Chapter 2

'KEEP SMILING AT CUSTOMERS EVEN IF YOUR LIPS ARE PARALYZED'

That’s this bakery’s crazy motto. For some reason, the owner is confident enough to come up with a slogan like that while the employees are paid barely enough to get by.

Hannah shook her head to shake off the drowsiness. She arrived at 9 a.m. today, yet as a part-time employee, she wouldn’t be allowed to go home until—wait for it—10 p.m! 

A thirteen-hour shift for a mere part-time employee. That’s even longer than a full-time job. Damn shop owner.

There were no customers left in the shop because it had already closed at 9 p.m. Even so, they still had to tidy up the shop and prepare for opening tomorrow until 10 p.m.

“I can’t take it anymore. I’m quitting this month!”

Hannah was surprised to hear that. She thought it was her own inner voice slipping. But it turned out to be Liz, her coworker, complaining while mopping the floor. It wasn’t the first time Liz had said that, but the reality was, the girl was still working at this bakery.

“Are you sure? Your pay from last month hasn’t been paid yet.”

“That’s exactly it. I’m sure this month they’ll tell us to be patient again.” Liz snorted. “You know, I heard from others that this month’s finances will be in the red again because the boss embezzled our revenue for gambling.”

“Yeah,” Hannah nodded slowly. To be honest, she’d heard that too.

Every day, her boss would leave in the middle of the day under various pretexts. Meetings with suppliers, scouting locations for a new store, inspecting other stores, whatever the excuses as long as he could leave and come back after the shop had closed. 

Someone had once claimed to have seen him at an arcade and billiards place, spending money like it meant nothing. Others whispered about an illegal gambling ring operating nearby.

Hannah didn’t know which version was true and frankly, she didn’t even want to know. She just wanted to get paid, like everyone else did.

“Are you coming with me, Hannah?” Liz asked suddenly.

“Coming where?”

“Quitting. Leaving this awful place. I’m so sick of this damn store and that damn old man.”

Hannah let out a quiet breath. “And then what? Where would you go?”

Liz shrugged.

Hannah let out a long sigh. “Everyone here wants to quit and find a better job. But in this economy? It’s practically a suicide if you quit without a plan.”

Stating the obvious.

“Well, I have a plan. Just not a plan to work," said Liz with confidence.

“Whatever.” It feels like her energy is drained whenever she has to respond to Liz’s random remarks.

“Listen, Hannah. If you want to live comfortably, don’t bother working. Better find a rich man and be his mistress.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Why is that crazy? I think that’s a better life than being a low-paid bakery employee. Especially with an older, wealthy man. We’re at the perfect age for that, Hannah."

Hannah furrowed her brow, baffled by her friend’s words. In her mind, maybe Liz had gone a little crazy from being scolded so often by the owner of the bakery where they worked.

“Don’t act so high and mighty. If you had that opportunity, would you really turn it down? Imagine you could have a luxurious lifestyle, a free apartment…”

“It’s not a moral issue, it’s just being realistic, Liz. Where are you going to find a rich guy who’d support some random girl off the street? Do you think this is some kind of soap opera? Why settle for being a mistress? You might as well become his legal wife, get officially married to the CEO,” said Hannah in a sarcastic way.

“It’s just that your social circle is too narrow. Even my high school friends—”

Their conversation was cut abruptly as the door opened. Their boss suddenly walked in.

Oh, how diligent of him. He always showed up just 15 minutes before their shift ended to start yelling. The right time to make everyone go home in a bad mood.

“Hey, do you want me to go viral with the customers? What’s with this filthy table?!” He slammed his fist on the table, which had already been wiped until it shone.

He started off with Hannah, the girl who was fighting the urge to never ever fight back.

“Do you have eyes? Clean it properly, you are paid for it!” Now, he pointed at Liz.

The boss was still yelling at the other employees: the cashier, the pastry chef, the dishwasher. As if none of them knew how to do their jobs.

That’s how someone who just lost at gambling behaves. Everything seems wrong in his eyes.

“I worked my ass off to expand this shop, and this is how you work?!”

Liz and Hannah exchanged glances. Expand the shop? Yeah, right. By giving a portion of the shop’s earnings to the bookie, what a great job.

