Chapter 3

Groaning loudly yet sleepily, Jessy tried to switch off the alarm ringing continuously for some time now.

"I just want to sleep a little! Let me sleep, Mr alarm! Why can't you just cooperate with me this once?" She murmured, covering her ears with her pillow.

She wants to sleep more! Last night she stayed up late trying to break the walls of the bank and after trying relentlessly for five hours, she finally did it at exactly 11:55. The crash lasted till exactly midnight. 

There was a light tap on her door. She knew who it was but she was just too sleepy to care.

"Miss, your bath is ready. You have less than an hour to get to college" A cheerful voice said.

"Yeah. But Aunty Maya, I just need five minutes to get there. Why can't I just use the helicopter? Dad isn't going on any business trip out of town" Jessica said, covering herself with a thick blanket." Just twenty minutes to sleep and I will be in school in less than five minutes"

"Miss, your father left early this morning and the helicopter is not available at the moment. And if you don't wake up now, you might end up dressing shabbily for college" Aunt Maya said, removing the blanket from her.

Ha! She forgot she still needed to dress. She can't afford to be dressed shabbily or else that stupid Ella and her friends would upload her photos all over their school's group chat.

That's hell no for Jessica, a college-round fashionista that had won the most gorgeously dressed campus Bella in succession.

At the mention of her being shabbily dressed, she immediately jumped out of the bed. Her sleepiness vanished into thin air. She left Aunt Maya and went straight to the bathroom.

In less than twenty-five minutes, she was already dressed up and her face was lightly touched. Putting on tight-fitting jeans and a sleeveless top that brought out all her endowment, she carefully wore her jacket tailor-made for her by the famous designer who was making waves.

Jessica knew the school was going to be in an uproar because of the jacket but she doesn't give a damn! 

The driver dropped her off at the entrance of the college. Immediately she got inside, she was dragged to the corner by someone.

"Damn it, girl! What kind of fucking brain do you have? You did crash them yesterday!" 

She grinned at Winston who was looking at her as If he was looking at an alien." I told you I hate to lose"

" How did you do it? How could you crash it for five minutes? Ha! I can imagine my father's face last night… it must be fucking hilarious!" Winston said, bursting into laughter.

Yeah, this guy was a psycho and had a kind of father complex or something. He takes pride in being rebellious towards his father who was the technical director at the States Bank.

"Hey! Your bet… all of you. I need my four hundred bucks now" Jessica told him.

He looked at her." Why are you being so petty? It's not like you even need the money"

"I know I don't need the money but it's my sweat. Besides, we made a bet and I won" Jessica said, grinning.

Winston, who thought she was going to lose the bet, looked at her grudgingly before bringing out his phone.

" How about we split it? You can get the higher share" Winston asked.

"Why would I share with you when I was the one that did everything?" Jessica asked, glaring at Winston.

" Petty!" Winston said, sending her the money.

Soon afterwards, there was a beep on Jessica's phone. She took it out and saw the bank messages.

"Good boy. Just let me know if there are any more bets with a higher percentage. I will give you a cut then" she said, giggling as she went straight to her class. 

******

Classes were a bit tiring and stressful for Jessica as she kept yawning. Perhaps it was due to lack of sleep these past three days she had been trying to crash the site.

She was so tired that she immediately packed up to leave for home. She was about to call the driver when her phone rang. 

"Hey mum, where are… are you crying? What happened?" Jessica asked, worried.

Her mother's next words made her face turn pale and her phone dropped to the ground.

All she told herself was… it wasn't real.

Jessica picked up her broken phone and dashed out of the school gate. She flagged a taxi that brought her home. Tears kept flowing down her eyes and her mind was filled with different thoughts.

On getting to their residence, she saw the police surrounding the place. She paid for the taxi and rushed inside.

"Mom, dad!" She called out, rushing to the living room. Her father was looking forlorn and broken as if the whole world came crashing on him.

Jessica couldn't take her eyes off her father who had become frail overnight. Her siblings' eyes were red from crying too much while her mother snuggled them to herself.

"That bastard finally betrayed you! I told you to be wary of him but you were so sure he won't repeat his mistake " her mother sobbed softly.

Jessica walked over to her father holding his hands. This was the first time she has seen him looking so confused.

" What happened, dad?" Jessica asked.

"Your dad was framed for producing harmful drugs in the laboratory and selling it out without approval. I don't know how they got evidence that activities like that had been on for three years. Activities that don't exist" her mother replied, clenching tightly on her dress. 

Mr Graves has been too broken to utter anything. He kept staring into space as he murmured to himself.

"Evidence? How could they have evidence of something that does not exist?" 

"The company has been closed down by the government. Everything has been seized too. We have been given one week to leave this house too. All because of that… Nicholas… what's wrong… "

There was a scream from Jessica's mother as her father collapsed to the ground. That's when Jessica knew she was about to face the harsh reality of life.

She just realized that a new chapter had begun in her life.