<<<10:00 GMT>>>
Amanda hurriedly rushed inside the Hotel, she was late again today, and knew she would be punished.
"Where is Amanda? Is she late again?" She heard her boss ask her colleagues, which made her weak in the knees. She will be going through another round of punishments as usual.
She breathed in and let it out before summoning the courage to enter the kitchen where they usually take food requested by the customers to serve them.
"She is here," one of her colleagues announced, and her boss turned to look at her. She looked away instantly and her boss sighed in anger.
"Half of your salary will be deducted, and don't plead," she announced and started walking away without letting her explain.
She stopped and turned to look at her again.
"You are going to serve 90% of the customers we will be having today also, be prepared," she added before disappearing out of the door.
"Ma'am!" Amanda wanted to call and plead but she had already left. She sighed and walked to where she usually kept her bag.
"I'm sorry Amanda," one of her colleagues said.
"It's fine, I do more terrible things than this to survive," Amanda replied, trying not to think about it.
She will just accept her fate. It's not her fault. I usually end up coming late. She was babysitting her neighbor's kids… she had to make sure they were very comfortable before she left to work every day.
"Amanda, a potential customer just lodged tonight and Mrs. Albert wants you to attend to him after mopping and cleaning," one of her colleagues who had just walked into the kitchen said. She handed over the menu to Amanda and indicated what the customer ordered.
"Okay," Amanda barely replied. She was thinking about the money which had been deducted from her salary, which was barely enough.
"How much will be left?" She asked herself.
My house rent has already expired and I have other bills to pay for.
She wore her apron and tied her hair into a bun before wearing the hotel's cap. She washed a few bathrooms, and sweat trickled down her face. She kept the broom on the floor and wiped her face.
It wasn't easy trying to survive, she had to do extra jobs to meet up and also be able to pay her bills, but what excited her most was that today was one of her colleagues' birthdays. She would be having so much fun after work, she thought happily.
After finishing all she was ordered to do, it was already late in the night. She joined her colleagues at the table and shared a little drink with them, forgetting she was alcohol intolerant.
In the process of drinking and trying to forget her shortened salary, she became tipsy and decided to start going home before she would become wasted.
While staggering out of the hotel, she remembered she had forgotten her wallet in one of the customers' rooms she had cleaned earlier and headed over to the room to get it, but on getting there, she tried to open the door and found it locked. While inputting the code for it to open, the door opened and someone from the room pulled her over and closed the door.
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Amanda opened her eyes and saw herself alone in the room. She turned to her side but the unknown stranger who she could barely recognize had left. She saw a watch next to her and quickly grabbed it.
Recalling what happened at night made her cry. She was forced to have a one-night stand with an unknown stranger.
"How can humans be so cruel? What if...?”
She paused and covered her mouth. She managed to get out of bed. It wasn't her first time but it somehow hurt, it was rape, since he forced her to do it even as she was tipsy and later succumbed to his touch and the feel of his fingers on her body.
After crying for some time and regretting why she allowed herself to become drunk, she went to the bathroom and washed, she opened the wardrobe and saw some neat T-shirts and trousers. She grabbed them and quickly wore them, then left the room, without asking for any permission from the manager. She fled out of the hotel and boarded a cab home.
On reaching her apartment, she sat on the couch quietly as tears streamed down her face. Her friend Mabel, whom she shared the same apartment with, saw her crying and that was so unlike her. Amanda is always cheerful, happy, and free. It wasn't like she cared about her, but she had to show concern. She sat next to Amanda, somehow feeling happy about her mood even though she didn't know the cause of it.
"Are you okay?" She asked pretentiously like she cared.
Amanda quickly wiped her tears and looked up.
"I'm fine." She replied and sniffed.
"How can you say that when I can see the pain and tears in your eyes? Tell me, has your boss fired you from work?" Mabel asked, praying it turned out to be the cause of her tears, as she had been wishing for that.
"No, it's worse than that, I don't think I'm ever gonna go back there, it's worse than hell." Amanda retorted and cried. Mabel hugged her while smiling at her. After some time, she asked Amanda to wipe her tears.
"I'm your friend Amanda, you can share your pains with me, I promise not to judge you," Mabel said in a soft tone, hoping to hear something which would make her celebrate behind Amanda's back.
"I had a nightstand with a stranger. I don't know if I should call it rape because that was it," Amanda replied and tears started streaming down her face again.
"Oh my God, how did it happen? Men are so wicked. I'm so sorry Amanda. Could you recognize him? Do you have his address or something that will identify him? We have to report him; we can't let him escape just like that." Mabel exclaimed and looked away, trying to hold back the laughter rising in her.
"I told you, Mabel, he was a stranger. I couldn't even see his face either. I was drunk and I tried checking to find at least his address or card, but all in vain I didn't know what to do, but I found this," Amanda said, and took the watch from her purse. She handed it over to Mabel.
