Chapter 1

Before the clock even strikes 5 early in the morning, the Evening City Garden club was already closed as the workers were busy cleaning after another messy yet thriving night. Within its private rooms, women after women were retiring for the day after their night duty. One of them was Shantala Vien Arceo, who dashed away from her assigned room upon hearing that her youngest brother was waiting for her at the backdoor of the club.

This was the first time that her brother came to her workplace even after she strictly told her family members not to go there whatever happens. Worried about what was going on, she got out of the club and dragged her brother away before anyone who knew him would see them there.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you are forbidden to come here? If you want something, then you should have called me," she scolded Lance. "You know that I do not want any of you getting harassed because of my work."

Lance, who was in his senior year in high school, heaved a heavy sigh out of frustration. He, too, did not want to go and fetch his sister when he was supposed to be preparing for school but there was just an incident going on that he could not handle on his own.

"You should go home right now and see what is going on in that house, Shantala. That father of ours had brought home another problem," Lance replied.

Just from his low tone of voice and knitted eyebrows, Shantala thought that the problem he was referring to probably involved the usual loan sharks who would often visit them whenever their father failed to pay them. She could only click her tongue before hailing a cab.

"What are you standing there for? Get in," she said but Lance shook his head.

"I do not want to get involved in that problem, sis."

Agreeing with his statement, she fished out a handful of cash from her bag and handed them to him. It was a good thing that she had more clients the other night than usual which would probably be enough to pay her gambler father's debts.

"Get yourself some breakfast and go to school. I am not paying for your tuition f*e just for you to skip classes," she told him before urging him to start walking away. “Don’t worry about this! I will get it solved!”

After that, she headed back home despite the fact that her heart was beating rather faster than normal. It was as if it knew what kind of avalanche would come and hit her. Reaching the old building made of bricks where their apartment was, Selena made a run towards the third floor but she came to a slow stop when she noticed a few men surrounding the premises. Since the place was small, she had to go through them just to go to the door of their apartment. Judging the way they stood with their large body build, Selena could tell that these were dangerous men and not the usual loan sharks whom she encountered before.

She could even see the guns they hid underneath their shirts. She swallowed hard, praying that this won’t be her last day on earth.

Still, she gathered her courage and headed to the door of their apartment only to be grabbed by one of the men on the arm.

"Who are you?" he asked with his hoarse voice and harsh look.

"I need to go and see my father," Shantala replied with the calmest voice she could manage.

Thankfully, the man let her go and without wasting any more seconds, she dashed towards the door and opened it. For some reason, what immediately came into her sight was a wedding dress laid on the couch of their living room. It was a strapless dress decorated with beads of clear crystals shaped like droplets of water. Since their apartment was not that big for a family of four, she could already see the kitchen just near the small living room. Her father was there sitting with his head lowered as if the heavy weight of his debt had finally come weighing on him.

"What did you do this time?" she asked with an eyebrow raised as she walked towards him.

She actually wanted to yell at him for bringing them nothing but problems and debts but getting mad so early in the morning just after her work was just too tiring.

"Stacey," his father barely whispered.

"What about Stacey? She is most likely at school at this hour for her morning class. Lance told me that there was something going on so what's up with the men outside?"

All of a sudden, her father got up from his seat and knelt on both knees right in front of his daughter. This was not something that he had done before so she was quite surprised. She was about to tell him to just tell her how much money those men wanted from him but her tongue backed out the moment her father confessed the truth.

"Stacey has gone missing so I am begging you, Shantala Vien, to take her place!"

Confused, she repeated, "Stacey has gone missing?"

"Stacey... she just... she just disappeared this morning. I have been looking for her but she was nowhere to be found. Those men outside will kill me if they find out that Stacey is missing. They will kill me, Shantal! They will definitely kill me!"

Shantala had a lot of questions swirling in her mind but no words ever came out of her mouth. What kept on echoing in her ears were the words of his father about Stacey disappearing. She was her twin sister whom she swore to not ever follow her steps and become a stripper so she was doing her best to give them a better life.

Shantala got a call from Stacey an hour ago telling her that she was already going to school for her extra early morning class so, at that very moment, she wished so hard that her sister would actually be at school. Without paying attention to her damn father who was already groveling on the ground, she got her phone from her pocket and dialed Stacey's number.

