Chapter 1

• “What’s your name?”
• The woman asked smiling, Kiara knew the woman. Well, everyone knew the woman,
• Iris Brooks, the woman was married to the richest man in England, Adrian Brooks.
• The woman’s blue eyes met Kiara’s green ones.
• “Kiara, Kiara Adams”
• Kiara said looking down at her feet. The woman’s friends were all looking at
• Kiara who cowered. She feared losing her job and being called by to the table
• by the woman, she was frightened “Mrs. Iris, if I did anything wrong, I
• apologize, but please…”
• “Mrs. Iris is very
• much pleased with your work, Kiara” my manager said stopping the worried girl
• who frowned in confusion looking at him. The manager had hired her after she
• begged him to, having lost three jobs already, the girl couldn’t afford losing
• the forth. She had a sister to take care of, as well as rent to pay. That is at
• least until her sister got her first pay check.
• “Yes, I spoke to Mr.
• Gustave and was wondering if you were interested in working as a waitress in
• the Brooks company. My husband has a strict diet and I need someone to tend to
• his needs when I’m not with him and you know, when he’s at work. Well, I can’t
• really be sure what he is or he’s not eating and I don’t want him getting ill”
• Mrs. Iris said casually. Her friends looked at her with envy, everyone who knew
• the woman was impressed by her, the way she walked, talked, dressed. The woman
• was always the center of attention wherever she went.
• “Me? But…”
• “I am willing to
• offer you triple what you’re being paid here. Whatever the job is, and you’ll
• also be my concierge during my events during the weekends, and I’ll be paying
• you a hundred pounds per hour for the job” Mrs. Iris said stopping Kiara from
• questioning anything, she wanted to be sure that the girl accepted the job. But
• she didn’t want her questioning her, she simply wanted her to accept, and by
• making such offers, she knew that there was no way that the girl would reject
• her offer.
• “Of course, I’d love
• to work for you Mrs. Iris, but what if you don’t like my work? or your husband?
• You know, I have never been inside a company let alone worked in one” Kiara
• said looking at the woman with frightened eyes, she didn’t want to lose the
• offer. But she wasn’t going to lie about her abilities, the girl hadn’t even
• entered college, the chance that she had escaped her fingers when her mother
• sent her and her sister to London. The two were to find a way to survive and
• Kiara wanted her sister to complete her studies, to go to college and get a
• degree. Therefore, she made the choice to work double and sometimes triple
• shifts to be able to get enough income to pay for her sister’s university fees,
• rent, water and electricity, and of course, for them to be able to survive the
• tough, expensive life of London.
• “A training will be
• offered by my maid Maria, don’t worry about that. She will let you know how
• everything goes, she’ll show you what to do and what not to do, the job should
• be easy for a smart girl like yourself” Mrs. Iris was a sweet talker, everyone
• knew that. Even Kiara, magazines were always filled with her pictures and
• different comments from her. She loved being in the spotlight, at least that is
• what Kiara saw “this is my driver’s number, if you’re interested, call him and
• he’ll pick you up wherever you are and bring you over. Maria will explain
• everything to you and you can start with your first job as my concierge. I’ll
• see how you are and we’ll discuss further details”
• “And if you don’t
• like the job, your place is always open in the restaurant whenever you wish to
• return. I already spoke to Mr. Gustave and he’s agreed to my terms, you don’t
• need to worry” Mrs. Iris said smiling.
• “We all know that
• she’s the best in her job, otherwise you wouldn’t have chosen her Iris” A
• woman, Mrs. Iris’s friend, Kylie, said smiling at me. Her brown eyes met
• Kiara’s green ones as she moved her hand in front of the women while she spoke,
• clearly showing off the ring and watch she had on. Another thing that Mrs. Iris
• didn’t do, the woman never showed off what she wore. At least not in front of
• media, but everyone spoke of her beauty.
• “It would be an
• honor working for you Mrs. Iris, thank you so much for this opportunity. I
• won’t let you down” Kiara said and the women looked at one another, both of
• them smiling as they watched the girl who was about to jump from excitement.
• The amount was larger than any that she’s ever earned. Hell, the job that she
• was working offered one of the highest minimum wages she’s ever earned.
• “Well then, I should
• be expecting you tomorrow” Mrs. Iris said smiling and Kiara nodded at her. Mr.
• Gustave smiled at Kiara and put his hand on thee woman’s shoulder, he squeezed
• it gently and Kiara looked at him.
• “Kiara, go out the
• door without telling anyone of anything. Pick up your things and just go” Mr.
