Chapter 1

Vivian.

"Get lost!" The car driver yelled as I ran in front of him, rushing to meet my colleagues. Why? Cause I was stuck in my hell loop for hours, watching every man reject me over and over again.

As I entered the bus, my supervisor immediately lashed out at me, "Where have you been? Why on earth are you late?"

"I'm so sorry," I gasped, trying to catch my breath. "I overslept."

"Overslept, huh?" She scoffed. "You better get in and start preparing to work double time," she said with disgust written all over.

Feeling embarrassed and flustered, I rushed to my seat at the end of the bus with my head low and a racing heart from all the running.

We arrived at the venue shortly after and all the ushers dressed in red shirts and black pants filed in a straight horizontal line awaiting the orders of the supervisor.

"Vivian, you are in charge of drinks distribution and coordination. Under you are Cole, Meena, Jackson, and your other teammates." My supervisor announced.

"Drinks?" I mumbled to myself and smiled at the supervisor, trying to make her feel safe, even though I was out of breath and shocked. 

As the event started, I settled into my post and watched everything carefully, not wanting any mistakes to happen, although my racing heart refused to calm down, and it felt like something bad was going to happen soon.

Suddenly, one of my teammates called out my name in a panicked tone. "Vivian! Vivian!! The drinks are not complete." He said in between pants.

"WHAT?!!" I screamed. "How can that be possible? I cross-checked the drinks, and they were more than enough. How could we have less than we counted?" I muttered, trying to keep my composure.

Without waiting for an explanation, I ran to the storeroom, and before I knew it I bumped into someone and stumbled backward.

Strong arms caught me before I could fall, and I looked up to see a tall and muscular man looking down at me with concern.

"Are you okay?" His deep voice filled my senses, causing me to forget my worries for a while.

"yes," I stammered. "Thank you," I said and headed to the storage room before the supervisor found out something was wrong.

After counting the drinks, I found that they were all there, and I realized that my teammates had forgotten to count the ones at the back, and luckily, it was complete. Those guys just wanted to play a stupid prank on me.

"She just fainted all of a sudden!" I heard someone yell from outside, followed by an uproar.

Confused, I stepped outside, and my gaze fell upon a beautiful lady with ginger-colored hair lying unconscious on the floor. 

"Somebody call an ambulance!" A voice yelled as the others were trying different methods to make sure he remained alive. As to what exactly happened to the lady, no one knew and just as I was about to return to my stand post to make sure this had nothing to do with my team, I felt someone pull my hand back, and I immediately felt a sharp stinging pain radiate across my cheeks.

The whole room was shocked by the loud crack, then they turned around to look at what had transpired. I looked up and met my supervisor's hateful gaze.

"Why can't you do your job properly?" She asked through clenched teeth not minding the attention she called upon us.

''what have I done?" I asked in pain as I held my red cheek stained with her handprint. 

"What did you do?" She scoffed. "Tell me, who served the drink to that lady?!" The supervisor shouted and I trembled on the spot.

"D-Drink? What lady?" I asked, perplexed. "I never served any drinks or ordered the drinks to be served to anyone. I was standing watching everyone, I swear." I answered truthfully, and before I knew it, another hit landed on my other cheek and I stumbled back again, feeling the metallic taste of blood in my mouth.

Everyone in the room stood there rooted to the ground gasping as they watched her slap me again. 

"I can't believe she did that!" Someone said, and before I knew it, everyone was pointing accusatory fingers at me. Before I could say another word, my supervisor fired at me again.

"The lady was served juice made by our company! And should I remind you who's in charge of the team?!" The supervisor shouted, her eyes red with anger and I stood there stunned. "There was something allergic in the juice and now the lady is in the hospital battling for her life! HOW COULD YOU BE SO CARELESS?" She roared loud enough for the entire room to hear, and they all gasped, looking at me with disgust.

I stepped back, dropped to my knees, and held her feet to beg her, "I haven't ordered any drinks to be served yet, I swear. You have to believe me, please. I was standing guard to make sure there was no mistake till I was called to the store room," I said, crying profusely. "You can check the security footage. I didn't do it!"

"Pfft. What security footage? Answer me, Vivian. Who is in charge of drinks?" She asked, and I answered, "I am."

"So, I don't need to check it! The poor lady is lying there fighting for her life because of your incompetence!" She yelled and raised her leg and was about to send a kick straight into my abdomen before someone came to her and whispered a few words into her ear.

She adjusted her dress and stepped back, removing my hands from her feet. She cleared her throat before speaking, "Miss Vivian Hanson, YOU ARE HEREBY FIRED! Take your things and leave! If I were you, I would leave town 'cause if anything happens to her, you're done for!"

I looked up at my supervisor with red eyes from crying and swollen cheeks from her slaps.

"Please, ma'am. Don't fire me, please. I have no other place to go," I begged in tears as I saw her receding figure alongside Meena, who pointed her middle finger at me with a smile on her face. 

I remained there, kneeling, crying, and begging before one of my teammates came to me and helped me up. "Sorry Vivian," she said as she supported me and helped me walk to the washroom where she dropped some ointment and makeup for me before she left.

I sat on the floor, my back against the door letting the tears stream down my face like an endless storm. Why did I have such bad luck? Why is everything always going sideways for me? Why did I have to be the first child with all the burdens?

In the silent bathroom, the ringing sound of my phone mixed with my sobs and I bent over to pick it up. It was my sister, Eunice.

"Big sister, where are you?" Eunice cried as I picked up the call.

"What's wrong?” I asked, trying to keep my emotions in place. 

"Those old men came back tonight and sent us out of the house. We are standing outside under the rain and grandmother... I don't know how to say it but, she's not breathing properly.''