Chapter 4

         Minerva can’t get off of the look on the face of that accountant in her mind.

         She exhaled, and inhaled. The passing cars of the city are a cacophony to her ears. But she guessed, this is much better than knowing the fact that her late partner left her with a bunch of debt. Not just a bunch, but a pile of stacked debts.

         She tried to shove those thoughts into her mind’s trash can if there is anything left to shove.

         She’s broke now. Well, at least financially.

         Her baby kicked again, as if the life inside her was also furious at what Derrick, her supposed fiancé, did to her—did to them.

         They’re in debt and in need of money. The thing is, the bank wouldn’t allow them to lend money as long as they haven’t yet paid half of the previous debt—Derrick’s debt. She even thought about selling her car in order to sustain her life and her life as an expecting mother.

         “Where will I go now?!” She uttered as she opened her car’s door with a powerful force, nearly hitting the man in the bank earlier on the chest.

         “Are you okay?” It was the man who asked her instead of her asking him.

         “Do I freaking look okay?!” Minerva has now unleashed her anger upon seeing this man. It seems the face of any man would remind her of her late fiancé’s face. The fiancé who died because of gambling and who also left them millions of debts due to gambling.

         “The accountant told me of your current financial status. Care to talk with me?” He then gestured his head towards a nearby restaurant. With its vibrant red colors and ephemera, it seems the restaurant is a Chinese one.

         ‘Great! The Chinese restaurant seems sumptuous if not for the fact that it was also the restaurant in which Derrick proposed to me…’  Minerva thought and glared at him. From head to toe. From the outside and on the inside—inside the apparel that he wore.

         “Ehem!” The rich and handsome man cleared his throat.

         “Ahh—I was just kind of…kind of surprised as tha—that place is the place my late fiancé proposed to me…” Minerva was visibly stammering. Her eyes on the ground, refraining to look at the billionaire by the eyes.

         “I see…” He yielded a pitiful expression. “If you don’t want, we can just—”

         “No! I mean…” She sighed, before speaking again. “Don’t mind me. I’m just okay to eat at that restaurant. Past is past and never to discuss. It’s time to fully move on.”      

         The billionaire nodded and offered a hand so they may walk together.

         In less than a minute, they are now sauntering towards the Chinese restaurant.

***

         The smell of the food made Minerva filled with hunger. She suddenly remembers that she only had oatmeal for breakfast since the last few days.

         The smell of that beef tenderloin could send Minerva sprinting towards the kitchen and gobble all the food in an instant.

         Luckily, a few part of her conscience and self-discipline were still clinging on the last thread of her patience.

         She is hungry; famished is the much precise word for what she is feeling right now.

         And Minerva couldn’t help but gobble and feast on the food; setting aside any feeling of embarrassment and the judging eyes of the people in the restaurant.

         A smile was plastered on the face of Darwin Gray as he scooped a spoon of egg soup to his mouth.

***

         The numbers in the lottery seem to beckon her to spend more, to gamble further.

         Their lives had been a misery ever since her mother went with another man, leaving her heart-broken father to solely raise and love her.

         “I guess you shouldn’t waste your money further, Minerva.”

         That voice. It only belongs to one person only. The coldness in that voice resonates to the owner’s personality.

         Minerva turned around to find her mother grinning. To be frank, it was more of a sneer than a grin.

         For others, it looks like a smile. But to her, it was a pitiful smile of a fake, fake, fake, and very fake person.

         Minerva often wished that she rather had no mother than to have this woman in front of her as the person who birthed her.

         Every time she saw her mother’s face, it was a torture. The bitch never knew how much pain her father had gone through when Rhea left them to be with a much well-off man—to a billionaire.

         “Here’s a thousand dollars for that pitiful sad face of yours,” her mother said as she patted her on the cheeks then handed her the 1000$.

         If Minerva was not in need of money, she could have refused it. But her father was sick…again. And this cash, this ‘gift’, is pretty much vital for her father’s wellness, especially to his expensive medicines.

         “Thank you.” That was a genuine gratitude from her.

         Her mother’s smile grew wider, and in embarrassment, she just smiled back as well.

         That smile could’ve made her smile genuinely if it wasn’t for her mother’s gaze averting to the person behind her—to William Reeves, her mother’s new husband.

         “Hello there, Minerva! It seems that you grew even more beautiful each time we met; more beautiful than the other sixteen-year-old girls like you,” William praised as he removed his coat.

         “Thank you very much. I’m flattered, Mr. Reeves,” she said while refraining to look him in the eyes.

         The man, Rhea’s new husband, could’ve been kind if it wasn’t for the lustful look that he gives to Minerva everytime the two met. Truly, a lustful and sex-loving man he was, he is, and he will always be. Utterly disgusting.

         “Here’s 5000$ more, honey. I’ve heard your father was sick so I thought, I mean we thought that we could share a bit of our blessings to those people in need; especially to you, Minerva Miller.”

         William said as he glanced from time to time to his wife while speaking to Minerva.

         Minerva gave her thanks ‘wholeheartedly’.

         ‘I wonder what will be the payment for this help, his help,’ she thought. 

William Reeves is always the unlimited source of money for Rhea. That 1000$ obviously was supposed to be for the bags and shoes and apparel of Rhea but just chose to ‘give’ it to her as if she was a thoughtful woman, thoughtful mother. Pathetic.

         Minerva looked at her cheap wristwatch and then bid her farewell to the two. Her father has probably been waiting for the medicine she bought since an hour ago.

         She walked fast, very fast. Her phone rang; surely knowing it was her father. She instead ran for the taxi that she called rather than answering her phone.

Suddenly, she  bumps into someone. He was a handsome, charismatic man.

         “I’m truly sorry, sir.” Minerva then offered her apology to the well-clothed man. He looks very much professional—perhaps a manager, or an executive director, or probably a C.E.O.

         Her smile then vanished when she realized that upon bumping, she spilled the man’s coffee in his own clothes.

         Panicked and irritated towards herself, she handed over to the man the 1000$ that her mother gave to her.

         “I’m very, very, very sorry, Mister. Here’s a thousand dollars for you to buy clothes and change. I’m pretty much sure you’re going to a meeting.” She said while quickly giving the money then ran to the taxi without even bothering to look back.

         The man, who was also shocked and confused whether he’ll be angry or irritated or remain silent, just accepted the money that the young girl handed.

He then watches the lass get inside the yellow cab.