"The number you are trying to call is out of coverage area. Please, try your call later. The number-"

Gritting her teeth, she asked, "You said a while back that you want me to take her place. Would you like to clear that up, father?"

Her father returned to his usual seat with his head hanging down as he wiped off the tears from his eyes.

"I... I actually introduced Stacey to Hyperion just a week ago. I owe him a huge debt and when I heard that he was looking for a woman to marry, I gave him a picture of Stacey and told him where she is attending university. After they met, he immediately liked her so he proposed. Today was supposed to be their wedding but... but-"

Before the man could even finish what he had to say, Shantala clenched her fist and gave her father a jab right across the face with all her might. Her knuckles throbbed in pain but it proved to her that she had hit him as hard as she could which she should have done before to knock some sense into him.

Even though she had not met this so-called Hyperion before, she heard quite a lot of rumors about him being the leader of one of the feared mafia groups in the city. And not only that, but she also heard that he was a man who threw girls away after he was done playing with them.

"Who told you to sell her off?" she yelled as she pulled his collar even though her father was already on the floor with a bleeding lip. "Who told you to marry her off just to pay for your debts?"

Putting his hands up to show that he had no plans to retaliate, her father replied, "I... I did not want to bother you anymore. Besides, Hyperion had chosen Stacey over money so that is a good thing. But now that she is gone, take her place for a while and when I find her, you two shall switch places again."

Shantala could feel her face getting hotter because of how mad she was with the words of her own father. She clutched at his collar tighter until her nails dug into her palm. She wanted to shout at the stupid man in front of her and beat him up until he came to realize how wrong his decision was. But even then, she let go of him and covered her face with both of her hands as she sat on the cold floor. Tears welled up in her eyes as she ran her hands on her head and pulled on her hair.

"I raised Stacey. I raised her well while you went and gambled as if you had a lot of money. I sent her to school so she won't ever be like me but what did you do? What the fuck did you do?! You used her to pay for the debts that she had nothing to do with!"

Out of anger, Shantala grabbed the glass of water on top of the table and threw it across the room. The shards from the shattered glass went all over the place, making her father stiff in shock because this was the very first time he saw her lose her temper that much.

"Shantala, please calm down! The men of Hyperion are already waiting outside. Wear the wedding dress and go with them for now. I will look for Stacey-"

"Shut up!" she screamed. "You will not drag Stacey in this situation. Let her have a normal life, you useless mongrel!"

Her sobs took over her as she fell on her knees. With her tears damping her cheeks, she knelt in front of her father and clutched at his hands.

"Please, please, do not ever bring Stacey to Hyperion. She deserves to be with a decent man, father. I will take her place and... and find my sister. Contact me once you find her so I can find a place to hide her away from Hyperion. Will you do that for once? Will you at least grant this simple favor?" she pleaded.

Her father only nodded in response. Even after being betrayed by him several times, this time again, Shantala would trust him to follow through with her plan. Getting back up on her feet, she wiped away her tears and headed to the living room. She grabbed the wedding dress and entered her room. It was only a space good for one person with her bed set on the side and just beside it was her small make-up table.

After washing up, she looked at her reflection. Even though she looked a lot like Stacey, she was not as fair and angelic as she was deep inside. And now that she was in a serious situation, this could be the first time that Shantala was thankful to share the same face as her twin. Even if she had to step into the dangerous den of a mafia, she would feel more content rather than let her sister be the one to get married. As she wore the white dress, she started to feel numb because never in her life did she ever imagine herself being wed to a stranger for the sake of her sister. She thought that being a stripper was the most she could do to save her family from living in the streets but it seemed like it was not enough. She was once again burying herself deeper in the ground.

After getting ready, she grabbed her purse and went to the living room where her father was waiting. She did not bother looking at him as she headed to the door.

Before leaving, she said, "Do not let Stacey get caught up in this mess."

That day which Shantala thought to be one of the ordinary days she had to go through turned out to be her most unexpected wedding with a man she last wanted to get associated with. And not to mention, she had no idea what his real name was since Hyperion was simply his alias in the mafia world. Getting out of the black car with her veil upon her head, she saw a red carpet leading to a man wearing a black suit.

She could not make out the face of Hyperion but her fear of fooling a notorious mafia suddenly came crawling beneath her, making her shudder. She was well aware that the consequences would be dire once she gets found out, but before that happens, she must get this wedding over with.