Chapter 1 The McMillians

“Daddy… Please don’t leave us. Don’t leave Mom. I’ll listen to you. I promise I’ll be a good girl…” A sixteen-year-old girl sobbed. 

“Mom is dying, Daddy! Look…” another little girl cried, her tiny fingers desperately clutching the edge of his coat. “Please save her…”

The man didn’t even turn around.

“Get away from me, you little rats.” His voice was cold, devoid of any affection.

“It’s better if she dies. Her death would be a favour to me. Never show me your faces again. From this moment on, you’re all dead to me.”

“Please don't leave us.. Daddy. I beg you. No….!” 

.

.

Trrrrrr…

I jolted awake as my eyes snapped open. My lungs fought desperately for air and heart pounding violently. For several seconds, I could only stare at the white ceiling above me, in silence to calm my breath. Another nightmare! 

Sighing, I reached for my phone and silenced the irritating alarm before throwing the blanket aside. The dark day of my life was still instilled in my heart which ruined my whole family including my life.

But I had no time to dwell on ghosts.

I had a job to survive.

Forcing myself to wash away the ugly memory of ugly people from my mind, I went to the washroom to do my morning routine and get ready for the office. 

"And what do you mean by it's not acceptable? I worked according to your instructions then what's the problem?" I asked the fuctard boss of mine while controlling my urge to break his nose. 

This horny ass coerced me to do overtime and now had the audacity to complain about the results.

"The problem is that you used the old illustrations. They’re outdated. You were supposed to use the new ones according to company policy. Now everything is messed up.”

This bastard! 

“But nobody informed me of this beforehand.” I said, throwing a hard gaze in his way. 

“You are educated enough to keep in touch with new procedures.” He said smugly.  

I chuckled, a humourless one. Ofcourse, it was his favourite game. To blame and bully others.

I had complained about him before. More than once. But the seniors had conveniently chosen to look the other way.

And now this bastard was threatening to fire me over something that wasn’t even my fault.

“You deliberately did this again, didn’t you?” I asked.

He merely smirked.

Then he stood. 

"But if you cooperate and be a good girl, we can still fix everything right. Only one call from my side and everything will be sorted out!” He said, approaching me. His eyes travelled over me in a way that made my stomach churn.

I remained rooted to the spot, then his hand landed on my waist. My entire body stiffened.

"How about we talk about this tonight in my hotel room?" He caressed my waist slowly and I felt like insects running all over my skin. 

"No," I said in a rigid tone. 

"You have no option, baby girl." He whispered in my ear and squeezed my waist. And finally, he forced me to come out of my hesitation. I knew one day I would do that. 

“Actually, I have!” 

I spun around and drove my fist straight into his face.

“Ahhh…” 

He stumbled backward, clutching his nose. The office room vibrated with his moaning sounds in pain and the thrill I got was something else. 

His eyes burned like hot lava as he stepped forward to harm me.  

“You bloody bitch! I will….” but I just smirked as my foot slammed straight between his legs.

He froze. His eyes widened.

Then he crumpled to his knees with a strangled scream.

“I will fucking kill you…”

I snorted. He looked up at me with murderous hatred. I calmly pointed toward the CCTV camera mounted in the corner. Then I raised my phone. His eyes immediately fell on the screen. His complexion turned pale. 

“Let me introduce your filthy little personality to Facebook Live, Bastard.”

He clenched his jaws. I smiled. “Let’s see what everyone thinks about their so-called big boss when they watch the footage of you trying to harass one of your employees.”

Panic flashed across his face.

Good. For an entire year, this man had bullied me, cornered me, threatened me but nobody listened when I complained. Now, I don’t care. 

“You won’t even have time to prepare my termination papers,” I said, slipping my phone into my pocket. “You’ll be far too busy trying to clean up your own mess.”

“But don't worry I will do this last favour for you. Goodbye, Asshole." I spat and walked out of the office, with satisfaction in my heart and head high. 

My resentments for him were lessened to some extent by whacking him. It's time to resign from this pathetic job. 

I sighed when I realised they won't pay me for the overtime I did for five days. Hell! They might not even pay my salary. 

But my self-respect wasn’t something I was willing to sell just to keep a pathetic job. 

Luckily, I already had a backup. A small one, but enough to keep me afloat. I worked part-time at a café.

And now, until I found something better, I needed to turn that part-time job into a full-time one.

Especially because I was pursuing my finance degree online.

Between tuition, household bills, and everyday expenses, money wasn’t exactly something I could afford to run out of.

When I reached the café, I immediately went to speak with Kelvin, the manager.

“You are fortunate that Mavis is taking three months off, so you can work here as long as you want, Raya.” 

Relief washed over me. 

“Thank you so much, Kelvin. I really needed it.” I smiled at him with gratitude. 

“You are always welcome, Raya. I can't lose my most honest and hardworking girl, you know.” He winked at my way. I chuckled and nodded before heading to change into my waitress outfit. 

“And yes….” I turned around to him. “…The last table on the left is reserved for VIP guests tonight. They’re here for a business meeting and should arrive within the hour.”

I frowned. We rarely took reservations, except for small gatherings.

“Take special care of them,” Kelvin continued. “They are very important. And serve them your signature coffee. I’m trusting you with this.”

“Of course.” I nodded. “But who are they?”

“The assistant of McMillian Corporation booked the table this morning. They’ve been regular customers lately, although they usually come in the morning. Today they chose the evening.”

McMillian Corporation?

My brows rose.

“They’re one of New York’s most prominent companies,” Kelvin continued. “So give them our best service. You might even get a generous tip.”

Mcmillian?

The name immediately caught my attention.

I had heard of them.

Everyone had.

McMillian Corporation, the multimillion dollars empire, wasn’t the kind of company ordinary people simply walked into.

They hired only the best. The most qualified. The most experienced.

Jordan had recently managed to land a position in their accounting department.

“I’m leaving everything in your hands,” Kelvin said. “Britney will be helping you tonight too. I need to go.”

Britney.

She would probably ruin everything just by breathing near a customer.

I shook my head and changed into my uniform before heading into the kitchen.

“Tom, what’s that delicious smell?” Britney’s voice sounded into the kitchen.

I didn’t need to turn around to know she had arrived.

She was the kind of woman who could smell an attractive man from three rooms away.

“Raya! What's up sweety!” She chimed in walking towards me. She grabbed one donut and tasted it. I stopped what I was doing and slowly crossed my arms.  

“You have five minutes to change your dress and help me bake these. Don't make me repeat myself for the second time, Britney.” I said curtly. She scrunched her nose on her white-painted face and her red lips pouted before she blew a breath. 

“Alright! Looks like Kelvin left me under your supervision today.” She flipped her hair and walked out, swaying her hardly covered hips under the flimsy short skirt. 

The bell chimed outside and I knew that our VIP guests had arrived. I walked out grabbing my pad and pen to the table. 

I headed to the last table in the corner and viewed the two men cladded in business suits, all black.

The McMillians!