1 Chapter 1

Plates fell and shattered on the floor as Ariel staggered and fell on the slippery floor of the restaurant’s kitchen, blood dripping from her wrist that was cut open as she fell.

SLAP!!!

A harsh slap landed on her cheeks, her face swinging to the side from the force.

“Useless!” A man dressed as a chef stood menacingly above her, looking down at her spitefully.

“It was just a simple task, Ariel, but you couldn’t even succeed in delivering an order to a customer, how useless can you get?” The Chef asked furiously as he stared at the wasted food on the floor.

“No, Chef, it wasn’t my-”

“Quiet!” A blonde girl scolded and landed another hard slap on Ariel’s cheek.

Ariel bit down on her on her lip to stop herself from letting the tears fall. She raised her face and stared at the culprit who had caused her current condition by purposely pouring water on the polished tiles when she was about to carry the food out, causing her to trip and fall.

“Get up, and tidy this mess up, immediately! No salary for you this month! Useless!” The Chef condemned and angrily walked away.

“Tsk! What a loser, The blonde girl flipped her hair behind her and slowly walked around Ariel, a condescending look in her eyes as she stared at her.

“Told you I’d make you suffer, didn’t I? Hmm,” The blonde girl put her chin between her thumb and index finger, pretending to think about something.

“This place is not for you, you don’t fit in, you should be on the streets, waiting for the next man to cum inside you, slut,” The blonde girl giggled at her crude jokes.

Ariel ignored her and gently stood up and started picking up the shredded plates.

“Answer me, you bitch!” The blonde girl pushed Ariel with her two hands, causing her to lose balance and fall to the floor again, the shredded plates cutting her palms.

“Ah!” Ariel cried out in pain.

“Ha–ha–ha! Yes, fool, cry like a baby, you better quit, or else-

“Or else what, Lin?” A voice asked behind Lin, startling her.

“Oh, hi, Mike, it’s not what you think, I was just trying to help-”

“Leave it, Ariel, I’ll help, go wash yourself up, Mike totally bypassed Lin and went to help Ariel. up, taking the mop stick from her.

“Thank you, Mike, Ariel sniffed and quickly ran to the bathroom.

Inside the bathroom, she stared at her pale and tired face in the mirror as she cried quietly.

She put her hand under the tap and the water automatically rushed out, washing out the blood.

1 Chapter 1

Ariel sighed. He was right, it was already dark and the restaurant was located in a lonely area, it was dangerous for her to walk the lonely streets alone.

“Okay” Ariel nodded.

Mike smiled broadly as he fixed the helmet on Ariel’s head.

“Hold tight, He said as he placed her two arms around his waist.

Ariel never liked bikes, it reminded her of the brutal accident she had with her late mother twelve year

years ago. She held on tightly as the bike sped through the dark streets.

The night wind blew against her face and ruffled her midnight–dark hair.

“Can

you slow down a bit?” Ariel asked as they approached a blind corner.

She really hated bikes, she couldn’t help but remember how their bike had tumbled multiple times on the road, and in the blink of an eye, her mother was lying lifeless on the tarred road. “What did you say?” Mike asked, turning his head back to look at Ariel, but the panic he saw in her eyes alerted his senses.

“Watch out!” Ariel screamed fearfully as she widened her eyes at the car in front, coming towards them with an unimaginable speed.

“Shit!” Mike cursed loudly.

But he was too late to get out of the way, the car hit them off the road, sending them crashing into a building.

Ariel couldn’t tell what was happening as she lay on the ground, her head feeling extremely light, and her body numb.

She barely made out the faint voices she heard around her, all she knew was that she felt a kind of

peace

she’d never felt before, and she wished to surrender to the tranquility of the inviting darkness.

She was glad she was dying, at least, she got to escape this cruel life of hers. She hoped to meet her mother and be with her in a world where there would be no pain or struggles.

The last voice that registered in her mind was a man’s voice, so chill and unfeeling as he indifferently ordered someone to do something.

Ariel gave in to the darkness, she was happy she didn’t have to face people who were like the owner of that voice, she knew his type; rich, famous, proud, and cold to people.

She was done with his kind and the whole world.

***

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Ariel distantly heard the beeping sounds in her head.

She slowly opened her eyes bright slowly, she opened her eyes again and was faced with a white ceiling

and closed them immediately from the light above her, then,

1 Chapter 1

she had something sticking into her left arm.

Ariel managed to slowly lift herself with her elbow and looked around the room, and she realized that she was lying inside a hospital ward in a blue hospital gown.

