Chapter One

"I am tired of living like this," Brenda said to Carla angrily. "Why would he keep doing things like this to me?"

"Calm down, Brenda," Carla said, shifting closer to her. "Our parents are crazy, but we don't have to become like them. We just have to work harder and live the life we want."

"How on earth am I supposed to do that?" Brenda asked, shaking her head. "I have done everything possible to make my family better. I have sacrificed everything just to get out of this place. Yet, the more I work, the more everything gets worse. I am tired of being this way."

Carla remained silent for seconds, thinking of the best way to calm her down. She understood how Brenda felt and wished she could help her out. It wasn't the first time she was complaining about her family. As her best friend, she knew some of the problems they faced, and it hurt her that she couldn't help her best friend.

"Have you tried talking to him? Maybe he will listen to you and change." Carla suggested.

Brenda chuckled bitterly. "Do you think I haven't done that? Every time I had the chance, I always begged him to stop gambling, but he wouldn't listen to me. He keeps accumulating debts from different people, and he doesn't listen to anyone." Brenda sighed.

She was outraged, but she was trying her best to control it. She glanced around the sitting room, her mind racing with thoughts. Their apartment was poorly built, and they owed a lot on the property. As she glanced around the sitting room, she realized they had sold almost every valuable property they had. Every time her father owed a huge amount of money to someone, he would resort to selling some properties or borrowing from other people to pay them back.

Life had been unbearable for her for the past few years. Her father had become a chronic debtor from gambling ever since her mother died. Like that wasn't enough, he forced her to do everything he wanted. Brenda followed his orders obediently but with pain. Sometimes, she desperately wanted to leave, but she knew her younger sister, Ralia, would suffer the consequences of her actions. Although she was in school, she had to work to care for her sister and father. Due to his gambling excesses, she never had enough money to afford the things she wanted.

"I know it's hard to deal with all of this," Carla said, snapping her out of her thoughts. "However, it's not enough for you to run away. What's going to happen to him when you leave? I am ready to take you and Ralia in at any time, but I don't want you to make a decision you will regret."

Brenda had made plans to leave home with her younger sister on her birthday. But she eventually didn't because Carla had talked her out of it. Now, she returned home to discover that the money she had been saving was missing. She had saved about one thousand dollars for her tuition, but someone broke her saving box and took the money. That was enough reason to make her want to leave home again.

"I'm not going to regret anything," Brenda responded dryly. "The only thing I regret right now is leaving money in this apartment for him to steal. I am so angry, and it's driving me crazy."

"Are you sure he took it?"

"Yes," Brenda answered, nodding her head firmly. "There's no way anyone else would take that money. I mean, it's just three of us in this apartment, and Ralia would never steal my money."

Carla heaved a heavy sigh. "You are right. I don't think it's also a coincidence that he went on a business trip immediately after the money got missing."

"Exactly," Brenda said, rising to her feet. "It would be stupid to think anyone else stole the money. Besides, I think I have proof he took it."

She walked into her father's room and came out with some papers in her hand. She flung it in the air as she walked back to Carla on the sofa.

"Here," She said, handing over the papers to her. "He paid one thousand dollars to that account yesterday. Can you see the time? It was almost an hour before I discovered my money was missing."

Carla examined the paper and shook her head. "That solves it, he took the money."

"Of course," Brenda replied, plopping down on the sofa. "I found this at the back of his wardrobe. He was obviously hiding it from me."

"So what are you going to do about it? I can give you the money to pay for the fees." Carla offered. Unlike Brenda, her parents were wealthy. They gave her everything she wanted, and she had the freedom to explore. She didn't have to worry about what to eat or clothes to wear because she had everything. Most of the time, she tried to help Brenda with money, but she would often decline.

"I don't know. I have a feeling he is in trouble or something. He can only get this desperate if someone is threatening him. I just hope he hasn't gotten himself into more trouble."

"Or maybe he needed money to gamble. Don't focus on the negative side of things. I know there's no positive side because your money was stolen but let's try to think of less scary things that could happen. As I said, I can always give you the money." Carla said, trying to comfort her.

"Thank you, but you don't have to worry. You know I always figure things out."

"Yes, I do know you can figure it out, but I want to help. My best friend needs a thousand dollars, and I want to give her that. You don't have to pay me back at all."

Brenda smiled and placed her hands on her thighs. "I don't know what I'll do without you."

They had been best friends since high school and eventually applied to the same university together. Although they were complete opposites, their friendship didn't suffer because of their differences.

"Well, you can always make me dumplings," Carla replied in an attempt to change the conversation. "I can't wait to get back to school."

"I haven't made dumplings in a while. I miss that too." Brenda answered, smiling. "I don't know if I am happy about school. I feel like something bad is about to happen. Or maybe I just need a break."

"Come on, don't be so pessimistic. Do you know that Micheal and Liam are not returning?" She made another attempt to change the conversation.

"Why? What happened?" Brenda asked eagerly.

"I heard they failed their courses and didn't want to repeat." Carla knew the only way to stop Brenda from overthinking about her missing money and family was to distract her with stories from university.

"That's terrible." Brenda slapped her hand over her mouth in shock. "I can't believe they are leaving."

"Well, medical school is not for everyone. They are basically one of the most unserious people I know."

"Still, I don't think anyone deserves to be kicked out that way." She sighed. "That means we will have to work harder this semester."

"You already have a perfect GPA, what do you mean?" Carla asked, shrugging. If anyone needed to work harder, it had to be her.

"We must work harder because the semester will be tough."

Carla rolled her eyes. "Honestly, medical school is driving me crazy."

"There's...."

Brenda opened her mouth to speak, but the doorbell rang. With her mouth slightly opened, she turned to Carla.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Carla whispered, her eyes wide with fear.

"No. It's 11 pm, why would I be expecting someone?" She said in a low tone.

"Could it be your dad?"

"He's on a business...."

The doorbell rang again, and this time, Brenda became more worried. Her father had traveled for business and wasn't returning until a week later. With the kind of dangerous life he lived, it was terrifying that someone was outside their apartment by 11 pm. She stole a glance at Carla, who was also frightened and swallowed.

"Who is there?" She called out, hoping to hear her father's response, but none came. Her heart was pounding furiously against her chest as she rose from the sofa. They never had guests whenever her father wasn't home. Her father had also warned them never to let anyone into their apartment as they could be dangerous people.

"What are you doing?" Carla asked, rising to hold her back. "You don't know who is behind that door."

"I want to find out."

"Oh my.." Carla stammered. "Oh my God. Are you serious? It's freaking 11 pm, and your sister is in bed."

"Just wait here," Brenda said, moving toward the door. Her hand was sweating and quivering as she inched closer to the door. Taking a deep breath, she turned the door knob.

Deep dark eyes cut straight into hers, and shivers ran down her spine. A heavily built and dangerous-looking man stood outside, glaring at her.

"Where is Alex?" He asked, his voice husky, and Brenda staggered back with fear.