Chapter 1

“Wake up, sleepyhead!” Jack’s deep voice barges into my room and his annoying self.

“Go away!” I groan, burying my head deeper into the pillow, desperately wanting to get at least a minute more of sleep.

Three weeks ago, I broke my alarm mistakenly and since then Jack has taken it upon himself to be my new annoying alarm.

I wish I could break him too!

“No way, get up. Do you want to get fired from your work for going late?” He snaps, clapping his hands.

He’s right. My job is keeping this family together. You can say that since my trip to the Five-Star hotel three months ago, things haven’t been the same for both me or my family.

When I got back home that day, the three Js looked surprised to see me come home that early, though none said anything to me. They did the next day though, throwing many questions like...

“How did it go?”

“You looked worn last night. What happened?”

“Why did you come back so early?”

“Did you find us the millionaire?”

“Are you going to be married soon?”

“Are we going to be rich soon?”

“How long are you going to be married?”

In all the questions, only one made me tear up. It was when Josh and Jake asked in unison.

“Did something bad happen?”

I covered my face and shook my head, but I wasn’t kidding them.

“Did someone stop you from doing what you needed? ‘Cause when I called you yesterday, you seemed in control.”

So I told them everything. I’ve kept nothing from them and I didn’t plan on starting then.

The three, like the triplets they were, all grew red from anger at the same time. Jack was pacing. He couldn’t even sit down. He kept tugging on his hair while he ground his teeth together.

“Is he dead? Did the other man kill him?”

I told him I didn’t know, and they said he should be dead or he would die in their hands and I knew they weren’t kidding.

Josh took my hands and stare into my eyes, before saying, “You did your best.”

“How?!” I exclaimed sadly. “I left home $1500.44 and now I’m home with 44¢.” I took my purse, opens it to further explain my failure.

I opened and turned it down and instead of forty-four cents falling out; I saw dollars in my purse. We all ran towards it quickly and I picked it up and when I counted it, it was one thousand five hundred dollars.

“It’s impossible,” I told them. “I paid everything to the receptionist who gave me my room.”

They... We didn’t care how it got there. All we cared about was that we weren’t empty in our hands anymore.

The week followed. We realised that Luke Powers didn’t die that night because the ‘You & I’ host Mona Lisa interviewed him.

The Js and I all came together to further watch him speak. He seemed to recover fast from the beating, but I could still see his left cheek redder than the other. Rory didn’t kill him that night, I guess, but watching him talk on the TV made me wish he did.

He went on and on about his fashion taste, the Power fashion house, and what he does in his free time, which to my surprise was “charity”. I could tell he didn’t even know what charity was and even if he did, he needed to be treated before he can come close to the children.

Mona Lisa asked him about the recent rumour of him being mugged and what it was about.

He laughed richly; I remembered that laugh and it only made me sick.

“That’s true. I got mugged a week ago at the fundraiser party, but I’m alive and well.”

“Tell us what happened.” Lisa prompt, “I know a lot of us would want to know.”

“Well, it was a great evening, and a lot was going on and I, being my humble self, was ready to contribute to society the best way I know, giving. A few minutes into the party, I met this girl, probably in her early twenties, and she looked stunning in every way. Knowing myself, I can get carried away easily and so I talked to know her more and see how we might end up.”

“We walked to somewhere private, away from the rest of the guest and we talked. But all the while, I didn’t know she was just a distraction to lure me away so I could get mugged. While we got to know each other, I noticed she got more flirty and her hands wondered on my body. I’m not the type that resists, but for a weird reason, I wanted nothing with her. I tried to walk away, but then this guy came out of nowhere and started throwing punches at me. He assaulted me and they stole all the money I had in my wallet, and my Rolex.”

I gasped at how he had twisted the entire story. “That’s a lie, that’s a lie and he knows it.”

Jake held me close to himself before saying, “We know and we believe you.”

“Did she say what her name was? Do you remember?” Lisa asked Luke curiously.

“Yes, she did, but that type of girl has many names. She said her name was Taylor Snowfall.”

Oh shit, oh shit. Oh!!!

“He is a prick.” Jack hissed out, before turning the TV off.

I couldn’t believe this was happening. I was the victim, and he just gave the wrong story on TV.

“I didn’t take his Rolex, I certainly didn’t take his money.” I couldn’t believe how badly I was already feeling.

I felt like shit!

“We know you didn’t, but what if the other guy, the one that defended you; what if he did it? Like, take the money. You said you didn’t know how the money got into your bag, right? What if this is how? You also said your Match made partner wasn’t close to rich, maybe he took the money.” Josh questioned reasonably.

