ONE

Kiera’s POV

Clang!

The shrill shattering sound of the plate hitting the floor jolted me awake, my eyes flying open in alarm.

 “What’s going on there?” Dahlia descended the stairs, her eyes blazing profusely.

Without hesitation I stooped to the floor, collecting the shattered pieces.

“You stupid clumsy girl! Do you know how much that plate cost?”

Before I could speak, her hand struck my face leaving her devilish mark on my cheeks. Streams of tears gathered in my eyes as my mouth shook in pain.

“Oh.. you will pay dearly for this,” her teeth gritted in barely contained rage.

“I’m sorry Dahlia, I’m so tired after staying up all night doing the laundry you asked me to do. I could use Elise’s assistance in doing some of the chores around the house but she’s never around. God Knows what she’s been up to these days.”

Her eyes instantly grow larger, “How dare you speak about your sister in such a manner? Wherever Elise goes and whatever she does is none of your business. The only business you have in this house is to cater for the bills, do the chores religiously, and look after that dimwit you call a father. Take my daughter's name out of your wretched mouth.”

Trying so hard to hold my tongue from lashing out the venomous anger brewing within me, I lowered my eyes and swallowed hard,

“I’m going out now, make sure the house is sparkling when I return,” she hissed, heading towards the door, “Oh.. and check my bedside drawer for the grocery list,” her expression twisting into a cruel smirk as she walked through the door.

Judging by her floor-length white chiffon gown, pearl necklace, and diamond stud earrings, I surmised that she was headed to a special occasion, probably one with lots of rich folks.

Dahlia was my mom’s best friend, once so sweet and kind, but after my mom died in a terrible car accident when I was only 2 years old, she wormed her way into my father’s life, and a year after, she had Elise, my stepsister. For 24 years, I’ve lived under her terrible regime, and she has been my nightmare ever since.

It was 9 am when I finished all my chores, and I went to my dad’s room only to find him standing right in front of the calendar and mumbling some words.

“Ah Mija, you’re here…” he paused, his gaze contemplating. “But aren’t you supposed to be in school or you missed the bus again?”

My heart sank as I stared at him. No matter how much time passed, I could never get used to seeing him this way. 4 years ago he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, and his memory and behavior have been deteriorating ever since. That’s just one of the many terrible things that my dad has endured over the years. 6 years ago, Dahlia introduced him to some businessmen, and things went south, drowning my dad in a bottomless pit of debt, and what’s worse? Now, I have to work 3 jobs to keep up with paying all the bills and clearing the debts. Elise is the real definition of like mother, like daughter, because aside from joining forces with her mom to make my life miserable, she never contributes a penny towards the house expenses instead she jumps from one man’s house to the next, so I've heard.

“No papa. I graduated 4 years ago. Which means I wouldn’t have to go to school again,” I smiled, placing a kiss on his cheek.

“Oh… I wasn’t a… aware.. when di—”

“4 years ago. Come now papa, your breakfast is getting cold,” I cut him off, holding back the tears that formed in my eyes.

After feeding him breakfast, I cleaned up and rushed to the grocery store to grab the items on the list Dahlia had left me.

The moment I entered the grocery store, I felt a sudden tug on my wrist and as I pivoted, I found myself face-to-face with a tattered-looking man, and instinctively, I pulled my wrist from his grasp.

 “Please Ma’am, can you assist me with some money? I’m homeless and I’ve been starving for a week, and no one wants to assist me,” he muttered.

There was something about him that felt strange. Although he had a horrible stench attached to him, in addition to his disheveled hair and unshaven beard, he was still one of the most handsome men I've ever seen. How did someone like him end up being homeless?

My eyes were still big on him, as I stared incredulously, my mouth gaped both in shock and speechlessness.

“Ma’am are you okay?” he asked, catapulting me back to the present moment.

“Yeah.. Yeah, I'm fine. I… um… I don’t have so much on me, but I could spare a $20 note. I hope it will get you a few things, even though it isn’t much,” I said.

“You're far too gracious ma’am. Thank you so much. This would save me from starving another week,” his excitement towering above the clouds.

After handing him the money, I turned around to continue shopping and his voice came through,

“My name is Gabriel.”

Before I could tilt my head, he was already at the threshold of the grocery store.

“Weird guy,” I muttered and continued picking items from the rack.

As I stood in front of the cashier, Mae, whose crush on me had persisted since I was 17, despite my repeated rejections, my eyes were drawn to the television.

There, to my horror, I saw Miguel and Elise getting married at Royal City Hall – the live broadcast was playing on the screen.

I rubbed my eyes vigorously, unable to process what I was seeing.

“Miguel!” I screamed, my eyes twitching with tears.

The pain I felt overwhelmed me drawing the attention of everyone around.

 Miguel and I had been dating for a year, but 3 whole months had passed without a single glimpse of him, under the excuse of traveling out of the city for business. Miguel kept our relationship private because he didn’t want unnecessary attention on us. Only a few of his bodyguards knew about us. Of all the men in the world, Elise chose the only man who ever made me feel special other than Papa. It’s common knowledge that Dahlia was also heading there this morning.

“Kiera, are you okay?” Mae asked.

“Yeah… I’m … I—”

Suddenly streams of tears came running down my cheeks, as my body wracked with sobs.

“Oh my god Kiera, what’s wrong?” Mae asked, her voice filled with concern.

At that precise moment, a man from the back of the line chimed in,

“Yoo.. If you wanna cry you can step out of the line and do that, and stop wasting our time.”

“F*ck off you insensitive mudaf*cker. If you can’t wait patiently till it gets to your turn, get the hell out of here,” Mae snapped.

Grasping my emotions, I brushed my face with my palm, cleaning my tears, “I’m okay Mae, you didn’t have to do that for me. How much do the items cost,” I demanded.

“I know you're never gonna open up to me, but I’m always here for you. And for the groceries, it’s on the store,” Mae smiled, handing me the plastic bag.

“Thank you,” I mouthed, fighting every urge to surrender to the overwhelming despair that threatened to consume me.

As I stepped out of the grocery store, my mind instantly went blank, and before I knew it, I found myself standing in front of Royal City Hall.