Chapter one

Jake walked into Maya’s room and opened the curtains for the morning rain of sunshine to wake her up. Maya instead tugged herself properly into her bed. Maya walks up. Jake said as he teasingly pulled her blanket off her. Five minutes more, Jake, Maya groaned. Wake up, sleepy head, or you will be late again. Jake teased. Maya lazily pulled herself from the bed and ended up falling together with her thick blue blanket. Jake peeped his head through her door and laughed at her. Maya finally got up and dressed quickly. She wore her shiny pink sandals and walked majestically down the stairs. I’ve grabbed your breakfast already, my princess. Jake said while laughing. Jake was 13 and Maya was 10, but their closeness will make you mistake them for twins. Sometimes, people say that Jake and Maya were probably soulmates from their previous lives. In the car, they played rock, paper, scissors so they wouldn’t sleep on their way to school. When they got to school, Jake exited the vehicle and opened the door for his sister. “We’ve reached, my lady, “ Jake said as he opened the door for Maya to step down. They both giggled and headed straight for their respective class. Even though they weren’t in the same class, they made it a point to always meet up at their first chance. “You are so short and round, I bet you can roll over when I push you, “ one of Maya’s classmates said while laughing. “Oh shoot, her brother is coming, “ they said while running away. Everyone knew that bullying Maya was a crime with Jake around. “Are you okay? Sorry, I arrived here late, it’s my fault that you are getting bullied, “ Jake said while reaching out to Maya to help her stand up. 

 Jake clarified that no one is supposed to touch his sister; he’ll always go an extra mile to protect her. Jake appears like a tornado whenever someone dares to lay a finger on Maya at school—fast, fierce, protective, and unstoppable. Maya is a little girl full of grace. She is a polite princess with brains and a heart made of pure gold. She is humble and the kind of student every teacher dreams of having in their class. 

Jake couldn’t be more different; he was very confident with a touch of arrogance. He had been raised to believe that he would one day inherit the mighty, luxurious Anderson Empire; hence, Jake walked through life as though the world already belonged to him. His parents made things worse by spoiling him with anything and everything money could ever buy, even to the extent of refusing to let him lift a brush to brush his hair. Yet even though he had all this pride, Jake had only one soft spot for his only sibling and sister, Maya. Around her, he treated her like a mother hen would treat her eggs or hatchlings.

Their bond was envied even in their neighborhood. It's legendary in the neighborhood. People even argued that they got that quality from their parents. But the Andersons knew otherwise. Behind the glass walls of the Anderson mansion, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson argued like a wailing storm. Their marriage was termed bipolar by the maids in the house. They could laugh and share jokes for one minute; the next minute, they could argue about what must be eaten at dinner today. Jake and Maya were still strong; they never allowed their parents' behavior to affect them as siblings. 

The Andersons owned half of Paris, making their name the talk of the town. However, their true wealth was their only children, Jake and Maya Anderson. 

Monday afternoon was meant to be a beautiful afternoon, I mean, it had just two siblings waiting for their chauffeur to come and pick them up after school, and they were laughing about the silly faces Jake was making. Look at this, he said, rolling his eyes and sticking his tongue out to make a face. Maya laughed so hard that tears began to run down her face, and the sun slowly melted the entire Paris away. Jake and Maya decided to get ice cream since the driver was already delaying.  The ice cream shop was across the road, and they both decided to cross. Jake held on to Maya’s hand as they waited for the traffic to change at the light. When it did, they both started walking, just as they got to the other side. When Maya saw it , a little kitten seemed stranded on the road; it looked like it was stuck to something on the road, so that it couldn't move. “ I’ll save you,”  Maya said as she slipped away from Jake’s hand towards the road they had just come from. She didn’t even check to see if the road was clear. She just ran straight ahead. Jake turned and steamed out in fright. “ Maya, wait. Maya, the lights are green. “Just then, the world went dead silent. The only sounds were the screeching tyres of the jeep and its low, dimmed headlights aiming directly at Maya in slow motion. Jake closed his eyes, his heart stopped beating, and just like that, he heard his sister being thrown to the hard ground. The sound of it could be heard miles away as everything went silent.

“ Maya, Jake screamed as he ran across the road. He looked at her, so confused, he watched as blood oozed from her forehead, her eyes slightly closed, and her lips trembling. Within a few seconds, chaos surrounded them. Sirens and shouts and the smell of sweat from people around filled the air. They apprehended the driver of the jeep. People around kept whispering that these were the heirs of the Andersons, and the jeep driver was in big trouble. “ Mr. Anderson, you have an urgent call, “ the secretary said, “ tell them I’m in a meeting” he replied. “ but sir ..” the secretary insisted . “ do you want to lose your job “ Mr. Anderson interrupted without hesitation. “ no sir “ the secretary replied as he went back to his office to continue his work.