Chapter 1

• Three months earlier
• Twenty-four-year-old Kaia Everhart was descending the stairs of the L.E.C building, aiming for the cab that had been waiting for her since her arrival at the structure over an hour ago.
• Wavy asymmetrical chocolate-coloured hair rested above her shoulder. Her face, once alluring and striking with bold red lipstick and mascara, now looked all messed up.
• The young girl was dressed in a perfectly tailored grey pencil skirt and a buttoned-up white shirt that made it impossible for her to walk faster.
• An outfit combo that made her pocket bleed.
• Her face was stern and sad, expressing her current countenance. The only thing Kaia Everhart wanted after yet another failed job interview was to return home, cry herself to sleep, wake up, bury her face in a bowl of ice cream, and cry again.
• After all, that had been her everyday routine for the past months.
• But her choice of outfit made it impossible, and that infuriated her, causing a pool of tears to well up before her eyes and, in consequence, earning pitiful and questioning stares from others.
• By the time she sat in the cab, the young girl could tell the cab driver was fed up with waiting for her, so she gave her destination and allowed him to handle his frustration.
• The young girl had woken up that morning feeling happy and hopeful—so much so that all through breakfast and even in the shower, she hummed.
• Hell, she even made up her bed. That was how hopeful she was about the day.
• Sometime in the middle of last week, the young girl had come across a post saying the Luis Ed. Company had a vacancy.
• The young girl didn’t waste any time after seeing the ad and applied. Within the week, she received another mail saying she had passed the first stage and was invited for an interview Monday morning at nine.
• Today was Monday, and the positivity she had when leaving her one-bedroom apartment was gone.
• She was confident about her answers. She saw the approving looks the interviewers gave her, and that raised her hopes.
• That was until they asked if she had any experience and she watched the approving looks on their faces turn into something morbid.
• She didn’t need to hear that she was taken. The look they gave her said in a million ways that she was disqualified, plus the fact that they had said words no applicant wants to hear:
• “Thank you, miss. We’ll give you a call.”
• Kaia Everhart knew she wouldn’t receive any call, and she knew not to hope. That would be setting herself up for an earth-shattering disappointment, and she wasn’t sure she could handle that.
• For the meantime, she was going to return home and cry herself to sleep.
• The young girl was so wrapped up in her mind that she didn’t realize the cab had come to a halt. She was about to call out to the cab driver, but the older man got out before she could even speak up.
• “Just fucking great,” she cursed to herself. She sat back on the chair with a pout on her face.
• From the corner of her vision, the young girl saw movements that made her head quickly shoot in that direction. Only then did she notice she was at a park.
• It was a man who looked like he was in his late sixties running around the merry-go-round with little kids. The sight of this brought a smile to Kaia Everhart’s face. There was nothing that made her heart swell with emotion more than watching oldsters go back to their childhood stage.
• Unfortunately for her, this happiness didn’t last long as she noticed the look of discomfort on the older man’s face. She was suddenly overcome with a sense of care and didn’t think twice before rushing out of the cab to help him, ignoring the cab driver who now called out to her.
• Kaia Everhart made it just in time to stop him from hitting the ground and simultaneously causing more damage. This, in turn, landed her on the ground with the old man in her arms, who was now passed out.
• “Help! Somebody help, please!” panic filled Kaia’s voice as she cried out for help. No one seemed to care. Even the kids that had played with him were nowhere in sight. People walked around the park, carrying on with their lives as if there wasn’t someone fighting for his life.
• “Somebody help me, goddammit!” she called out in a maddened tone, yet no one seemed to care.
• “Sir, please don’t die on me. Hang in there, sir,” she spoke softly to the man.
• Kaia Everhart was confused. She didn’t know what to do. No one seemed to care that she had a dying man in her arms. And just when she tried reaching into her pocket to get her phone, she realized her phone was in her purse—in the cab.
• “Miss, what is going on?” she heard a familiar voice call out to her.
• It was the cab driver, looking at her with concern in his eyes.
• “He needs help. We need to take him to the hospital,” the young girl said and tried getting up, but it was impossible with the man’s weight on her.
• “Shouldn’t we call an ambulance?” the cab driver questioned.