I shook my head. I know Rory was many things from the little time we spent together, but he wasn’t a thief. Even though he didn’t want to appear in the camera for a strange reason. I knew deep down in my heart he wasn’t bad.

“He’s just poor. He’s not a thief. I know I don’t know how the money got into my purse, but I’m sure Rory didn’t steal his. Luke is the one lying to get sympathy from fans, people.” I couldn’t believe I’d ever defended Rory for any reason, but there I was, defending him.

“Yeah, sympathy buys more customers than talent these days. Won’t be surprised if the Power fashion house receives double their suppose income next week Thursday.” Jake said spitefully.

It wasn’t surprising to me when I started getting hate messages on my F******k, Twitter, and I*******m accounts the next day. Some girls who are probably hoping to marry Luke someday called me sluts while others called me whore some called me a gold digger. The last name made more sense to me than others.

During the end of the second week, the three Js ran into my room and closed the laptop which I was working on. The look on their faces was mischievous and I could tell they were up to something bad or had done something bad.

“Out with it, guys, I can’t have three photocopy stare directly at me. It causes confusion,” I said to them with the most boring look I could pull out.

“Put on your dancing shoes girl cause Luke Power is dead!” Jack announced loudly and happily.

“What?!” I exclaimed, covering my mouth up from the shock. I knew I didn’t like him, but I could never wish him death. “Don’t tell me you guys had something to do with it.”

My brothers were a lot of things, but they were not killers and I hoped for Snowfall’s sake they did nothing implicating.

I stared at them, studying each of their faces to know who did it, but each of them looked as guilty as the other.

“Oh my heavens, oh my heavens! You all are barely seventeen and you are going to jail?” I panicked. I was going to lose my brothers soon and tears were already about to spill any minute, but Josh spoke before I could say something else.

“We didn’t kill him. We wish we did, but we didn’t. He isn’t dead.” I could breathe down safely when Josh said that.

“What happened then?” I asked impatiently.

“Someone we do not know did the job, and God bless him for that. ‘Cause as we speak, the Power fashion house doesn’t belong to the Power’s anymore.” Jake answered the question all-too-happy.

“We happily were there to witness it after Jake told us about it and Jack honoured his two thousand three hundred dollars suit with a cup of coffee,” Josh said out in the middle of loud laughter.

My mouth was hanging open by the time they finish. The three Js were indeed devilish and cruel in their own way.

“How did you know it was that expensive?”

“The bastard couldn’t help yell the price out once it got stained.” Jack chuckled hardly.

“You should have seen his face. Not only did he lose his fashion house, but he also lost his coat.”

“Priceless.” They all said in unison.

We tried to figure out who bought over the Power fashion house for days, but whatever link Jake tried always came up blocked. And after the fourth day, we gave it up to good fate.

“Can I at least have two more minutes’ sleep?” I groan, wiping my eyes roughly as I glare at him.

I was up till 1 am this morning and working on the assignment for Paris since she was “too occupied” to even open up the file. I don’t know how it’s her company when she does nothing but sit, talk, and stare at her painted fingers all day.

I guess that’s what you get when you’re born into a rich family.

“Yes please, that’s if you want to spend your life as a waitress in a bar, keeping unnecessary attention away for the rest of your life. While I take a job at the porn industry and Jake gets killed for his intelligence and Josh dies a poor old and sad man.” How dare he think that??

By this time, no trace of sleep is in my face anymore.

Just then Jake and Josh enter both in their boxer and just waking up too from my inspection. Their eyes red and dull. I fear they didn’t have enough sleep last night either.

“Hey,” Jake says, wiping the drool from his face.

“Hey,” I reply.

Their hair is messy and rough. Jack just ignores them and turns to me.

“Come on, princess, we’ve got a long day ahead of us.”

I fall back on the bed, only to have the sheet cover yank away from my body by Jack. I shiver and whimper from the cold.

“Don’t do that Jack, I could be naked underneath you know,” I say, informing him of the obvious as I sit up.

Jake and Josh cover their eyes and Jack rolled his eyes.

“She isn’t naked, you morons, she is a just warning against it.” He sighs and shakes his head. “Sometimes I wonder if we are actually brothers.”

“We aren’t just brothers, we are triplets.” Josh reminds him as they both uncover their eyes.

Yea, they are not just brother, the three Js are identical, blue eyes and just like the rest of Snowfalls, they all used glasses... well, except Jack, who thinks it’s a disease. He stopped wearing them a year ago and has been using a contact lens instead.

Apart from the family and a few closed friends, no one knows they are triplets and they plan on keeping it that way. They get away with almost anything ‘cause no one knows they are over one. They all go by the initial J to erase confusion.