On seeing the watch, Mabel gasped, recognizing the watch to be one of the most expensive watches currently in the country which can only be afforded by billionaires, and she instantly became jealous, as she knew that, whoever Amanda had the nightstand with was a billionaire.
"How about a billionaire who was even so generous as to give her a watch before me?" She asked herself as she felt anger rising inside of her.
"Do you know the person that owns this?" Amanda asked and looked at her and this made Mabel quickly force a smile.
"Oh, no, no, I'm not even sure it's expensive, you know what? It's better you forget about this, withdraw it from your brain, and act as if it never happened okay, erase it from your brain, and this watch. I will throw it away so you don't have to remember anything from the incident that happened last night. Move on okay." Mabel exclaimed, but deep in her heart, she was going to keep it and was happy she had just successfully fooled Amanda when Amanda agreed that she should dispose of it.
"Okay, thanks," Amanda replied with a smile, feeling happy she had someone like Mabel.
"I will throw this away; you should go have some rest while I make you some coffee," Mabel said and stood up with a mischievous grin evident on her lips.
She couldn't believe she had gotten her hands on the most expensive watch in the country, she couldn't wait to flaunt it on her social media websites already. She loved such things and couldn't wait to get her hands on them.
"Alright! Thanks." Amanda replied and quietly stood up and left for her room.
Mabel walked out pretending she was going to throw the watch away in the trash. On getting out of sight, she stopped and wore the watch, admiring it.
"It's so easy to fool you Amanda; I know this watch is worth a fortune," Mabel said and smirked.
She used her phone to snap the watch after wearing it on her wrist and shared it with all her social media handles.
"Wow!" She exclaimed and clapped her hands. She smiled sheepishly as she had gotten her hands on a huge fortune that she had imagined all her life.
"This is an expensive watch. What if it gets spotted by someone who would come steal it? She thought.
"No, I have to remove it and hide it safely." She concluded and started heading back into the house, but stopped when she noticed a car driving into the compound.
She turned in the car's direction and was surprised to see one of the most expensive cars, a Rolls Royce, parked next to their apartment's doorstep.
An average-looking man dressed in black came out of the car and walked to her.
"Who are you? How may I help you?" Mabel asked, while studying his appearance. He looked like he was coming from a rich home due to his smart appearance.
The man's eyes reached Mabel's wrist and he noticed she was putting on an expensive watch. He then looked up at her.
"Where did you get this? Is this yours?"
He asked, staring at her with questioning eyes.
Mabel recalled that Amanda was the owner of the watch but she shrugged it off, but knowing that the stranger in front of her might have brought lots of valuables from the strange man Amanda had a night with, just to compensate her and she didn't want to miss being the one to have whatever the man had come with.
"Yeah, it's mine, since I'm wearing it," Mabel replied after concluding to claim the watch.
"Great then, come with me." The man said and started walking back to the car.
"Why?" She asked him while studying the car with her eyes and deep down she felt very happy as it had just shown that whoever gave Amanda the watch wanted her to come but she wasn't going to let that happen, she would be the Amanda the man wanted.
"If you want to meet the owner of the watch who wants to meet you too, get into the car," the man announced and opened the back door. Mabel rushed towards the car without wasting any more time and hopped in. She closed the door, then the man joined her and resumed his position in the driver's seat before he started the car and zoomed off.
If she is tagged as selfish for this, she doesn't care. It isn't Amanda who deserves everything between the two of them, Mabel thought with jealousy as they continued on their journey.
*FOUR YEARS LATER**Four years after the incident that happened and Mabel's betrayal, Amanda transferred to another state after finding out that the one-night incident had resulted in her getting pregnant, not just with one or two babies, but four children.She felt her world crashing, with no good job, and not enough money, and her life became miserable, but whenever she stared at her children, she got another hope of survival and providing them with a great future.Ryan is her first child and a boy. He has brown hair, cute pink lips, and gray eyes. He is the smartest and most caring kid. Then Adora, the second child, was a girl and she looked exactly like Amanda. Then Mason, a boy. He is the third child but is taller than Ryan. Tyler is the last child. He looked different, and Amanda couldn't guess who he looked like. Her life isn't perfect, but for once, she has never regretted keeping her kids, especially how they always cared for her, understood her, and made her proud.Amanda, h
After the kids slept off, Amanda went to her room and applied all kinds of makeup that hides her beauty and makes her look extremely ugly.As she sneaked out of her room, she bumped into her mom and her mom almost screamed."What in the world is happening?" Grandma Nana (Amanda's mom) exclaimed, not believing her eyes. "Why would Amanda put on this? she asked herself."Mom, I have gotten a chance to sing at a bar tonight and you know there's no way I'm gonna sing with my beauty," Amanda said."But with the way you are looking now, I'm sure you will scare off the guests. Amanda, you are beautiful and who knows your beauty can get you more tips. Besides, you don't have to do all of this, I'm getting my payment tomorrow and we can work things out," Nana replied."Nana, you don't get it, the kids' teachers said they should bring almost 100 dollars tomorrow and there is no miracle that can provide us with the money before tomorrow morning. I know you cared for me, but please let me do what
Rowan held onto her waist as he stared into her eyes, shocked as he recognized her.Since Amanda couldn't recognize him, she managed to pull herself from him and glared at him."So...rry." Amanda stammered.Rowan recalled having a nightstand with her four years ago and immediately thought she was sent by the villa to pick him up as he had placed her there the day he traveled."You came to pick me up?" He questioned, raising his brows, which surprised Amanda, as she didn't know what he was talking about."Came to pick you up? Who are you? I don't even know you." Amanda replied and stared at him weirdly."Stop being crazy, it was already too much since after what happened between us. It has been four years and you never called to check up on me. I guess you prefer enjoying the luxurious Villa more, right?" Rowan asked and what he was saying did not make sense to her as she still couldn't understand what he was saying."Is he crazy? What is he talking about? What happened four years ago?
