Chapter 2

“Shirley, if I may ask, who did you give your first time to?” I asked, watching her expression as she drove past the green lights to stop at a junction. She relaxed her arms as the car stopped before a red light.

“I’m twenty-three, Ally. My first time was with a guy I thought to be my Mr Right, but he turned out to be a big cheater. I fell pregnant. In one night, I lost everything, my family, my chance to get into university, and even he dumped me. I resorted to taking refuge in a shelter where they provided for widows and mothers with children. But when my child was a few days old, he appeared in my life again and resorted to trickery to take my child from me.”

My heart throbbed with pain hearing Shirley’s sob story. 

“It turned out his wife was unable to have a child, so he said all those sweet things and took off with my child. I couldn’t find him anywhere. In my desperation, I worked at a bar where my customers were willing to give me money in return for a night with them. I remembered those fearful days where I lived in the shelter, and no, I was not willing to go back to that. So I sold myself for money.”

She dried her tears and continued, “Then, I met Adrian. He was my last customer. He made it sound all so easy. I just needed to work for him, and compared to what I was making from sleeping with customers, he would pay me triple. I learned he had a wife as well, and I was just his side-chick. But that was not all. He used me and made me sleep with other men.”  

“Was it for the scoop?” I asked, nervously.

Shirley sighed. “Not just that. Now that Adrian is divorced, he makes me satisfy his needs. Then, when he is bored of me, he has the others. He threatens them by saying he will give them the sack. In return, they just become his whores.”

“One day, he will get his retribution,” I whispered. “But just now…”

“Steph didn’t want you to be the next,” Shirley said with a downcast look. “She is trying to help you, so you can’t fail us.”

I nodded. “There must be a way to get us all out of this.”

“It’s useless, Ally. Did you read the terms of the contract when you signed it? If any of us breaks the bond, we are liable to pay thousands to the company as compensation. We are like prostitutes in this aspect.”

I hung my head. “No, I didn’t read through it carefully.” I thought of the day I had entered the company. Adrian had seemed so kind and friendly to me, offering my aunt so much to cover their debts. Unfortunately, my parents had owed much money to a loan shark, resulting in them committing suicide. 

Every now and then, a debt collector would come for my parents’ other debts. Adrian had lent my family his assistance in this, paying a sum of money on our behalf. Now I understood. It was all planned. Adrian had wanted to use me to pry news out of rising stars and important figures to increase the sales and popularity of their magazines. I had let down my guard, only to allow Adrian to have a chance to use me!

“We’re here,” Shirley said, stopping her car in a parking space allocated for customers. “We’ll get your dress and then head for some food. I trust you are hungry already?”

I complied. She led me into a classy boutique, selecting a strapless evening dress that she believed would boast my cleavage and show off my petite figure. She told me to go into the fitting room and remove my bra and underwear. When I was appalled by her instructions, she explained that Adrian had set such instructions that every woman on his missions had to do. They had to expect that they would be laid when approaching these young, hornier man. I shook with contempt. As a woman, I hated how such missions degraded us. No wonder Adrian was single.

“This dress is low-cut, so you can’t wear a bra,” she explained. “And it’s thin, so you can’t wear underwear with it either, since it will cause some lines to be seen if you do. So perhaps this will be easier for you to accept than Adrian’s orders.”

“Okay, I’ll do it,” I obliged. I entered the dressing room and began taking off my clothes and undergarments before putting on the dress and exiting the room. Shirley observed the results momentarily with a broad, friendly smile before telling me to get changed back into my clothes.

As I headed back towards the dressing room, I saw a wealthy-looking man appearing to be in his mid-twenties. He happened to be flanked by two smartly dressed men, passing by while I was still in the dress. His eyes were the definition of sexiness, appearing to be tempting me as he scanned me cautiously like I was an object. 

He resembled a Korean actor, only that he had very western-looking features. But he was fair and had an enticing stare. I admit to myself that man was my type!

I had never liked someone at first sight like this, I thought, biting my lower lip nervously. If only I didn’t have to go after my target today, I would have killed to spend the night with him. Just one night was enough!

I cleared my mind of my naive thoughts. From the looks of it, the man must be a CEO. I am just an average person with no means of garnering his attention. I have hopelessly dreamed in the past that a CEO would be the answer to my problems. But I knew there was more to that than my freedom. My parents had landed us in debt. Even if I paid off their other obligations, I would never indeed be free.

“Sir, if you want, we can approach the girl for you,” I heard one of the voices say. The man remained silent. I smiled meekly and went on my way, trying to brush the images of the man’s charm out of my mind. It’s useless, Ally, I told myself. He won’t be interested in you. You’re just a normal girl, not a graduate, and having barely anything to put on your back.

I was useless and pathetic. I reflected on my priority. I had to work like a horse and bear with Adrian’s treatment to keep my family safe and fed, but the debts owed by my parents would always be my obligation.

My heart was still racing as I entered the dressing room and slipped out of the dress, putting on my clothes still hanging on the hooks. Shirley was waiting nearby the room when I came out, waving her gold card and a bag with the dress in it. I returned the display dress to the salesperson, muttering my thanks.

“Let’s go, Ally! I’ll treat you to a sumptuous meal before we head down to the club tonight!”

Her idea of a sumptuous meal was, as expected, an economy meal at the food court some distance away from the classy mall. Still, after my parents’ deaths, I had yet to encounter such concern from an older person. My aunt was very naive, often falling prey to despicable men who bullied her and tricked her of her earnings. It was me who had to defend her. I felt tired of being the breadwinner and ‘mother’ of the family.

The food court was bustling with people. Since the encounter just now, I couldn’t get the image of the handsome man out of my mind. I decided to distract myself by eating spicy food, so at least the spiciness would take my attention from my thoughts for a moment.

I settled for a bowl of classic tom yum noodles while Shirley had mac and cheese. As we ate, loud bangs and clangs filled the air. I ignored the commotion assuming that some joker was just trying to make a scene. 

After some minutes, I was finishing the final mouthfuls of my dinner when people started rushing from their tables with their food untouched. I exchanged glances with Shirley.

“What’s going on?” I said, putting down my plastic cutlery and picking up my glass of lukewarm water to sip it. Something didn’t seem right.

“Loan sharks,” she whispered, wiping her sweat from her face. “Lord Zuese, who hasn’t heard of him.”

I almost choked on my water. “Zuese?”

Zuese Banks. The name of the person my parents owed a fortune to, rang a bell. The name flowed deep into my ears, sending me into a state of shock. If not for what my parents had owed Zuese, probably they would still be alive today. 

Once upon a time, my parents were wealthy folks. But one mistake led them to be acquainted with Zuese Banks, and overnight, they lost at gambling with him, putting them into a dangerous situation. Previously, my father had made a risky investment and suffered significant losses. However, my clueless father had thought that taking a bet with Zuese would put things right and help his failing companies. After all, once, he had been dubbed the King of Gamblers.

And this way, I had lost both of my parents when they plunged to their deaths in suicide half a year later. When I lost them, I was only ten. So I never knew what it was like to experience a parent’s love during the most tender years of my life.

“Let’s go, Ally,” Shirley urged, helping me to my feet. But before I could take a step forward, I was looking into the visage of a trendily dressed teenager. He didn’t look more than nineteen years old, wearing hype clothing and had a couple of “bling-bling” around his neck and wrists. A pair of bright, hopeful-looking eyes stared back at me, looking at me like he never saw a woman before in his life.

“Miss, want to go have some fun?” He reached for my hand. I quickly withdrew.

We wasted no time taking off as fast as we could.