• Gustave said lowly, he obviously didn’t want the other workers to know of this,
• they would be jealous and might cause an issue that he didn’t want in front of the
• costumers.
• “Alright, I’ll see
• you tomorrow Mrs. Iris”
• “Until tomorrow,
• Kiara darling”
• ******************************
• Kiara:
• “What do you mean
• you quit?” Grace asked me with wide eyes. I rolled my eyes at my little sister
• who came to conclusions without even waiting to listen. Though I didn’t really
• expect her to listen. I already expected her reaction.
• “I did not QUIT
• Grace! I got a better offer, three times my salary to be the waitress of Adrian
• Brooke, and a concierge of his wife when she had her events, plus bonuses, plus
• yearly raises!” I said looking at her, she nodded not looking excited. Well,
• technically Mrs. Iris didn’t state the whole offer, but going through my phone,
• I checked the payments of the Brooke Inc. and bloody hell were they great.
• “And what are you
• going to become afterwards? Head of waitresses or head of concierges?" Grace
• mocked and I rolled my eyes at her “Kiara, why don’t you do something for your
• future? go back to college, maybe start over? You’ve stopped so many
• opportunities since…”
• “You know what
• happened the last time I tried doing so Grace, and these bills need to be paid,
• my college expenses will be too much for us to handle” I said looking my sister
• in the eye. Her eyes softened knowing what I was talking about. She was right,
• I did stop many opportunities. Some which I was forced to stop myself from
• taking, but now wasn’t the time to talk about this.
• “I can work for the
• two of us, you have done that for me before…”
• “Grace, no! You saw
• how exhausting it was for me and I don’t want you going through the same thing”
• I said stopping her from finishing her sentence “plus, when I’m married to Thomas,
• I won’t even need this job”
• “Marry Thomas?
• Kiara, you and I both know what he’s after, please stop lying to yourself about
• a hopeless relationship with a man you don’t even love!” Grace snapped and I
• glared at her as she raised her voice making her shy back “I’m sorry, that’s
• not what I meant”
• “I loved once Grace,
• you saw how it ended. Both of us ended up broken, it would’ve been a hell of
• lot easier for us if there was a reason behind our break up, but there was
• none! Okay? No bloody damn reason! Therefore, when I choose to marry money
• instead of love it’s because of a fucking reason!” I snapped at my sister who
• was now taken back my reaction. She took a step back, I rarely snapped out of
• being frustrated or broken, and especially not at Grace.
• “You still love him,
• don’t you?” Grace asked and I closed my eyes and wiped the tears that fell from
• my eyes. My sister’s eyes softened and she took a careful step toward me,
• wrapping her arms around me hugging me as I tried calming myself down, my heart
• clenching and unclenching as I relived the pain of a heartbreak again. I hated
• being this way, and I hated what happened and how it happened. But I couldn’t
• turn back time now.
• “Go love, do what
• you see right. I’ll be by your side through every step okay?” Grace said
• pulling away to look me in the eye. She wiped the tears that fell from my eyes
• and kissed my cheeks like I would do to her when she would cry, which was a
• rare occasion. But it did happen every once in a while when everything got too
• much on her, which was one of the main reasons why I never exposed my pain, not
• wanting to add on her worry about things about us. Having seen us rise from
• bottom, the two of us came to London with nothing but a rented apartment which
• had food as mother had rented it for us when she forced us to leave home as to
• be sure that I never got back to him.
• I gave her a weak
• smile, and tried calming my breathing as my phone rang. Checking the caller ID,
• I found that Thomas was calling my eyes widening as I remembered that we had
• agreed to meet up for a date. Clearing my throat, I answered the phone making
• sure to keep my voice under control as I didn’t want him hearing my voice being
• weak or sad.
• “Hello love” I said
• calmly.
• “Hi beautiful, are
• we still on for tonight?” He asked.
• “Yes, I just need to
• get ready, I just got back from work, then we can go, yeah?” I said calmly.
• “Sure, meet me at
• The Grill at eight?” He asked. He had never come over to pick me up until
• today, I had never objected or cared. But after four months of dating I figured
• that he’d at least want to know where I lived, maybe come over to watch a
• movie, but nothing, he never even asked to.
• “Alright, see you
• then”
• With that said we
• hung up and I looked at Grace who smiled. Nodding for me to go and get ready
• which I did quickly not wanting to be late as it was already seven.
• ***************************
• “How do I look?” I
• asked Grace turning around. I was wearing a royal blue sleeveless shirt and a
• white jacket on top of it, not wanting to look cheap, and white skinny jeans.