“Didn’t I die? Ariel thought as she stared at the cannula that was fixed in her arm.

Her fate must really suck.

“Oh no! Please lie down, you just woke up,” A middle–aged woman in a nurse’s uniform opened the door and rushed towards Ariel’s bed.

“Where am I?” Ariel asked as she slowly lowered herself back onto the bed.

“You’re in a hospital, you’re lucky you were brought in on time, a second later and you would’ve been dead,” The nurse said as she checked her vital signs.

“They should have waited a second later… Ariel muttered.

“What did you say?” The nurse asked as she removed the thermometer from Ariel’s armpit.

“Nothing,” Ariel sighed.

So her journey wasn’t over yet, did God want her to witness all the hardships in life before he took her?

“Everything seems nice, Miss?” The nurse asked.

“Ariel, Ariel supplied.

“Ok, dear, I’m sorry if that was unprofessional, I know we’re supposed to check the patient’s name from their folder but we couldn’t find any identification on you, that’s why I asked, The nurse explained, writing something down on her chart.

“No, it’s fine,” Ariel replied calmly.

She had always imagined this scene when something happened to her and people wanted to help her but couldn’t, because she didn’t have an identity.

Courtesy of her father and stepmother who ripped her off of anything that would connect her to them.

“Ok, here are your medications, The nurse dropped a bag of medications on top of the drawer.

“Thank you,” Ariel replied.

“Mm,” The nurse replied with a nod.

“Um, how long have I been here?” Ariel asked.

“Just a day. The nurse said without raising her head from the patient’s file in her hand.

“Oh…” Ariel said quietly.

She knew that even if she was to stay here for six months, no one was coming for her.

“You’re quite lucky, your friend is in a more severe condition. You’ll be discharged in the afternoon, your bills have been cleared too,” The nurse smiled and turned to leave.

12 13 C

4/0

1 Chapter 1

“Wait!” Ariel immediately sat up after hearing about her friend.

Did she mean Mike? Was he injured?

“Yes?” The nurse paused and turned to Ariel.

Ariel knew she had some other patients waiting for her so she didn’t know which question to ask. first.

She debated whether to ask about how her bills were paid or ask about Mike.

“Where is he?” She asked, choosing to ask about Mike.

“Your friend? He’s just in the adjacent door,” The nurse informed.

“Oh, can I go see him?” Ariel asked.

“Sure, after resting. The nurse said and then left.

Ariel nodded and patiently waited for her to leave. When she was sure the nurse was gone, she quickly disconnected the cannula from her arm and slowly climbed down the bed, quietly walking out of the room.

Ariel stood in front of her door, contemplating on which door to enter as there were a series of doors lining the hospital hallway.

She quickly ruled out the doors opposite hers, the nurse had said adjacent, not opposite.

She narrowed it down to the two doors beside her, not knowing whether to enter the one by the left or the one by the right, she wasn’t sure which one Mike would be in.

She sighed and walked toward the door by the right, hoping she would be lucky.

Nope, she wasn’t.

“Ah!” A woman screamed.

“Oh my god! I’m sorry!” Ariel said in shock as she quickly slammed the door shut.

What did she just see? A nurse sucking her male patient’s ccok?!

She shook her head to get the image off her head and almost fell from feeling dizzy. She was famished.

She stared hard at the door by the left, praying to God to let it be the right room.

She was lucky this time.

She opened the door to see Mike lying on the bed with his legs wrapped in a cast.

Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Guilt washed over her. If she hadn’t agreed to let him drive her home that night, none of these would have happened and he would’ve still been strong and healthy, using his legs.

But now, he lay alone in a lonely hospital room, his life coming to a pause for as long as he had to recover, and who knew if he’d ever recover fully?

“Quit standing there already and come in here,” Mike’s voice suddenly sounded from inside the room.

Ariel was surprised to hear his voice, she had thought he was fast asleep.

She gently closed the door as she entered the room and walked over to stand beside his bed.

“Hey,” Ariel said quietly, slowly looking Mike from his leg to his face, but not daring to look him in the eyes, guilt was eating her up.

“Hey,” Mike gently held Ariel’s hand.

“How are you?” Ariel asked.

“Well,” Mike pointed to his legs.

“Oh gosh, I shouldn’t have asked that…” Ariel rushed to apologize, looking all forlorn.

“Hey, don’t look that way, it wasn’t your fault, if we’re taking the blame then it’ll definitely be my fault, because I was speeding and wasn’t looking,” Mike sighed but still managed to smile at Ariel.

