Chapter 1 1st chapter

A young girl in her teens strutted outside in front of a huge mansion situated along Luwum Street. A painted wall fence with a narrow gate enclosed it and seemed to seclude it from the other buildings aligned on the street. The gesture on her face arouses pity in any kind-hearted human. Her shrunken form and her lean face define her poor and unhappy circumstances. It had been nearly ten minutes since she arrived at her new home. As she rubs her hands continuously, she appears to be puzzling her brains about how and where to begin her duties of serving her new employers.

In a moment, someone yelled her name from inside,

"Esther!" She didn't concede at once. Her mind was still startled by the vastness and tremendous spectacles around. She must have glimpsed at the stunning scenic appearances for the first time.

"Esther!" the lady of the house screamed out her name again, this time with an undertone of resentment in her voice.

Esther snapped out of her delirium as if a basin of cold water had been poured on her thin body. She strode rapidly towards the entrance of the living room and bumped into a fat lady with a plump figure. Her purple silky tight dress and a belt around her waist enhanced her sophisticated appearance. Esther incidentally steps on her long painted nails which plunge deep into her skin. A shaft of pain crept inside her injured toe.

"Ouch! Ouch." She grunts in pain frightened at the sight of blood that oozed out of her injured toe. The latter fixes a scowl at her.

"Use your sight, or are you a sheep?" She growls a sarcastic statement and glares at the poor girl resentfully.

"Auntie, that hurts horribly. Your nails are too long and as sharp as a palette knife. " Jina's anger was expedited. In a flash, she kicked the poor girl. Esther rolls on the paved floor like a ball. She screams and tears roll down her face. Jina's eyes glistened with anger. The poor girl props on her elbow and looks at her in apprehension.

"Auntie, what have I done wrong?" Esther innocently asks Jina as she gasps in tears.

"You dare to tell me nonsense! Foolish girl!" She rasped and clicked her tongue and jeered in contempt, her hands akimbo. Esther was of a nervous disposition. She shook feverishly and lowered her face.

" You are nothing more than a servant here, so don't get ahead of yourself. The earlier you knew your place in this house, the better, do you understand?" She roars and surveys her unpleasant appearance without any dearth of love in her gesture. Esther is frightened at her auntie's cruel behaviour towards her.

Jina's words were making her neurotic.

" Mother, dear, I won't let you down. I will keep my promise." She thought and blushed off her tears. Knowing her poor background, she would have to withstand everything. Wasn't it obvious that it made no difference with Jina if the latter chose to stay or go back home to her poor parents?

Esther lifts her face and looks at Jina, her sad countenance seeking pity and compassion. A mixture of tears and snort from her teary face and a dripping nose forms an awful slime on her face. Jina stole a glimpse at the disgusting sight and turned her face away instantly in a grimace.

"I shouldn't have accepted her. She's so irritating!" She muttered and pursued with her lecture.

"You will..." the latter interrupts her with her sneezing. Her nose drips wet. She lifts her face to listen to her superior with the intent to get her instructions at heart lest she should make another mistake.

"Will you hold your repelling face down or wipe it clean? You are disgusting! My stomach rises at such a sight."

"I will, Auntie," she said abjectly and sprang into action.

"Don't Auntie me! Just call me ma'am from now on."

"Ok, mom."

"What? Did I hear you say mom again?" Jina shakes her body amusingly as she severs into a loud sarcastic chuckle. Esther didn't find anything amusing about what she had just said. There was nothing wrong with referring to her maternal aunt as a mom. She looked at Jina with a bemused expression on her face as the latter laughed her heart out in an offbeat manner. She reiterated the word mom often and elicited a toothy grin now and again. When she had satisfied herself with her present enchantment, her countenance changed immediately and she spoke vigorously and with much arrogance.

"Look at me, do I look like your poor wretched mother?" Jina asked, turning her plump figure around. An air of snobbery was definite in her. The trance in her luminous eyes concealed the chasm of hatred she felt towards the poor girl. The fascinating beauty on her face greatly opposes the nature of her character. Esther was tingled by the latter's utterances. They were offensive." If only you could be a little more accommodating..." she muttered, quietly and clamped her lips tightly together swallowing her anger down her throat.

" There's no doubt, you have an alluring beauty, but you are stone-hearted." She thought. "My mother might be poor, but she is incomparable, and she has a heart." She could have told all these thoughts to Jina's face if it were possible. Nevertheless, gratifying Jina wouldn't take a strand of hair off her head. With a light smile at the corner of her mouth, Esther appreciates her Auntie perhaps to alleviate her fury.

"No, mom. You look more beautiful, especially with make-up."

" Wait, '' she interposed, "point of correction, the word is ma'am not mom."

She said trying as much as to distinguish the two, "Say it again-"

"Ma'am," Esther repeated the word after she stressed all the syllables amusingly.

Eventually, she pronounces it flawlessly.

"Very good!" Said, Jina.."How will I put up with this creature? I have had a bellyful of her already! " She scowls and looks at her wristwatch. Esther was delighted. At least, she had made an overachievement.