Chapter 3

“Alyson…”

“Oh my goodness! Get away from me. Leave me alone, Leo!” I rose to my feet, cleaning off the tears in my eyes.

Leo didn’t move, and I saw what looked like genuine concern as he spoke, “You were crying? What happened?”

 I scoffed. Was he trying to fool me? After that stunt he pulled in the hallway?

“You happened, Leon. I allowed you back into my life, and now you have made it a living hell.” My voice was raised but I didn’t care.

My destination was getting far from this place, and especially not planning to stumble on him.

“Alyson,” Leon blocked my path, and his hand came to my face, “Who hit you?”

My stomach twisted from disgust, and the urge to vomit welled up in my throat, overwhelming me.

Leon narrowed his eyes, “Alyson.”

I couldn’t take it anymore, and my hand landed on his face. “Stay away from me.” I spat. There was no way I’d fall for his silly tricks again.

Gripping the hand of my bag, I took my leave.

An hour later, I walked through the doors of my home, my eyes noting the strange pair of shoes at the door.

The sound of a man’s voice was the first thing to reach me.

“The rent has long been due. You have till tomorrow to pack your things out.”

Dread filled me. We owed rent? Mum never told me any of this.

“Miss Alexandra, I am afraid this is all the time we can give you. If you are still here by morning, you’d be fined by the social organization.” The man’s voice came again.’

I heard my mother mutter an agreement in response.

So this was all she did while I went to school.

Footsteps sounded as the man came to stand at the opening at the door. I ignored him, and moved inside.

“Mom.” I whispered. She looked awfully, and it felt like her grey hair had multiplied. The strain of working multiple jobs was weighing heavily on her.

She raised her gaze, before hurriedly cleaning her eyes.

 “Alyson. You are back so early.” Even though she tried to hide it, the tremble in her voice made it clear that she had been crying.

I bit down on my lips. There was no way I could tell her what happened.

“School closed early today.” I answered, leading her to sit down with me. “Mum, you didn’t tell me about the rent.”

My mother shook her head. “That’s not something you should worry about, princess.” Her hand came up to hold my cheeks, but she wasn’t strong enough to hold back her tears.

“We’d make it through, I promise. I just have to make a few calls. Please give me some time. There are leftovers in the kitchen.”

And she stood up, heading out to make calls. There was nothing I could do to help her. I had no job, and she had forbidden me to work.

Using the next free minutes, I freshened up and prepared the leftovers from the fridge.

I could hear my mother’s tired tone from inside her room. At some point, she had kept quiet.

It was about ten minutes later when I heard a new sense of excitement from her, causing me to sit up.

“Mum, you did it?” I said, as soon as she stepped out of the room.

Her eyes shone brightly. “Yes, Princess! We did it. I scored a deal.”

My curiosity pricked me but I kept quiet, if she wanted me to know, she would tell me.

“But we’d have to leave tomorrow.” She said, looking intently at me, as if waiting for me to say something.

But I merely stared back. “You won’t be able to go to school tomorrow, because we’d be leaving straight to the place.” She told me.

Oh.

I gave her a soft smile. “No problem, Mum.”

Morning came quickly. I had gotten over what happened in school, and my novel plot remained in my head, so I had basically no reason to worry.

“Hurry, Alyson. We don’t want to be late.” My mother’s voice resounded in my ears, and I rushed down.

“Would I be changing school?” I asked when we met, and a huge part of me wanted her to say yes.

But she gave me a little chuckle, “That’d be too much. And besides, you are very familiar with who we are going to see.” She gave me a sparkling smile.

I couldn’t quite picture who she met, neither did I fully understand how me being familiar with the person, related to my changing of schools.

A chill ran down my spine, and I prayed it wouldn’t be something too serious.

Our luggage was moved into a truck, and we were off on our journey.

In the next hour, a large estate came into our view, and I gasped. It was exactly how I had imagined the female lead in my story would meet her male lead.

“It’s beautiful.” A gasp escaped my lips. If only I knew what was in

store for me, I wouldn’t have celebrated so soon.