Hannah spent fifteen minutes listening to the heartbreaking rant before she was finally “allowed” to go home. If only listening to his ramblings were part of her job description and she got paid overtime, maybe Hannah could accept it a little better.

At last, they were dismissed.

Hannah undid her ponytail, letting her brunette bob hair down. She changed out of her uniform into her own clothes, grabbed her bag, and then slipped out the back door. The only good thing about this job was that it was just a 10-minute walk from her house. At least Hannah didn’t have to spend money on transportation.

In front of her house, three tall men dressed all in black approached her.

“Hannah Barker.”

Hannah tried to pretend she hadn’t heard them. She kept walking away from them. Suddenly, someone grabbed her shoulder. Her arm was pulled, forcing her to turn around.

“Hey. Pay your debt first. Don’t be so shameless.”

Hannah narrowed her eyes. She was already in a bad mood after spending the last 15 minutes listening to her boss’s rant. Now she had to be berated again?

“What if we tell your workplace that you have a debt and refuse to pay? Do you think you’ll get fired? Hahahaha…”

“This b****! She ignored us. Damn b****! Are you deaf?”

“Answer us, b****! You think we can’t beat up a woman, huh?”

Hannah was utterly sick of this kind of life, getting insult after insult.

Thus, she clenched her fists.

“You think women can’t beat you up?” 

The three men began to approach Hannah.

One of them tried to punch Hannah. Hannah deftly dodged the blow. She then delivered a right kick to his stomach. The man collapsed to the ground in an instant.

His two companions immediately attacked Hannah at the same time. With agility, the girl jumped backward, then unleashed a couple of punches to the faces of the two thugs. One of them staggered. Hannah calmly grabbed his arm, then twisted it behind his back until a ‘crack’ was heard.

“AARGH! Let go! Let go!”

“Sure.”

She kicked the man toward his friend, causing both of them to fall on top of each other.

Hannah took out her phone and opened the front camera. Her left hand formed a ‘V’ with two fingers. Meanwhile, her right hand, holding the phone, reached out to take a selfie with the three thugs sprawled on the ground in the background.

She sent the photo to the contact ‘Damn Brat’.

‘Pay your debt.’

That bastard. How dare he take out a loan using his older brother’s identity and then run away from home.

“Screw off. And don’t ever show your faces to me again,” she yelled at the thugs before turning and walking away.

Hannah took a deep breath before entering her house. In this house, ever since her younger brother left, Hannah had been living alone. Having a spacious area all to herself sounded like a good thing. If only she had some “me time” to enjoy herself.

The thirty minutes before bed were the only time she could relax. She didn’t do much; at most, she just watched some videos leisurely.

Tonight was no different. She lay on her bed, scrolling aimlessly through her phone, letting the noise of random videos fill the silence.

Then a notification appeared.

It was from a job portal she once had signed up for after graduating. There seems to be a new listing that she could apply for. These days, even jobs for interns have this ridiculous amount of qualifications. It was hard when she was a fresh graduate and it became even harder after two years passed with no full-time experience on her CV.

Sometimes, they asked for someone who could work three positions. Sometimes, they wanted 5 years of experience for an entry level. Sometimes, they demand a Harvard graduate for a general labor job. They might as well look for someone who can tame a tiger or be immune to fire.

Hannah tapped the notification. I was a secretary position.

She frowned slightly as she read the details.

‘Wanted: Secretary for the Chief Strategy Officer at RQL Group.

Requirements:

Female.

No CV required. Only a selfie photo.’

Hannah stared at the screen.

That was it.

No mention of education. No required experience. No additional qualifications.

“Is this a scam?” she muttered under her breath.

It did not make sense. A company that large should have stricter standards. This felt careless, almost suspicious. Still, it was just a photo. Nothing to lose. Any other job listing would ask for more documents. Without thinking too much, she tapped the apply button and selected an image.

File sent.

A second passed.

Then realization hit her.

Her eyes widened.

“Oh no.”

Her voice rose in panic.

“Oh, no no no…”

She shot upright on the bed, scrambling to reopen the submission page.

“Oh, shii—!”

Hannah Barker had just applied for a job.

Using a selfie of herself standing over three defeated thugs.