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“Confident? Prove you’re worthy of belonging to me. Mine don’t run when they’re hit. Mine don’t whimper when they’re doused in hot water. Prove it!”
A bowl of warm coffee trickled down from the top of my head, dripping to wet my temples and soaking into the collar of my clothes as I knelt before my prospective boss.
It felt sticky, and the scent reached all the way to the back of my throat.
My stomach churned.
That thick liquid…
“Yes, sir,” I whispered. “I’ll make sure I deserve this job. Even if my body and soul become the stake, I will keep my promise.”
I didn’t scream.
I just stared at the marble floor with a blank gaze.
Resigned.
I was already so tired of living in a world that wouldn’t give me a single breathing space.
“Congratulations. You’re part of our team now. Sign the contract below.”
I turned my head back upon hearing a man’s voice from the doorway.
“You may leave now,” ordered the man in front of me while lighting a cigarette.
That man, Amon Nicholas Sergio— famous as a wealthy businessman.
He gazed down with his chin tilted up, as if I were some lowly creature to him.
I took a breath, stood up with my head bowed, turned around, and walked out.
****
Hours later, after finishing the contract matters with the Sergio company, I received an ATM card. The password was my birthday.
I walked out of the Sergio company building with my head held high.
Hot.
Tired.
Thirsty.
“There’s still a chance to get out of Eliana’s house. Even though they say I might die if I work for Mr. Amon,” I muttered to myself.
I walked a long way to the bus stop with my last remaining cash.
Almost everyone looked at me with disgust; some covered their noses, others even told me to go change clothes because my clothes were dirty.
The smell of coffee.
Some people looked at me with pity.
Yet I remained silent.
I was already at my breaking point.
I was tired of living in this world that was so cruel to me.
The bus finally stopped in front of the mall.
I got off without caring about the people staring and whispering about me.
I kept walking until I found Johan’s car, my stepfather, which had stopped right in front of the main entrance of the mall.
My mother got out.
The person she hugged was… Eliana, my perfect stepsister.
Wealth.
Beauty.
Affection.
Honor.
She had everything yet still kept destroying my life.
Whispering terrible things about me until not a single person wanted to be friends with me.
My heart hurt.
Raw.
No one loved me.
My only job was being a maid in Eliana’s and my mother… She even supported Eliana in torturing me.
I looked down, lamenting my own appearance.
Dirty, disheveled, pathetic.
Mother forced me to take care of Eliana’s house, she threatened, yet she instead chose to have fun with her stepdaughter.
I also saw Nolan. He kissed Eliana’s forehead. He was my ex-boyfriend.
Good thing I never truly gave my heart and feelings to him. Had I known he would turn around and love Eliana, I wouldn’t have agreed to be his girlfriend either.
I started walking straight.
“Dad, I want ice cream,” on the way, I turned to the side.
A little girl was being carried in her father’s embrace.
Her chest pressed against her father’s chest. Her hand slipped under the child’s thigh.
His other hand protected her back.
“Let’s go buy some. What flavor do you want?”
“Chocolate, Dad… and matcha too… buy two.”
I wanted chocolate too, I wanted matcha too, Dad.
But my father had died long ago. Decades ago. When I was 8 years old.
After that, I never received affection again.
I wanted to be cherished.
Loved.
I wanted to talk to other people.
I didn’t want to be ignored anymore.
“That’s Wisa.”
“Don’t get too close.”
“She’s so pathetic. I heard her boyfriend married her own sister.”
“Just leave her be, that’s karma.”
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