Chapter one

“You don’t need to work here anymore. Pack your things and never return!” Calantha’s boss thundered, causing her to flinch.

Her face showing signs of worry, she asked with a quiver in her voice. “But sir… what did I do wrong?”

“You dare to ask, huh? Leave this instant or I’ll have security throw you out!” The middle-aged man raged, pointing towards the exit behind her.

“Sir… Sir, please.” Her knees buckled, bringing her to the ground. She pressed her palms tightly together in a plea, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. 

“Sir, please, don’t fire me. I really need this job…”

The boss, without giving a response to her, started pushing the buttons on the telephone on his desk.

Realizing her boss wasn’t planning on changing his mind, she rose to her feet in despair and bowed. “I’ll leave. Thank you for letting me work here all this time.” She turned to depart from her boss’ office, wiping off a tear that had slid down her right cheek.

While on the verge of heading towards the employee section, she crossed paths with Cynara, a colleague who often exhibited hostility towards her. “You look pale,” The coworker observed with a mocking smirk. 

Then she leaned close to Calantha’s ear and whispered words dripping with arrogance. “It’s really great to finally get you out of my way,”

Before she could say a word in response, Cynara had walked on with an air of superiority. Calantha clamped her quivering lips shut and slowly made her way to her desk. She gathered her things and made to leave, without a word to the other employees whose gazes were fixed at her with mixed reactions. 

Some seemed happy, others felt pity for her. “It’s a pity she offended Cynara,” She heard one of them say with a sigh.

However, a red-haired lady scoffed. “She deserved it. She always acted like she was the best employee here. Now, she’s one less competition. I’m happy I won’t have to fake a smile towards her anymore.”

“Yeah, good riddance. I’ll treat you guys to a barbecue tonight.” She heard a male employee say, prompting her to pick up her walking pace, not wanting to hear any more of those hurtful remarks.

Outside the company building, the disoriented Calantha sniffled, resisting the urge to sob. Then she began walking away from her former workplace.

‘Why?’ What did I do to deserve this? I was due for a promotion, I worked hard for it, but I got fired instead?’ She thought, still having difficulty coming to grips with her job loss.

She felt punch-drunk and quickly found a seat on the nearby public bench, placing her things on it.

What would she do now? 

Her rent was four months overdue, her little brother, Lawrence, was still in the hospital, in need of surgery for a tumor in his gut, and she as well had huge debts that her late gambler of a father had left behind for her to pay. 

Two weeks ago, she had even promised one of the creditors to pay a portion of the debt before the month would come to an end. But now, she has been sacked without a severance pay!

Her phone suddenly rang but she ignored it, not in the mood to talk to anyone at the moment. But after the third ringing, she decided to answer, turning on the speaker function.

 “You weasel!” Came the raging tone of the caller— her landlady. 

Calantha composed herself before responding with a meek tone, “G-Good afternoon, ma’am. Please, calm your anger,”

A harrumph was heard from the phone. “It’s been four months since your rent was due and you’ve shown no intent to pay until now,”

“Ma’am, please give me till the end of the month, I’ll surely pay you,” She beseeched, her voice becoming shaky.

“My patience has run very thin, Calantha. You will move out this week, or I’ll throw you out myself!”

“Ma’am, please I’ll pay up in full by the end of the month, I promise,” 

“Amongst the other tenants, you’re the one giving me a migraine. I don’t need your money, just find somewhere to reside!”

“Ma’am…” Before she could say another word, the line went off.

Anxious, she dialed the number, a jumpy look on her face as she glanced at the phone screen, silently praying the landlady would pick up.

But to her despair, the latter refused to answer even after dialing the number almost a dozen times. With a pale look, she put down the phone.

“Surely the odds are stacked greatly against me today,” She muttered in despair, a tear rolling down her left cheek.

“Ma’am, please do you have some change you could spare?” A little boy in neat clothes said as he approached her, looking nervous.

She quickly wiped her tears and put on a smile for the kid, “Yes, of course, I do.” She took out her purse, wanting to take out some money, only for the latter to suddenly grab the purse and make a swift pivot.

“Come on, catch me.” The boy beckoned with excitement as he ran.

“Hey! Give that back!” She yelled, chasing after the kid. All the money she had was in that purse.

A short distance away, the boy halted his movement upon seeing a tall man with black hair clad in a navy blue suit. With folded arms, the latter was fixing the boy a menacing look.

 “Favuncle.” The kid called out sheepishly.

“Where did you run off to, Aiden? And whose purse is that? When did you get the idea to take someone else’s stuff?” The man interrogated.

“I… I didn’t go far,” The boy waved his hands in denial, “…and I wasn’t planning on stealing. “That’s a bad thing.” The boy replied in defense but the uncle clearly wasn’t buying it.

“Then, what’s this doing in your hand?” The uncle took the purse from the boy.

“Well… I saw the owner seated on the nearby bench from across and I liked her. So, I decided to test if she would be good for a role I had in mind,” Aiden explained.

“Role?” The man raised a befuddled brow. 

The kid turned to point at the uneasy Calantha who had just stopped close to where he was standing. “Look, I brought a beautiful auntie to play wife for you.” He announced excitedly.