• “You look lovely”
• Grace said smiling. Her hands messing my curly hair adding volume to it. I had
• already applied a light shade of makeup, making sure to spark my blue eyes with
• mascara, and nude colored lipstick.
• “What time is it?” I
• asked Grace. I had showered, fixed my hair, and got dressed as fast as I could,
• though I didn’t know what time it was. Hoping that I wasn’t late, I looked at
• my phone checking the time and gasped when I saw that it was already seven
• forty and I had twenty minutes to reach The Grill.
• “I’m going to be
• late!” I said kissing her cheek and Grace shook her head at me helping me wear
• my white coat, and I ran out the door to catch the bus at the bus stop.
• “Good evening miss”
• the bus driver said smiling. He was a middle-aged man who was used to seeing me
• running toward the bus that it stopped phasing him since I used to run to get
• on the bus and of the bus when I had two jobs.
• “Good evening Mr.
• Gerard” I smiled getting inside to sit down. Not even bothering to show him my
• bus pass as he already knew that I had it with me.
• It was twenty-five
• minutes later when we reached The Grill and I mentally slapped myself at being
• five minutes late. But I could just say that it was traffic, it wasn’t like I
• would be lying.
• “Hi” I said walking
• inside, consierge smiled at me “Thomas Brooke”
• Yes, I was dating the
• Thomas Brooke. Son of Mrs. Iris herself, despite me knowing the man’s mum. He
• never bothered bringing her up to any conversation and knowing him, I was well
• aware that he lived in his own apartment. Though he never really invited me
• there, but rumors had it that he sometimes stayed at his parent’s mansion.
• “He’s inside, let me
• show you your table” the concierge said smiling. I nodded and walked in behind
• him as he guided me toward the table, finding Thomas sitting and having ordered
• water for me as he knew that I didn’t drink and whatever drink he was drinking.
• “I’m sorry I’m late”
• I said smiling. Thomas got up and kissed my cheek before walking to my side and
• taking out my chair for me allowing me to sit before he went back to his seat,
• both of us smiling at one another.
• “How are you? I went
• to the café today but didn’t find you, did something happen?” Thomas asked
• sounding concerned.
• “No, no, I got a
• better job offer, I’ll be checking it out tomorrow” I said smiling, Thomas
• seeming uninterested nodded not saying a word. Him and I had met at the café,
• he used to come there almost every day with his friends, and our meetings were
• on a daily basis. Then he started getting busy when he became a partner of his
• father’s company that he came once a week, though the change would’ve bothered
• any other female, it didn’t bother me. I was honestly proud that he was
• building himself, I never even asked why we wouldn’t meet for weeks, as long as
• we called one another, or texted, that was enough for me.
• “How’s everything
• with you? Dad’s company?”
• “Everything’s fine,
• a little hectic, but it’s going well” Thomas said smiling, I nodded giving him
• a soft smile “look Kiara, my family is out of the house for tonight, and I was
• thinking that maybe we go back to my place since it’s empty”
• “Excuse me?” I asked
• frowning in confusion.
• “You know, spend
• time, intimate time, you and me?” Thomas said smirking, his eyes darkening in a
• look which I did not recognize.
• “Unless I’m going to
• meet your family, why would I be going to your house, Thomas? And especially
• that way, in hiding like some criminal” I asked frowning in confusion.
• “Why would you be
• meeting my family? Of course, the house would have to be empty for you to come over.
• Do you realize what would happen if my family or anyone found out about us?” Thomas
• asked and my eyes widened at his words “I wanted to hang out for fun”
• “Fun? You mean you
• wanted to get into my pants?” I asked raising my voice slightly. Not caring
• that I was catching the attention of the people who were sitting around us.
• Thomas frowned and looked around trying to hide his face.
• “Why would I want
• anything else to do with a girl like you? Have you seen the difference between
• our classes? Where you come from and where I come from?” He mocked. My eyes
• widened at his words and I quickly got up, rushing out of the restaurant not
• even looking back at him.
• I reached the door
• and closed my eyes before going back and throwing a few pounds on the table
• knowing that they were a hell lot more than what my water glass cost. If it did
• l cost anything to begin with, my face inches from the man who was sitting
• looking at me with wide eyes.
• “Don’t you ever call
• me again” I warned turning my heels to walk out of the restaurant.
• “Why would I? You
• were nothing but a pawn to me” he yelled making my heart drop at his words. I
• didn’t bother looking back at him, having no answer to give him as I wiped the
• tears that fell from my eyes, women and men were looking at me, all of them
• sharing the same apologetic look, some even gossiping between them.
• “Fuck you Thomas, I
• will show you who the pawn is”