Chapter 4

The next morning, I woke up before my usual time but stayed in my room. After last night's event, where my dad had made a brilliant spectacle of me, I didn't wish to face him. Nor would he want me to.

The little clock on my bedside table indicated I was going to be late for work but that was something I could deal with. Mike was an amazing boss and though he disliked unpunctuality, he would understand my concern. The people in my house would never.

Once I heard the car move out of the driveway, I hurried out of my room. Sitting inside my room since dawn, as the night before had played itself again in my head in the form of a horrible nightmare and woke me up, I had lost my appetite. Now for some reason, as the car turned around the left corner, I felt famished.

Making my way to the kitchen where our househelp, Jane, was putting whatever was left of the breakfast in the refrigerator, I grabbed a sandwich and stuffed it in my mouth. Jane smiled at the act and served me another one, pairing it with a slice of cake.

"You're late for breakfast," she said, pouring a glass of orange juice for me.

"Woke up late," I lied. "This is delicious, by the way," I pointed at the sandwich that was already nearing its end.

Noticing how she was pouring another glass of orange juice and putting it on a serving tray, I asked, "who's that for?"

The question was answered the next moment when I heard Lahaina enter the kitchen with a frown on her perfectly trimmed brows, "what's taking you so long?" she chided Jane. The househelp tensed with her presence and quickly went to her with the juice.

"Did my dress arrive?" She asked, picking up the glass and taking a sip.

"Not yet, Ms Lahaina" Jane informed her.

"Then go get it, you fool! I need it before evening!" She shouted at her. Screaming and shouting over people without any apparent reason was a norm in this house.

Jane gave her a timid nod and went out of the kitchen. Watching me have my breakfast, Lahaina came towards me. She placed her now empty glass on the table and folded her arms across her chest. Having no intention of starting a conversation, I stayed silent and waited for her to speak.

For the initial few seconds, she said nothing. I took the last bite of my cake and went around her to put the dishes away in the sink. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw her turn around and lean against the kitchen counter. "We have to attend a party tonight so come early from that little cafe of yours," Lahaina said with an eye roll.

"You're all going to a party?"

"Are you hard of hearing? Did you not hear me say 'we'"? She said, irritated.

"Your 'we' usually doesn't include me," I put away the dishes and washed my hand, turning to face her.

Lahaina was a few inches taller than me. With her beautiful blonde hair, blue eyes and body that would put models to shame, she was every man's dream. Add in the confidence and excellent social skills and it was no surprise that men were always after her. On the other hand, I could hardly stop myself from judging my reflection in front of a mirror.

"I didn't want to include you. It's just that an old friend of dad who could potentially be his new business associate wanted to meet both of his daughters," she twisted her mouth in disgust while saying the word 'both'.

"Alright," I told her. Because of his business and dealings with other business people, dad was always attending formal parties and get-togethers. Lahaina and Juliea were always with him, helping him create more connections and meet new people. He never took me along. Never felt the need to. As I was the daughter that he was ashamed of.

After all these years, I still fail to understand why he hates me as much as he does. Lahaina, even though not his biological daughter, was the apple of his eye. I don't know what I had done to earn his loathe.

"Don't forget the jewellery today," she instructed, following me out of the kitchen, "I have to impress someone."

I glanced at her to see the brightest smile displayed on her lips. "New boyfriend?" I asked.

"Nah. Someone really important is going to be at that party. Dad wants me to lure him because once I get him, he could help our company reach new heights." She said excitedly.

It was no surprise that she was willing to get involved with someone just for their wealth. Money has been the basis of all her past relationships and by the looks of it, it wasn't going to change anytime soon. Juliea supported her for the same and dad would be the happiest whenever Lahaina would get a new rich man as it gave him a chance at manipulating the guy to invest in his business. I never understood the importance of money in his life, nor the reason why he loved the inanimate dollars but not me.

"And who is that someone?" I asked, uninterested.

"Aaron Woodwords" she declared.

I had heard about the man. He was one of the top richest guys in the world at the moment. The tabloids have declared him the most eligible bachelor but that didn't stop the rumours of him being one of the most arrogant and ruthless businessmen. Lahaina clearly cared more about the former and had no worries about the latter.

I would have warned her about getting involved with someone who had as bad of a reputation, with women and also otherwise, as that man; but I knew, anything I say would fall on deaf ears. So, I kept my mouth shut and gave her a short nod.

"You've got nothing to say about him? Have you ever seen him?" She asked, a little surprised by the lack of a reaction.

"No, but I've heard of him," I said as a matter of fact.

"Oh God, you're pathetic. He is literally perfect!"

"Good for you," I hurried towards the doors. Lahaina had stayed back home today to look perfect—intending to grab the attention of her perfect man—for the evening but I still had to go to work. I was already late and the conversation with her had delayed it further. If Mike fired me today, it would totally make sense.

Since after last evening I was forbidden to even touch any of dad's belongings, I took a cab to work. Reaching the cafe, I was about to dash through the doors and beg Mike to not fire me, when I saw the commotion outside.

Mike was locking the doors from outside. The lights inside the cafe were off. The sign on the door was turned to CLOSED. I spotted Nadia standing between the swarm of the cafe employees and made my way to her.

"What's going on?" My voice startled her. She turned to look at me, then sighed.

"We're all fired," she stared at Mike as he locked the cafe and turned around to address his ex-employees.

"I'm sorry it had to happen this sudden. I got the notice only a few hours ago. You all were wonderful to work with. I hope you find better jobs at better places" said Mike. He shook hands with a few of us and went away.

I stood there clueless as everyone else started to go away. What was going on? Just a few minutes late to work, for the first time ever, and the world has collapsed? With a hundred questions in my head, I started with the most obvious one.

"What the hell just happened?"

"Okay so," Nadia said, turning to face me as the crowd scattered away, "have you heard of Aaron Woodwords?"

That was the second time I was hearing that name in one day. It wasn't a good sign. I nodded.

"He bought the place."

"He- what? Why?" My eyes went wide in shock.

"I wish we could ask him that" Nadia shook her head in dismay.

Everyone had walked away. Nadia and I were the only ones left outside the cafe. I stared at the CLOSED sign at the door. Working at this cafe were the best hours of my days. Not only did it give me time away from my family, but it also gave me an amazing friend in the form of Nadia. I loved working here. This place was like a few hours of heaven in the hell my life was.

"Isn't he unbelievably rich? What would he get with this little cafe?"

"Not just this cafe, Caroline, he bought up all the buildings in a four-block perimeter," Nadia said and my mouth dropped open.