Amanda sat still in front of the mirror, trying to undress and wipe off what was left of the ugly makeup she had on earlier.Then she remembered the popular Rowan Xi and how he tried to hold her down, insisting that she was supposed to be at his house."What madness?" She asked herself and kept wiping off the makeup."Who are you speaking to?" her mother asked with concern.She jerked at the sight of her mother."You scared me Mum. It is nothing. I was just soliloquizing. Something a bit strange happened today."Her mother looked at her, her gaze filled with concern."What might that be?""I met someone very important; Rowan Xi. You know him, right?"Her mother's mouth was agape with shock."Wow… that is some interesting stuff!" She exclaimed. "Please tell me you got along fine?""That is the point, mother. You know I had this ugly makeup on, so he thought I was ugly…"Her mother's face squeezed in a frown."You see? Did I not warn you about that ugly makeup you had on?" She cut in an
>>>Rowan was sitting in his office, addressing his father's employees.One of the employees, the company's head of financial unit, raised her hands."Go ahead Annette, make your contributions snappy." He instructed her and leaned back in his chair."Thank you sir. I'd like to point out that we made some good profit in the last four years; however, the company's net expenditures are toppling over the profit per season. I would suggest that some unnecessary frivolities be cut down on."Rowan bit his lower lip. He knew where her conversation was headed and he was definitely going to address it."What are the components of this net expenditure? Can you give me a run down?""I can mail you the comprehensive list of all that the company has funded for the past four years.""Send me that mail before midday, Annette. I would like to address the situation immediately."Annette nodded and thanked him."You can all get back to work, there is a lot to do," Rowan inst
Mrs Roberts was at the hair salon with her friends, they were trying to get a makeover."You look damn good , girl." Katherine exclaimed excitedly."Been a while, you know. You do not seem to get a lot of time these days because of the babies," Angela added.Mrs Roberts was a bit uncomfortable about having those conversations but she had no choice."Yes. It has been a while. Thank God you know that I am very busy. The kids do not allow me to get some breathing space," Mrs Roberts replied, trying to stay composed and unashamed. "Yeah…right?" They both echoed."Yeah," she replied sternly, trying to move away from the conversation. She did not want to last too long on conversations about her daughter's children."What does Amanda do now?" Angela asked with curiosity etched on her face.Mrs Roberts shifted to her seat. She was becoming uncomfortable."She works with a big company now," she replied with a whisper, hoping they would not ask her the name of the company because the truth was
"Hey mama," Amanda called out to her mother.Mrs Roberts turned around to see her daughter looking sad."Is everything okay?" She asked with panic. "Did anyone hurt you?"Amanda shook her head. She did not want to tell her mother about her travails at the restaurant."I am fine, mother," she replied in a whisper."I am glad those nosy friends of mine had left earlier because it would have been bad if they met you in this state. You did not even try to put a brush on your hair. Look at how disheveled your hair looks."Amanda took a quick glance at her reflection in the mirror and let out a sigh of exhaustion."I am sorry mum. I had a pretty rough day.""It is alright honey. We need to fix you up because I have found just the perfect job for you. They are calling for submissions and interviews and the deadline is in two days. All thanks to your children, I came across the advert just in time."The excitement in her mother's voice was making her enticed and she wanted to know more about
>>>>"It was fun catching those unplanned photos of you. I am going to have your handler put them up on your Instagram. How does one go from week to week without pictures? Do you not know that you are a celebrity?"Rowan was angry but he was trying to remain calm."My life, my choices!" He retorted to Jack.Jack laughed hysterically at his cousin."Well, if you feel offended, I am sorry. However, I am not sorry that I got pictures of you taken; I am only sorry that it was done like an ambush."Rowan threw him a cold stare and shook his head."You're a terrible human, you know. I will have my pound of flesh. Just watch."Jack laughed again."I am a jolly good fellow, if you throw lemons at me, I will make a huge basin of lemonade from them. You need not worry."At this point, Rowan found his anger dissipating and his heart lightened a bit. He smiled slightly at Jack and his smile got Jack almost reeling on the floor with laughter."You know you want to laugh s