Chapter 8 An Adventure

"I'm fired?" Alice mumbled under her breath, overwhelmed beyond belief.

With eyes staring blankly at the door, she sunk to the floor.

Aisha, who was sitting in her cubicle, got up and walked over to her while carrying a boxful of things. Wearing a wanton and pompous smile, she dropped the box down.

"Take all of your junk and get the hell out of here!"

Her belongings landed painfully on her body, causing Alice to shudder in pain. Teary-eyed, she mustered all her strength to appear nonchalant as she opened the doorway and stared at the familiar faces on her way out.

Amidst the gleeful laughter of her female colleagues, she lifted the box filled with her personal things and strode out of the company building's exit before heading straight back home.

The minute she came home, Alice crashed on the couch as if she'd lost all her strength. Her hands and feet were totally numb, as though they were no longer hers.

"Alice, you came back just in time. Your sister called a minute ago and told me you refuse to pay for her instructional materials. What's going on? Even if you and Aylin were not born of the same mother, she is still your sister. Why are you so stingy?"

As soon as Edgar ended his phone call with Aylin, he saw Alice sitting ungraciously. He scolded her with an unkind expression.

"Dad, do you have any idea how much money she asked for?" Still resting on the couch, looking limp and motionless, Alice had no intention of explaining anything.

As she had lost her job, they would likely lose their living expenses next month, much less her sister's instructional materials.

"How expensive will the materials be? If you buy fewer clothes, you'll save the cash for it." As soon as Edgar saw his daughter's attractive face, he grew furious.

"Dad, I don't have any fancy clothes on me or in my closet." Her smile was full of bitterness. Other girls' fathers would want their daughters to look beautiful, but hers always feared that she would do something shameful to the family just because of her beauty.

"You're back so soon. Has the company terminated your employment?" When Mary came out, she noticed a pile of stuff on the couch, and her eyes opened wide. She screamed and began to cry.

"Wow, the company kicked you out! You're an absolute loser. You must have done something disgraceful that aggravated your boss. You are deliberately trying to make our family suffer."

"No, Auntie. It's not what you think." Alice stood up and sought to explain her side, but Mary wept and cussed nonstop, leaving her no chance to talk.

"You're a no-good bum. You never stop pretending to be pure and noble. There's a way to make a lot of money, but you refuse to do it. You want us to go through a tough life with you."

"Mary, knock it off. What are you talking about? There's no way I'm going to let you mention something so smutty again!" Listening to Edgar's yell, Mary stopped crying at once.

Glaring at Alice, Edgar warned her in a deep voice, "If you try to earn dirty money as you did five years ago, I will cut off my ties with you!"

Mary's curses and her father's warning were like fine needles piercing through her heart.

She had hot tears welling in her eyes, but she restrained them from falling. She wanted her father to know everything.

She'd never done anything they thought she did. The money she earned was not dirty.

But in the end, all those suppressed words became tears. No one would believe her, no matter what she said.

The atmosphere at home was too depressing, and Mary's occasional sarcasm only made her feel more upset. She didn't even have the appetite to eat dinner, and she walked out to clear her head.

She came out of the house and realized it was raining. Before long, the misty rain soaked her shirt made of cotton, and the chilly breeze pierced her bones.

Alice shivered and hugged her arms tightly. She would instead freeze under the rain rather than return to her home.

What happened today replayed through her mind in slow motion. Her bright eyes looked a little sad. Her father misjudged her, and her stepmom found fault with her nonstop.

To make things worse, she even got fired.

She felt suffocated by everything that had happened.

The rain became heavier with each passing minute. The cold rain seemed to envelop the entire world, and there was no place for her to stay.

Screech!

A limited-edition limousine drove through the heavy rain and pulled up on the curb in front of her.

A pattern of orchid and phoenix intertwined on the car's shiny and luxurious surface, sending out an antiquated and mysterious aura.

Dazed and confused, Alice stared at her reflection on the car window.

She felt lost at the moment.

Then, the passenger door swung open.

She glimpsed an ordinary man's face, but what he said next baffled her.

"Hey! Our young master is interested in hiring you." That was a mighty arrogant tone!

"Me? Are you sure?" Alice looked at the man inside the car and lifted her left index finger, pointing at herself.

"That's right." The man, who was clad in black and looked like a bodyguard, nodded. He glanced at the woman and searched for something special about her appearance.

Why would Hiram hire this random girl the moment he saw her?

She was beautiful and refined, and she had an attractive figure. Her eyes, when she looked at people with that gaze, indeed resembled those of Hiram.

Maybe kids preferred people as beautiful as them.

"Who is your young master? Are you sure about this?" With a startled look, Alice failed to understand what was going on.

She was just an employee who didn't get her university diploma. No, she was jobless now.

Plus, who would drive a fancy car in the pouring rain and hire someone? She looked around and found that there were few people on the foggy street.

She suddenly came to her senses and became vigilant.

"My young master is..." The man trailed off. It seemed that he didn't want to tell her right now. "You will find out when you see him."

"I'm sorry. I think you'd better hire somebody else."

Alice turned to run toward the crowd.

If she were taken and sold to people living in remote forests, there would be no way for her to escape.

The bodyguard's face changed. Everyone in S City knew the Lan family's pattern. If Hiram wanted to hire a woman, all upper-class women would be more than willing to do so.

This woman, however, refused without hesitation.

He didn't know that Alice was busying making money all day long. She did not know what the pattern meant.