His Appointed Wife

1. Strange men and stranger proposals

"You give me a look and it feels like you are looking right through me. But I have become good at showing only what I want to show." - Alex.
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1. Strange men and stranger Proposals

(Alexandra)

Feeling really tired, Alexandra closed her eyes as she rested her pounding head on the bench she was sitting. She gently rubbed small circles over her temple to ease the raising headache, but it looked like the headache was inevitable.

A wistful sigh left her lips as she imagined herself in her foamy mattress, inside her air-conditioned room, but that room was now only a far away memory. How she wished she hadn't taken it all for granted when she lived in the safe cocoon of her daddy's protection. Now... Here she was, wandering and lost. Sitting in the street, wishing for at least a bowl of soup.

As if her stomach heard her thoughts, it let out a groan and she could feel it, hundred hungry monsters groaning from inside her stomach.

I really need to find another job. She thought as tears slid down her red cheeks. Sunburn could do that to you, so could hunger.

She remembered what had happened in the morning. It was her second time getting fired from the job. All her life, she had lived a well secluded life, away from the outside world that could eat someone like her in a single gulp.

"But... I didn't." Her boss looked at her as if she was a common thief. She wasn't. Yes, she was hungry, but she could never steal from another person's hard work.

"So what is this? I thought you are a good girl and how wrong I was!" He said as he threw her bag down. "Get lost. If I ever see you here again, I will call the cops."

Humiliated and embarrassed, she looked up at the tall girl standing in front of her, hands on her hips, looking not even a bit guilty.

Alex knew she was the one who did it.

"It is Arie... "

"Ssh, not a word. I was going to promote you to kitchen duty and you... "

So now Alex knew why the woman she had thought as a friend had done it. Alex was new, but she was also perfect in doing what she did. It was jealousy. God, kitchen duty includes helping the cook, and it was nothing sort of glamorous, when compared to doing dishes, but...

"I know you did it, Arielle. But, I am woman enough to walk away and not take your next day meal off your table." She said to her when she walked away, and for a moment, Arielle looked guilty, but then she shrugged and walked in as Alex walked out, head held high.

Alex spilled a wry smile. What a funny life. Just months ago, she had lived in a mansion, a sort-of princess, and as she wished, everything appeared in front of her. And then one day, when she was comfortable in the knowledge that her dad would always be here for her, always giving and loving, always protecting, he was gone.

And gone, was her safety net, too.

With his death, came thousand lies that had been buried. Thousand masks peeled out to show true faces. The kind smile they had given to her now became fake and filled with bloodlust. They wanted what was hers.

At that point, Alex had lost everything. It was nothing but a wicked play of fate.

Her dad's partners and shareholders came up with some outlandish lies. Debts. Accounts payable. Loss statement. Bankruptcy.

She knew it was all a lie, but she was helpless as she watched them liquidate every property owned for the business and add them in their bank balance and after a month, they re-started her dad's pet projects under different name, without her.