Beloved Woman Beyond The Billionaire

"Confident? Prove you're worthy of belonging to me. Mine don't run when they're hit. Mine don't whimper when they're doused in hot water. Prove it!"

A bowl of warm coffee trickled down from the top of my head, dripping to wet my temples and soaking into the collar of my clothes as I knelt before my prospective boss.

It felt sticky, and the scent reached all the way to the back of my throat.

My stomach churned.

That thick liquid...

"Yes, sir," I whispered. "I'll make sure I deserve this job. Even if my body and soul become the stake, I will keep my promise."

I didn't scream.

I just stared at the marble floor with a blank gaze.

Resigned.

I was already so tired of living in a world that wouldn't give me a single breathing space.

"Congratulations. You're part of our team now. Sign the contract below."

I turned my head back upon hearing a man's voice from the doorway.

"You may leave now," ordered the man in front of me while lighting a cigarette.

That man, Amon Nicholas Sergio- famous as a wealthy businessman.

He gazed down with his chin tilted up, as if I were some lowly creature to him.

I took a breath, stood up with my head bowed, turned around, and walked out.

****

Hours later, after finishing the contract matters with the Sergio company, I received an ATM card. The password was my birthday.

I walked out of the Sergio company building with my head held high.

Hot.

Tired.

Thirsty.

"There's still a chance to get out of Eliana's house. Even though they say I might die if I work for Mr. Amon," I muttered to myself.

I walked a long way to the bus stop with my last remaining cash.

Almost everyone looked at me with disgust; some covered their noses, others even told me to go change clothes because my clothes were dirty.

The smell of coffee.

Some people looked at me with pity.

Yet I remained silent.

I was already at my breaking point.

I was tired of living in this world that was so cruel to me.

The bus finally stopped in front of the mall.

I got off without caring about the people staring and whispering about me.

I kept walking until I found Johan's car, my stepfather, which had stopped right in front of the main entrance of the mall.

My mother got out.

The person she hugged was... Eliana, my perfect stepsister.

Wealth.

Beauty.

Affection.

Honor.

She had everything yet still kept destroying my life.

Whispering terrible things about me until not a single person wanted to be friends with me.

My heart hurt.

Raw.

No one loved me.

My only job was being a maid in Eliana's and my mother... She even supported Eliana in torturing me.

I looked down, lamenting my own appearance.

Dirty, disheveled, pathetic.

Mother forced me to take care of Eliana's house, she threatened, yet she instead chose to have fun with her stepdaughter.

I also saw Nolan. He kissed Eliana's forehead. He was my ex-boyfriend.

Good thing I never truly gave my heart and feelings to him. Had I known he would turn around and love Eliana, I wouldn't have agreed to be his girlfriend either.

I started walking straight.

"Dad, I want ice cream," on the way, I turned to the side.

A little girl was being carried in her father's embrace.

Her chest pressed against her father's chest. Her hand slipped under the child's thigh.

His other hand protected her back.

"Let's go buy some. What flavor do you want?"

"Chocolate, Dad... and matcha too... buy two."

I wanted chocolate too, I wanted matcha too, Dad.

But my father had died long ago. Decades ago. When I was 8 years old.

After that, I never received affection again.

I wanted to be cherished.

Loved.

I wanted to talk to other people.

I didn't want to be ignored anymore.

"That's Wisa."

"Don't get too close."

"She's so pathetic. I heard her boyfriend married her own sister."

"Just leave her be, that's karma."

"I heard Wisa's mother stole Eliana's father from her biological mother, until Eliana's mother died."

They were my high school friends.

When they saw me, they never stopped gossiping.

Their lines were always the same.

My mother was Eliana's former babysitter.

Because Eliana's mother died, Johan married my mother.

Then she was called a homewrecking mistress and I was called a mistress's child.

Then I was hated for no clear reason.

Hated for a sin I didn't even commit.

I kept walking toward the nearest ATM, and inserted the card.

2,000,000,000

T-Two million?

Was that money real?

My eyes widened, and instinctively I covered my mouth with both hands.

"Welcome to the world of Sergio, Miss Hawisa."

I heard the voice of the old man who had given me the card.

He was Amon's assistant.

The assistant who had handed me the contract.

The one who whispered that I might die if I signed that agreement paper.

But yeah...

I still did it.

I didn't want to live with my mother who didn't love me anymore.

I didn't want to be ignored by everyone anymore.

Insulted.

Mocked.

Hated for no reason.

"Sir," I uttered.

My chest felt tight.

My head was dizzy.

I was nauseous.

I felt dead tired.

I was overly stressed with a life that wouldn't stop torturing me.

"Are you satisfied with your initial salary?"

The voice was cold, soft, but audible because the ATM door was open. It's Amon.

Amon's assistant was beside me.

And when I turned around.

Amon was already standing, leaning against the closed car door.

He held a cigarette. His gaze looked down on me.

"It's time for you to work, Miss Hawisa."

Was he waiting for me?

I wanted to work too, but my head was floating.

It felt like it was going to burst.

My vision was blurry.

I was struggling to breathe.

"Miss Wisa..." Amon's assistant's voice panicked. "Miss Wisa... Miss Hawisa. Hey, don't faint here?"

Everything went dark.

I was utterly exhausted, physically and mentally.

"Miss Wisa, you were so tough in front of me earlier," That voice belonged to the man who was about to be my boss. "Now you're a complete mess. How can you survive if you're this weak?"

My body fell into Amon's assistant's hands.

And the last thing I felt was Amon's bodyguards lifting me up.

Then there was the sound of Eliana's loud shouting from the crowd:

"Look! She's truly gone mad! Don't tell me she's been working as a whore in some nightclubs, passing out on the streets like trash!"

I couldn't defend myself. As I was lifted into Amon's car, I could only hope that when I woke up later, I wouldn't be the weak Wisa anymore, the one whose job was just to take orders.

Becoming a servant just to go to school.

Begging Eliana for a chance to get an education.

***

Freezing ice water slammed into my face. I gasped, coughing as the liquid forced its way down my throat.

For a second, I had thought that two million dollars was just a dream.

​However, when I woke up, Eliana's grandmother was standing right over me holding a bucket of water, her face filled with deep hatred. As if I were her husband's bastard child.

​Damn...

​So it really wasn't a dream.

​"How dare you lounge around in a fancy hospital, huh!" she shrieked. "My family spent money on a parasite like you! You're just like your mother!" she berated me.

I glanced toward the nightstand.

Not a dream.

I really wasn't dreaming.

That ATM card was right there.

I...

Did I really get away from the hell in Eliana's house?