The only difference that exists is that while Josh has blonde hair with a mixture of black, Jake has black and brown mixture and Jack has brown with a mixture of blonde. But they all dyed it completely black, a choice I still don’t know why they made.

Mom told me they only wanted two children when they got married and after me, they wanted to give it one more try. When the pregnancy came around, they found out they were three instead of one. At first, they wanted to give them up for adoption and keep only one, but when they came along, they just couldn’t.

“You keep reminding me like I don’t know my predicament, Josh.”

“You should be happy you’ve got us, Jack, ‘cause you might be athletic and all, but you’ve got nothing up here,” Jake says, pointing to his brain.

“I know and neither does Josh, but I don’t see you slapping it on his face regularly,” Jack says in defence, turning to glare at Jake.

“That’s because he isn’t a prick like you.” He fires back.

“Oh, please.” Jack scoffs and then turns to me. “Take a bath now, Taylor, and get yourself ready, we will too.”

His fatherly role is indeed annoying!

I’m dressed for thirty minutes and so, I’m wearing a white tank top in and wearing my black jacket, on a black jean. One beauty of my job is the only day I go cooperate is Monday, and that was two days ago. I don’t use any make-up, because it’s just not my thing, neither do I use high heels, I’m always a fan of boots, converse and flat shoes. You can say I’m ninety-five per cent a tomboy and I like it that way. I tied my hair into a loose ponytail and put on my nude lip gloss; I think I’m ready to go.

I come down, and the three Js are already on the dining table, already dressed and waiting for breakfast. I came over to the dining table and take my seat between Jake and Jack.

“You should wear something attractive, you know,” Jack says, and I so want to twist his mouth.

I don’t let him say another word before speaking. “Look, I’m happy with the way I’m dressed and don’t you dare try to ruin that.”

He exhales. “Paris Allen is a rich girl and some of her business associates are wealthy as well. Your appearance might intrigue them and...”

Jake voices in this time before I can. “We all said we would not push Taylor, didn’t we? She is doing a lot as it is.” He gives me a sympathetic look and continues. “If I can maintain my grades up for four years according to the school rule, I’ll get a scholarship to further my studies, and you are the best racer the whole state has, you can get your scholarship from that if you’ll keep the positive faith.”

“What about Josh? I don’t see him getting a scholarship in the next life.” He snorts.

“Back off, Jack-ass.” Josh spits at him with a glare.

Jack raises his hands in surrender.

“He is good with the Art, maybe he would do something big with that.” He answered reasonably. “We all know what you do for us, dropping out of college, taking up a full-time job to support us we see.”

I will not cry, I will not cry, but I can’t help but want to. I dropped out of college about almost a year ago when Mom got sick and couldn’t work to help the family anymore. By now I should have graduated. I just keep hoping one day I get to go back and get my degree in accounting.

“I’m sorry for being so pushy on you, I’m just tired of living the poor life and working out my ass off for whatever we want.” He mutters, finally giving up.

I wrap my arm around his shoulder and Jake’s. They wrap their arm around my shoulder and Josh’s.

“We won’t always be poor, we just have to keep the positive faith.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

I resume work exactly eight a.m. and I submit my assignment for last night and also plan for the Thursday Meet and Greet party Paris wants to throw to her supporters, both local and foreign.

Funny how she says it’s her plan when someone else does the work.

Paris is your everyday elegant girl, but her beauty would have been an add up if she had a little brain to think for herself. I think the only reason the Allen cosmetic house still exists is that they pay well and also because Paul Allen is a highly respected man.

I know I’ve never been closed to the Allen, but words around say he’s a hardworking and decent man. Paris is the exact opposite of her father. She’s rude, spoilt, arrogant, and stupid and coming from me, that’s a compliment.

She does not like me and I show the same feelings towards her and you may wonder why I still work here? Well, her mother Eleanor and my mother have been friends since childhood and when she heard I dropped out of the university because of my mom’s health, she offered me a job at the Allen cosmetic house as Paris personal assistant.

I accepted it because it was better than my previous jobs. My previous job as a waitress was hell as the men were jerks and perverts and I was never one to let the customer be right. I was going to be fired anytime, so I accepted Eleanor’s offer and I’ve been putting up with Paris ever since.

She also hoped we will become good friends soon, but that’s never happened.

Paris graces my office with her presence. Her face grimaces as she inspects me from head to toe, her eyes in no way impressed with my outfit; Jack-much?

If she had her way, I’d be fired already.

I roll my eyes. “What can I do for you this morning, Paris?” I try on my most polite tone ever.

Her eyes lighten on me and she smiles, which is incredibly weird as she has never smiled at me before and it makes me wonder what a devilish thing she might be up to.