• “They’ll take forever to get here. The nearest hospital is five minutes away—we can get there in three,” the young girl clapped back.
• Although the cab driver was wary, he helped her carry the man to the cab. Kaia sat in the back with him, making sure he was still breathing.
• By the time they made it to the hospital, the man’s breathing was faint. The cab driver immediately got out and sought the attention of nurses, who rushed toward them with a stretcher.
• It had been over two hours since Kaia Everhart got to the hospital and over an hour since the doctor told her they had no news about the old man.
• She felt anxious and tired. She should have left like the cab driver. She would have been in her apartment stuffing her face with ice cream, cussing her pathetic life.
• Instead, she was at a hospital, waiting to hear if the doctors had any positive news about the older man while trying not to break down over her own life.
• Deep down, Kaia wasn’t sure why she didn’t leave the hospital. Maybe it was the fact that she didn’t want to be alone in her apartment. Maybe it was the hope that the news of the old man’s health would be the one good thing to happen to her today. Regardless of the reason, she didn’t leave.
• Kaia Everhart had her head buried in her lap and looked up with a gasp when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
• She looked into the kind but worried eyes of a blonde nurse.
• "Hi, are you family with the patient?"
• Kaia shook her head. "No, I just brought him in. But why are you asking this? Is something the matter with him?" She couldn't understand why she felt so worried.
• "On the contrary," a smile formed on the nurse's lips that made the young girl sigh in relief.
• "Well, can I see him?"
• The nurse pondered for a while. "I’m afraid not. You’re not related to the patient in any way."
• Kaia Everhart frowned. Who the hell made such a stupid law? She’d been seated in the lobby for almost three hours for someone she rushed to the hospital—and they were telling her this? She should have been in her apartment bawling her eyes out.
• Kaia was about to lash out at the nurse when the doctor she’d first spoken with approached her.
• “It’s okay. I got this,” the doctor intervened. Still, the nurse didn’t leave, even after the approving look the doctor gave her.
• “Miss Everhart, is it?”
• Kaia nodded. The doctor placed an arm around her shoulders and led her through the hallway. Then, he smiled at her briefly before turning the doorknob of the room, allowing Kaia to come face-to-face with the man she’d saved.
• “Come on in,” the older man said in a shaky voice and reached out a hand, which had a cardiac finger pulse rate meter clipped to it.
• The young girl couldn’t understand why she was suddenly nervous about walking in, after all the fuss she was about to create. Oddly, she found herself looking in the direction of the doctor—but he was no longer standing on the threshold.
• Kaia Everhart walked toward the bed and, at once, the old man took her hand in his and squeezed it gently, engulfing her with a sense of comfort.
• “What’s your name, young lady?” the man inquired. He still hadn’t let go of her arm.
• “Kaia. Kaia Everhart.”
• The man let out a smile. “Kaia. Such a lovely name,” he commented, making the young girl’s face flush pink.
• There was a brief moment of silence before the older man gently pulled on her hand, urging her to sit next to him.
• “The doctors told me what you did. How can I repay your kindness?”
• Kaia was already shaking her head. “No, you don’t have to, sir. I did what any other person would do.”
• “I know. Still, I want to repay you. I wouldn’t be here if not for you.”
• The young girl wasn’t having it. The only thing Kaia Everhart wanted was to know that she’d done some good—and that good was being rewarded. The man was okay.
• “Here, reach into my pocket,” he tried turning to the side. “It should be there. I left home with it this morning,” he added.
• Kaia frowned. She had no idea what he was talking about—until she pulled out a diamond necklace. It was the most beautiful thing Kaia had ever seen.
• She couldn’t stop staring at it.
• “I want you to have it. It was a gift from my mother…” Kaia looked at the man momentarily before shifting her gaze back to the necklace.
• His voice faded in her ears. That was how mesmerised she was.
• “So, I want you to keep it. Someday, it will bring you good luck,” the man finalized.
• Kaia found herself smiling at him in gratitude.
• “Thank you, sir,” she said softly.
• The young girl stared at the necklace again before keeping it in her purse.
• She had no idea… but that necklace was going to be the start of her doom.