“I still feel guilty, after all, It was me who caused you to drive that late,” Ariel sounded genuinely guilty from her words.

Mike knew she wouldn’t let it be until she made herself drown with guilt.

“If you want to make it up to me, then visit me here as often as you can. That’ll really make me glad,” Mike suggested.

“I promise, I’ll come see you with gifts as much as I can, Mike, I promise,” Ariel held his hand, gently patting it.

Mike smiled broadly, happy he’d get to see Ariel more often from now on.

***

Ariel walked down the street that cool evening, at least it was still early and the hospital wasn’t located in an isolated area like the restaurant she worked in. She could still see cars driving by and people either heading somewhere or casually taking an evening stroll.

She was in a dilemma, she couldn’t believe she was the one walking the earth again, why didn’t she die? Who was that mysterious person that saved her? And who was the person who cleared her medical bills?

She could swear on her life that it wasn’t anyone from her family, they’d rather unplug her life support if they had the chance to.

She sighed. The hospital didn’t look like one of the roadside ones, it looked like something a Billionaire’s daughter or wife would go, and that made her wonder how much money that person paid.

“Move! You wanna die!” A bike man honked loudly behind Ariel.

That’s when Ariel realized that she had left the pedestrian and was now almost in the middle of the road.

She quickly moved away, getting back to the pedestrian, after apologizing to the bike man.

She looked around and discovered that she was still far from home, and she had no money on her and couldn’t even hail a cab.

Maybe she could just get a ride by flashing a sweet smile or telling her sob story. She shook the delusional thought out of her head.

Her legs were almost giving out from tiredness and hunger but she was determined to walk home.

Home…

She stood in front of the yellow two-story building that was supposed to be her home, but as she stared at it, she felt like a stranger to it.

All her years in that house had been spent living like a ghost of herself, there was no beautiful or fond memory attached to it.

It was a beautiful house, no doubt, her father and stepmother made sure to always renovate it to new tech every year, they wanted to feel proud whenever they brought their business partners home for dinner and subtly show off their beautiful home.

She pulled her thoughts together and walked towards the house, the front lawn looked clean and well-kept as always. It seemed like they had visitors because on reaching the door, she could already hear her stepmother’s voice laughing a bit too loudly at what someone said.

She clenched her fist at the sound of the laughter, so fake, like the owner. She would have chosen to go through the pantry but her stepmother has locked it up since she noticed it was were Ariel came in through when she returned from work to escape her.

She quietly pushed the door open and walked inside.

“Oh dear, who’s that, Caroline? Strangers come into your house now?” The lady beside Caroline said in disgust, looking Ariel up and down.

Caroline who was facing away from the door quickly turned towards the door, and the moment she set her eyes on Ariel, the smile fell from her face, replacing it with hatred.

Ariel didn’t stand there to wait for them to criticize her, she moved on and climbed the stairs to her room.

“Oh, no, Stella, ignore her, she’s just our housemaid,” Caroline said, shrugging.

“Makes sense now dear, I thought you were turning your house into a charity organization where the homeless came to get fed,” Stella chuckled, covering her hand over her mouth.

“Ewe, never,” Caroline rolled her eyes.

She stood from the sofa and walked toward the stairs.

“Do you want some expensive champagne?” Caroline asked with a bright smile.

“Ah, sure! You’re the best,” Stella relaxed on the sofa, smiling proudly.

Ariel was staring at herself in her half-broken standing mirror, her green towel wrapped around her body. She raised her hand to her head and gently touched her bandaged hair, wincing as she felt pain from the contact.

She sighed and brought down her hand, she had brought out her change of clothes and placed them on her shabby single bed that looked like it had seen better days.

She was walking into her tiny bathroom when her door was flung open by no one else other than her stepmother.

“You little bitch!” Caroline said maliciously, as she angrily walked toward Ariel.

SLAP!

“Ahh!” Areil palmed her cheeks, her head starting to ache from the impact of the slap.

“Look! Look here, you bastard!” Caroline held Ariel roughly behind her neck and forced her to look into her phone.

“Ah! Please, it hurts, let me go!” Ariel cried out painfully.

Her vision had turned blurry from her banging headache, she couldn’t even make out the pictures on Caroline’s phone, she could only manage to see the bold caption.

“An Unknown Lady With Her Boyfriend Tries to Kill Our Most Eligible Bachelor/Billionaire!!!”