“Good morning, Taylor. How are you doing today?”

Wait a minute, this is not right. She is actually asking how I’m doing. But why? She’s never cared to before.

“Excuse me, are you talking to me?” I ask with shock clearly written in my voice.

She smiles again.

Okay, this keeps getting creepier.

“Yes, I’m talking to you, Taylor. I know we have never been friends, but we can be if we try.”

She isn’t serious, is she? She is.

“You’re smart and hardworking, I can use a friend like that.”

Forget it. You just want someone you can manipulate to do whatever you want. I want to say, but I don’t.

“Oh.” is all I mutter out.

“By preparing Taylor, soon we will have my future husband here.”

My eyes nearly pop out of their sockets when she said that.

Future husband?

“You’re getting married?!!” I try not to sound too shocked for my own good.

Her smile deepens into a blush and she nods. “Yeah, I am.”

“But you don’t even have a boyfriend.” I blurt out before I can stop myself.

She gasps but said nothing back. “Dad wants me to marry the son of Henry Gates. I’ve never even met him before.” She says then sighs deeply and I could see the sadness in her eyes.

For the first time since I started working here, I pity her.

“Well, you don’t have to marry him if you don’t want to,” I suggest to her, getting up from my chair.

“It’s not so simple, Taylor. Our family's future depends on this marriage.”

I understand her more than anything because I know how it’s like with family. They always come first.

“I’ve not been a dutiful daughter to them. This will prove to them I want to be.”

I give her a small smile before reaching out to stroke her shoulder gently. “You will make them proud.”

She moves away from my desk and looks at her wristwatch. “They should be here already.” She is already worrying.

“Are you going to have them in the office?”

“Yes, why?”

“If it’s your first meet, it should be a place of convenience.”

“You mean like a restaurant?”

“Yes.”

She thinks for a while, then looks at me. “That’s a brilliant idea, Taylor.” She says, squealing and holding my hands. “Thanks a lot, I’ll reschedule.” She takes her phone and dials a number. “Hello meet me at the Grand Square restaurant in twenty.”

She put her phone back into her pocket and takes my hand. “Let’s go, the future awaits.”

I take my purse before she completely pulls me along.

When did this friendship start?

When we get downstairs, Paris tells Jason the MD that we are going out and that he should be in charge. He asks ‘to where?’ but Paris didn’t owe him that answer. I never liked Jason and I smile, feeling happy he got shunned and he looks my way with a radiant smile.

“I’m good looking, well to do, smart and caring. When are you going to accept my proposal?” He whispers in my ears.

“When I’m eighty five and still single, good luck with the wait,” I reply with an even smile and leaves him to meet up with Paris, who is almost out of the building.

If there’s anything to hate more than vain guys, then it is ugly looking, vain guys.

We arrive at the Grand Square restaurant and the driver opens the door for us and we both get down. When I suggested a restaurant for their first date/meeting, I didn’t know she was going to aim for mars. Grand Square restaurant is Grand indeed and although I’ve never been there before, I try not to let my inexperience get the better of me. It’s never too late to get familiar with this type of luxury.

“Come on now.”

The inside is much more heavenly than the outside. A meal here will probably cost a lot and yet Paris chooses her meal here.

A young, tall waiter walks up to us and stops when he is directly in front of us.

“Good day, ma, are you expecting someone?” he asks in a British accent that is already fading. I guess for being away from home for so long.

“Yes, I’m waiting for someone and I’ll need a table.” Poise and elegance have never been a problem for Paris and she is never afraid to let her wealthy upbringing show in her manner of approach.

The young waiter nods in understanding. “This way.” He leads us to a table where Paris takes her sits. He smiles and walks away.

I do not dare to take a seat, well, until. “Come on and take a seat, Taylor, don’t want anyone thinking you’re my bodyguard,” Paris says and I sit down.

We both waited a few minutes and in the while of waiting, Paris didn’t stop looking at her phone. I felt tempted to play Candy Crush, too.

“He should know better than to keep a lady waiting if he is truly a gentleman,” Paris mumbles impatiently.

Just then, the front door of the restaurant opens and we both look up to see a tall, incredibly handsome man dressed in black and expensive suit walk in. His brown hair with the mixture of gold neatly and perfectly combed to the right side, although some stand out rebelliously, his green eyes striking and unmistakable. He holds his chin up high as he seems to look down at everything and everyone in the restaurant in disdain. His furrowed gaze holds nothing in regard from meters away. I can smell his arrogance from where I sit.

I’ve seen those green eyes before, those chiselled jaws, that arrogance.

My brain scans through my memories in other to put his face together. My brain stops working and my heart runs up to my mouth as his name registers back into my memory.

Rory.