Chapter 1

“I’m sorry, but we wouldn't be in need of your services anymore”. The manager said, taking her work jacket from her.

She walked out of the supermarket and was greeted by the scorching hot sun.

“Agh!” She groaned. It was already summer and she had no idea. She checked her cell phone; it was the 16th of July. Her birthday.

This was the fourth job Addison had been dismissed from this month. As she walked through her neighbourhood on her way home, her eyes raked for any newly established business which she could apply to because she had already exhausted all the existing ones.

There was a piece of paper stuck on her front gate. “Oh no” it was an eviction notice. Her rent had been due for months, whatever was she supposed to do now?

She got a call. “Hello” she answered the phone.

“Come out now”

“What do you want this time?” She was tired of this.

“Come out now!” the voice repeated.

She met a pale looking brunette outside, she was tall and stood elegantly, her emerald eyes sparkling with determination. She was adorned with jewelry which could pay Addison’s rent for at least two years. It was evident that she did not belong in this part of town. It was obvious that she was from the rich part of London.

“You’re home early” The lady said mockingly, a smile forming at the side of her mouth.

“I got fired” Addison said

“Oh, what a shame” the lady pretended

“Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“Not entirely”

“Emily, what do you want from me? There's nothing you haven't already done to torment me. You get me fired from every job I manage to get, you make sure you scar my name wherever I go, you basically control my life in the most cruel way already. What else could you possibly want from me.”

“I’ll tell you, but you can’t give it to me” the cocky smile disappeared from her face and her eyes grew cold and weary.

Addison took a deep breath, tears welling up in her eyes. “You’re absolutely right. I cannot bring him back, but doing all this wouldn’t either”

“But what can I do when It’s my only source of comfort?” Emily said, the smug smile returning to her face.

“Has torturing me for the past 4 years really been your only source of comfort?” Addison’s tone was growing fierce.

“How dare you use that tone on me?” She lurched at her, grabbing her hair in her hands and pulling. “You have no right to talk to me like that with everything you have caused me and my family”

“Just kill me already!” Addison screamed in frustration as she pushed Emily away from her, tears streaming down her face.

“Well maybe I should. A life for another” Emily replied, unfazed.

“I did not kill your brother” Addison gritted her teeth.

“Then who did?” She asked.

“…” Addison could not reply to this.

“I want you out of this town,” Emily continued.

Addison chuckled “What’s the point? It’s not like I can disappear from your sight.” She looked up at Emily, frustration evident in her voice, “You’ll make sure to find me no matter where I go.”

“That’s never the point,” Emily stated firmly. “You’ve started getting too comfortable here. We can’t have that now, can we?”

Addison scoffed in painful realization, “You sent the eviction notice, didn’t you?”

“Well, you were owing”

“Where am I going?”

“Newham”

“Wha…?” Addison started.

“Tonight.” Emily interrupted. It was final.

* * *

It was going to be a long drive. Addison had said goodbye to all her friends and neighbours, packed her few belongings into her car and headed out. She has grown up in an orphanage and this was the car the director had gifted her with the day she left, her eighteenth birthday. It was old and raggedy, but it was also the most prized possession she had.

She hated to leave this city. She’d lived here for almost a year and made many friends, it was by far the best city Emily had sent her to so far, she doubted Newham would be the same.

She drove out the streets of the city, her head full of thoughts. ‘How did her life turn out this way?' 'Counting the days from when she secured a job to when she lost it’ ‘Travelling from city to city by the command of someone who hated her more than the devil and the only thing she longed for other than her death was her soul-wrenching misery.’

It was while she was in-between these thoughts that she felt the jolt of impact before she heard the screech of tires “Arghhhh!” She exclaimed in fear as everything slowed down and her mind raced. The other car collided with her, metal crunching and bending and glass shattering. She felt the sharp pain from the impact and the sting of the glass against her skin before she blacked out.

* * *

“Ugh” Addison groaned, blinded by the bright light as she tried to open her eyes.

She could hear voices but couldn’t decipher whatever they were saying.

“Amelia!” Someone exclaimed. It was the booming voice of a man. “You’re awake”

She struggled to open her eyes again, and this time was met with the view of a gorgeous man, his deep grey eyes frantically searching her face in worry. Within the twinkle of an eye, other indistinguishable people rushed to her side.

“Doctor!” The gorgeous man called “Can you hear me, Amelia?

So apparently, she was in a hospital.

'Whatever was she doing here?'

The doctor rushed in and began examining her. “How’re you feeling?” he asked.

“I’m okay” She lied; her head was splitting into three. “How did I get here?” The doctor exchanged looks with an elderly woman at her side.

“My dear, you had an… um…minor accident” The woman said, stroking her face. She flinched away. She couldn’t remember a thing.

“You left home, we have been searching for you for days until we found out you were here” The gorgeous man added.

“Who are you people?” She asked with a low voice.

They looked at her and then at each other in puzzlement. “We’re your family”, the elderly woman replied.

‘Family?’

The doctor edged closer to the bed “You don’t remember them?” The frown was evident on his face.

“No” She replied, looking just as puzzled as they were now. They exchanged frantic looks between each other.

“What do you remember, Amelia?”

“…” She tried to think. “N… nothing” and the elderly woman gasped.

“Who are you people?” She repeated.