Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Francesca's POV.

"Where the hell did I keep that thong for goodness sake?!", I cussed under my breath as I desperately searched my work clothes.

It was either I brought my own thong from home, or I wore some dirty ass, uncomfortable pantie that some other sex worker had worn the night before.

I overslept from last night's job, and now I had to pay for the consequences by rushing myself to work again. Everything I had to take to the club with me seemed to go missing when I needed them the most, and searching for them had me sweating in the tiny, crooked apartment of mine.

I finally put my shit together, and I quickly took a seat in front of my cracked mirror to wipe the fluid off my face and apply some light make-up, hoping it wouldn't get washed away by another wave of heat.

My phone suddenly came alive with a call, and the name I saw on the Caller ID made me groan my stomach out.

My rude boss was the last person I needed to speak to right now!!

As much as I hated her, I wouldn't dare let her call twice.

I cleared my throat and picked the call before it stopped ringing.

"Miss. Patricia!!", I said in a high pitched tone, pretending to be excited by her call. "I was just about to call you! You won't believe what just happened to me now-"

"What happened to you now?", She cut me off. "Did you break your ribs trying to cross the road today? Or did you get kidnapped on your way to work? Did your mysterious cat get poisoned? Or did your mother go to the hospital for the umpteenth time this week? Which of the stories are you giving me today?", She questioned sarcastically.

"I have no excuse for coming late, ma'am. I'm really sorry. I'm already on my way-"

"We're going to find out very soon. First of all, I need you to know that I'll only be paying you half of your income for the week for coming late six out of seven days."

"Ma'am!", I protested helplessly.

"Secondly, if you do not show up in the next fifteen minutes, you can be rest assured that you'll be looking for another job in another club!!", She spat and cut the call immediately.

I sighed and finished my makeup before getting out of my room.

I tried to quickly fetch myself a glass of water when I began to hear strange noises outside.

"Francesca!! Are you home??!! Come out and help us out!!"

What was it this time?

I rushed out of the house, only to meet my neighbors carrying a drunk man over their shoulders to my doorstep.

The drunkard had to be no other than my own father.

"Your father won some casino money and wasted it all on drinks. Apparently, he drank more than he could pay for, and they pushed him out of the bar. We had to help him here, or he would end up sleeping in the streets", one of them explained.

"Get off me!! I can walk by myself!!", My father pushed them away.

"Sir, let's help you-"

"Get the hell off me!!", He freed himself and managed to stand by himself, but not for long. He tried to get into the house, but ended up staggering and somersaulting into the living room, giving us all a scare.

"Please take care of him and advise him to stop drinking", they looked at me with pity before leaving.

I didn't need to deal with this.

I walked into the living room to see him sprawled on the ground.

"How long are you going to keep embarrassing me, father?!! Mother is sick, and you're busy drinking your life away!", I lamented in agony as I tried to get him up.

"Mind how you talk to me, woman!! Don't you know I'm your father?!! Are you any better, working as cheap prostitute for an evil woman-"

Before he could finish his harsh words, his eyes turned white, and I moved away quick enough to dodge the gross fluid that came out of his mouth and his nose.

"Fucking hell!!", I cried in agony as he threw up all over the living room.

I saw my phone ring again. What the hell was I going to do?!!

I couldn't deal with this right now. If I lost my job, I wouldn't be able to afford my mother's drugs.

I left him in his pool of vomit and ran out of the house,

***

"Prepare to join the other girls", one of the men informed me in the dressing room.

I readied myself and was about to leave when my phone rang.

"Hello doctor. I should've called you earlier-"

"Francesca, we have a serious problem."

The tone of his voice made my chest tighten

"What is it doc?"

"It's your mum. She's gotten too critical."

My heart began racing too fast. "B... But I thought you said she's getting better?"

"I thought she was, but we saw five more tumors grow in her brain. We need to perform a surgery right now, and we need six hundred thousand dollars to begin with-"

"Six hundred thousand dollars!!", I began to feel dizzy at the weight of the amount alone.

Where the hell was I going to get that money from?!!

"Hey!!"

I jumped in shock and turned to the door to meet an angry guard.

"Did I not tell you to get ready?!", He questioned me.

"I'm... I'm ready", I cut the call immediately and headed for the exit.

"Stop there." He stretched a briefcase to me. "Madam Patricia needs you to take this money to the secret room. You know what will happen if you steal right?"

Without replying him, I took the money and walked to the secret room.

Normally, all the cases I brought here were locked, but I touched the locks out of curiosity, and it popped open.

"Holy bullshit!!", I gasped and covered my mouth in shock.

I saw hundred dollar bills stacked atop the other to the brim of the briefcase.

This...

This was more than the amount I needed for my mother's treatment.

A desperate thought crossed my mind.

Patricia would kill me if I stole a dollar, but would I let my mother die when I had the chance?

The devil won and I closed the briefcase before taking it out.

I made sure no one was at the passage before walking through the back door.

There was a fight in the club and the attention of all her guards were needed to end the fight.

There was absolutely no one to stop me.

I couldn't believe it till I left the suffocating club and the evening wind slapped my face.

This was it!

I hugged the briefcase as tight I could and picked on my heels, running as fast as my legs could take me to the house.