not been disgraced she would probably have given her customer the fish she caught from the ocean and it would have given her money in which she will buy what they will eat.

The mysterious man also stared at her for a while, observing every part of her face as if it were a scene that he would not tire of looking at any moment. But Amanda did not notice it because her attention was only focused on the canal even though the fish she had caught in the ocean was no longer there. She was crying quietly in those moments and had no plans to look at the man who had collided with her or even to blame it for the collision made with her, but she did not. She knew that what happened was an accident and no one wanted it to happen, and if anyone was to blame for the two of them it was still their responsibility to understand the incident no matter how much it affected their lives. And that alone indicates how kind and long-suffering Amanda was, she was raised with patience and with an understanding of everything and that is what her mother liked about her.

Eventually the mysterious man went to his car and immediately took something there that he knew would help the woman, he no longer hesitated to hand Amanda the tissue he had taken from his car. The woman took it immediately but she only paid attention to the tissue given by the man and not to its appearance, at this moment she still did not know what the face of the mysterious man was and she had no intention of knowing because her mind was busy with what she would do to solve the problem she was facing. She did not want to go home without any money and food to bring, she did not want to see his mother hungry. Mildred does not complain every time Amanda does not bring home food or money, Amanda just does not want to see that they have nothing to eat because she knows that is not the life she dreams of with her mother. In fact, even though Amanda had no money to take home, she still smiled and hugged her daughter in return, because she was aware of the hardship her daughter was going through in the middle of the ocean to find their livelihood, she did not mind the danger that waiting for her, even though she knew it was the cause of her father's death. She was a brave and hardworking woman, so that even their neighbors admired her greatly for this habit and attitude of hers.

"Thank y-you!" She mentioned immediately after she reached for the tissue given by the mysterious man and immediately wiped away her own tears, in her voice could be seen the extreme sadness that she was just trying to raise so that the man in front of her could clearly hear what she is talking about.

She did not know how the man reacted to what she said but she preferred to just go to the baskets of fish she had caught, she immediately tied them to the back of her old bike. She immediately got on her bike without paying attention to the man who had collided with her, she wanted to leave and be alone. She wanted to solve this problem while it was still early, because she knew that even if her mother would not admit and tell her that she was also sad whenever they had nothing to eat. Mildred also could not work because she had heart disease and should not be soaking in the heater, and could feel too much emotion, Amanda does not want her mother to blame herself for the misery they had now, in the view that she is the only one working with their family.

She was about to start her bike when the mysterious man suddenly stopped in front of her earlier, she did not know how it got so quickly in front of her as long as she knew that she was surprised when it was already blocking her bike's direction and then unexpectedly she looked him in the face, Amanda's jaw almost dropped when she saw the smooth and perfect shape of the man's face, in addition, it is not boring to look at the beautiful shape of its eyes, he seems so perfect.

Amanda almost swallowed her own saliva because she felt it was a disgrace for her to stare at the man's face, she immediately bowed down and closed her eyes tightly because of the embarrassment she felt all of a sudden.

Hours later...

"If the reason why you are sulking at the moment, is the accidental dumping of the fish you caught in the dirty water. Do not worry about that, and also do not feel nervous I will make a way so I can wash the clothes of the rich individuals in the town. It is easy, we know that their home is full of air conditioning, then probably I can not feel the heat there and I promise that I will not feel too much joy, sadness, anger and so on that can trigger of my heart disease. Let me do that, to somehow lessen the weight of responsibility you feel, I know you are having a hard time, Amanda. You cannot be the only one to work in our family, we are the only two here, and as a mother it is my responsibility to take care of you and give you a good life-"

Mildred, Amanda's mother, could not continue what she wanted to say when her daughter, who had just been staring at their window and seemed to be deep in thought, suddenly hugged her. Mildred knew that the problem was that she had nothing with them to eat because everything she had worked for went to waste when someone collided with a bike that she always used whenever she went to the market to sell the fish she caught in the ocean. Fortunately, her bike was not damaged, because she would be even more devastated when it happened, she also stocked that bike for a long time so that she could import fish faster and she would not have to go back and forth while from the heater the baskets of fish that others were still alive.

Until that moment Amanda still did not stop hugging her mother, this is also what she used to do to alleviate the sadness she felt and somehow reduce the weight it was carrying on her back. For her what happened to her earlier was completely unacceptable because she worked hard to catch those fish for more than five hours in the middle of the sea, then everything would just go to nothing. She does not want to blame people for the misfortune that is happening in her life but she prefers to just understand what is happening and she knows that whatever the reason behind it is a path for her good future.

"Mother, no matter what hardships I go through in my life, you know I can handle it. You raised me bravely and without relentless problems, sometimes it is problems that give me up because I am so stubborn. I am ready to serve you for the rest of my life. I do, and I promise to guide you until my last breath. This time I can say you are wrong, because it is my responsibility as a child to help you. Help us get out of poverty and help dream of making our lives better, but I can do my responsibility if you do not reprimand me. How many times have I told you that you are not allowed to work even if you are surrounded by thousands of ice when you work, I still won't allow it. I want you to train your own to be a queen as you live here, while it is still early because one day, you will be the leader of our very enormous and beyond elegant palace. Not a president's palace because I can not afford to be a leader of the country, though, I will build a palatial house for my very beautiful mother." Amanda immediately mentioned that it made her mother laugh, this is the only thing that makes her happy because since her husband died, Amanda's father, she has been in so much pain and grief that she thinks nothing can match.

She could hardly eat properly because of that incident but Amanda was there to take care of her even though it was only ten years since her father died, she also became aware of the reality and their way of life. She takes care of her mother without any complaining, instead of she spend her time playing with her friends and their neighbors she is always just inside their home and taking care of her mother. At the age of thirteen she learned to catch fishes with his uncle Wilbert, his mother's brother. It taught her how to fish properly, which she quickly learned, and there she began to earn a living for her mother to feed her every day.

"Thank you so much, Amanda. I am so lucky because you became my child, I think I am the luckiest mother in the world because I became a mother and I had a child of someone like you." She mentioned reason why Amanda broke away from their embrace, a smile drew on her lips as she watched her mother.

"You are making my head too big, maybe later I will be more proud of myself. That is not a good behavior, isn't that what you told me? No matter what happens in a person's life, whether she can achieve her dreams and have the wealth she hoped for, she should not forget to look at her whereabouts because she may have fallen where she is now." Amanda immediately uttered the reason why her mother pinched her on the side jokingly.

"It is a different scenario. I am proud that you are my child and you should be proud that you are a kind and helpful kid. There's nothing wrong with that, my daughter." Laughing Mildred said as she ruffled Amanda's long and straight hair, it could not help but smile wide because of the sheer joy she was feeling in those moments. Even if they did not eat, she didn't care about it, they would not starve if they did not even eat tonight.

Amanda was about to speak but suddenly they heard a loud shout from their neighbor, which is why they look at each other.

"Our house will be demolished! Get out of your homes! They will drive us out of here!"