“You’re lucky no one could identify you, if not, it’d have been more than a slap you’ll be getting from me, foolish girl,” Caroline pushed Ariel down to the floor, eyeing her maliciously before walking away.

“Oh, and, be down there and make us lunch in five minutes,” Caroline said before banging the door loudly as she left the room.

Ariel sat on the floor, crying, she sobbed as she thought about her mother. She wished her mother never died, and she wished they had never gone for that evening ride, but she knew this wasn’t a fairytale where wishes came through, she knew this was her harsh reality, she could only be there for herself.

She stood up and wiped her tears, she just needed to work harder and complete the course she secretly bought online. Since her father refused to send her to college after she finished high school, she started working to support herself and when she got enough money, she purchased a course online, now, she just had to look for a way to get money and purchase the last part. It was the most important part that would fetch her the certificate she’d been vying for.

She slowly entered the bathroom and had a quick shower, then dressed herself in her loose-fitted shirt and pants.

She sighed heavily before she started walking downstairs.

She was quietly moving to the kitchen when she heard Stella’s tipsy voice whispering something to Caroline.

“Wait a minute, I think this girl looks familiar… Don’t you think she looks like-”

“Ah, here, have more champagne, dear friend, a toast to my baby’s arrival!” Caroline said loudly.

Four days after her mother’s death, she was shocked and heartbroken to see her father bring in a new woman and her daughter, only for her to find out that the girl was three years older than her, it went to confirm that her father was never loyal to her mother.

All those while they seemed like a happy family, he was sneaking behind her mother to go see his other family.

At the moment she set her eyes on her stepmother and stepsister, she hated her father, and her view of all men changed.

From then on, her life changed for the worse too. Her father became a stranger to her as he showered all his love and attention to her stepsister, while she was forgotten and turned into a housemaid.

Ariel was busy watching the dishes when she heard Stella greeting her father as she was leaving.

She rolled her eyes, her father was never home early when her mother was alive, but now, he’s always home before the proper work closing hour.

Well, it was understandable, his real family was now with him, so he didn’t need to sneak around going to see them.

“Oh, honey, you’re back! I missed you so much,” Ariel felt like puking when she heard Caroline’s fake voice from the living room.

“Yes, my love, I couldn’t wait to get back to you, hahaha!” She heard a kissing sound and quickly tuned her ear away from the disgusting couple.

Arielil was serving them dinner, she had just finished placing the food on the dining table when she heard Caroline’s excited voice.

“Honey, we have to throw a party tomorrow for our princess, she’ll be here in an hour,” Caroline said excitedly.

“That’s true, I’ve missed my darling baby, what’s it been? Three years?” Jude asked.

“Yes, you see now, you’ve made me tear up,” Caroline sniffed.

“I’m sorry, my love, I didn’t intend it that way,” Jude held Caroline’s hand, petting her.

“What are you standing there doing? Get out!” Caroline barked at Ariel who was still standing behind them, listening to what they were saying.

Ariel startled and quickly walked into the kitchen, tears slipping down her cheeks.

Hearing them talking about her stepsister with such love and affection hurt her so much, she’s tried getting over the feeling but each time they praise her her in front of her, it leaves her feeling worthless and inferior.

On many occasions, she’s planned to run away from home, but each time she remembered she didn’t have enough money, she stayed back and kept enduring the sufferings she faced at home.

Ariel stood behind the kitchen door, eavesdropping on his father’s and stepmother’s discussion.

“Jude, there’s something we need to discuss,” Caroline said quietly.

“What’s that, my love?” Jude asked, worried by the change in Caroline’s face.

“We can’t let our daughter marry a good for nothing just because we owe that family a fortune,” Caroline whispered.

“I know, Caroline, I’m thinking of a way out too,” Her father replied, sighing.

Caroline scoffed, “Thinking, Jude? There’s nothing to think about,” Caroline said in a haughty tone.

“What do you mean?” Jude asked.

“It’s time we put to use that good-for-nothing daughter of yours, she’s the perfect match for a nobody like that man,” Caroline said, hatred lacing every word she said.

Jude thought about it for a while before he slowly nodded.

“Good, I thought you were hesitant,” Caroline scoffed.

“No, darling, just like you said; a useless person should be matched with her kind,” Jude chuckled.

He didn’t care, as long as it was Ariel, he wasn’t losing anything giving her off to a nonentity.

He was saving his first daughter, hoping he could find a way to introduce her into the socialite world so that she would land herself a rich husband and bring more wealth into the family.

Ariel stood frozen in place as she heard what they were planning about her, the walls were closing in on her.