Chapter 1 Unit Number 10

Godiva PoV.

"It's already 7 o'clock. Gosh, I'm late!"

I quickly threw off the covers and got out of bed. Without caring about my looks, which might be messy, I rushed to the kitchen. Passing through the narrow corridor with peeling paint on the walls, I half ran barefoot.

I heard two women talking to each other in different tones. One of them spoke in a high tone and was answered with a trembling tone of voice from the other woman. I quickened my pace when my name was called by one of them.

"Godiva, where is she?" the high-pitched woman shouted.

"I'm here, Auntie..."

I saw that Aunt Caylee's face was already bright red. I realized that I had woken up late, but the expression on her face was unnerving as she looked at me. I approached her, who was standing behind the dining table with her hands bent at her waist.

I looked down at the floor and waited for my aunt to speak. The sudden silence made me feel even more creeped out. I continued to stare at my bare feet and linked my fingers to quell my fear.

"What did you do to Kayleigh?"

As soon as Aunt Caylee asked me about Kayleigh, I knew this day would come. The day of judgment from Auntie would definitely result in me receiving punishment. I had resigned myself to the fact that no matter how hard I tried to explain what had happened, she would still find me guilty.

"You heard me, Godiva; so answer my question!" snapped my aunt.

I felt both confused and scared. I looked at the reddish marks curled around my wrists. It was only yesterday that I had gotten that wound because of a hundred dollars matter that my aunt had lost from her purse.

Last Thursday night, I clearly saw my cousin take the money from my aunt's purse that was left on the living room table. I explained to my aunt that I didn't steal the money, but she still blamed me. I was always wrong, and my cousin was always right in her eyes.

I finally replied, "I got a bonus from Mauricio, but I can't give my money to Kayleigh. I need it to buy shoes because mine are worn out."

Instantly, I saw a change of expression on my aunt's face. With one eyebrow raised, Auntie put on a devilish smile. I saw the movement of her hand, which swung slowly from her waist and then extended straight to me.

I exhaled harshly but remained unmoved. In the blink of an eye, an object struck my head. I looked at the bowl that had broken on the floor after colliding with my head. I felt pain, but I held it in as much as possible because I didn't want to make my aunt even angrier.

Without saying much and with my chest tight, I went back to my room. I opened the door, the hinges of which were almost broken, and the sound of metal clashing rang in my ears as I walked past. I decided to give the bonus money to my aunt rather than prolong the problem this morning.

I took out a purse from a medium-sized bag whose black color had faded. I took out the few bills I'd gotten from the owner of the pizzeria where I worked. With a glance at the white sneakers whose soles had lifted up, I had to stick with them for the next few months.

I returned to the dining room that was attached to the kitchen. I reluctantly handed the money to my aunt, and she accepted it with a smile. What made me even more miserable was when I heard Kayleigh's chuckling voice teasing me.

"You should have given it to Kayleigh, so I wouldn't have to waste my energy this morning just to get pissed off. You're lucky that I didn't punish you like yesterday, so hurry up and prepare breakfast for us now."

I walked over to the refrigerator, located in the corner of the room. I took a piece of ice from the freezer and put it on my head to relieve the pain from the bump earlier. I then started preparing breakfast for them.

Taking a bunch of lettuce and some eggs, I planned to make fried eggs for the sandwich. I prepared breakfast in record time because I was already really late.

After finished preparing breakfast and finishing my own sandwich, I quickly went to the toilet to wash my face and brush my teeth. After taking five minutes to get ready, I immediately said goodbye to my family. I still maintain politeness because they're my only family now.

I finally got the bus to the downtown area after waiting ten minutes at the bus stop. In this rush hour, I had to stand all the way to the restaurant. It gave me time to remember the past. Remembering how my mom and dad died when I was 7 years old in a traffic accident, I gripped the support pole in the bus tightly.

My life was a little better after working as a pizza delivery girl. I was able to put some of my salary aside for the future and also not be so dependent on my uncle and aunt. Once I really had enough money, I planned to leave my aunt's house and live independently by renting a small, cheap apartment.

I saw that the bus had stopped at the bus stop right in the downtown area. I queued up to get off the bus, which was full of office workers. I proceeded to the one-story building with blue paint on the walls.

"Hi, Godiva. The boss has been looking for you for the past five minutes," a young girl greeted me from behind the counter.

"Where is he, Bree?"

"He's in the kitchen," Bree replied with a shake of her head in the direction of the kitchen.

I rushed to the locker room to change into my uniform. Tying my hair up, I walked into the kitchen to find Mauricio. There, he was passing a small note to Alfonso, then turned around after noticing my arrival.

"You're finally here. You have to deliver some pizzas to a friend of mine who lives in a fancy apartment. They asked for a special employee to deliver it, which is why I asked you to do it. You are my most diligent employee, Godiva. Don't let me down, okay?" said Mauricio until his head bowed to me.

"I see."

I waited for half an hour for the pizza to cook. Alfonso winked at me and raised a fist in front of his chest after handing me five boxes of pizza.

"Have a nice day, Godiva."

"You too, Alfonso. I'm leaving first," I said.

I picked up the motorcycle keys that were hanging next to the cash register. Eagerly, I approached the scooter in the reserved parking area and put the boxes into the container behind the motorcycle seat. After putting on my helmet and gloves, I quickly turned the key and drove the scooter to the address on my phone screen.

'Sycamore St., Asturg'

I had never driven to that address before. As far as I knew from the movies I'd seen, the residents of luxury apartments must be from the upper class and never order pizza. I smiled to myself at my pretentious assumption that I didn't know what the upper class wanted to eat.

Right at the address, I immediately raised my head in amazement at the apartment building, whose end I couldn't see clearly. I took a deep breath and tried to make my steps light to get into the apartment building. I asked the security guard for a pass by showing the restaurant employee card hanging around my neck.

I pressed the button for the top floor according to the address instructions. As soon as the elevator doors opened, I saw one man in a navy blue uniform standing in front of the elevator button. I called the 32nd floor, and he immediately pressed the same number on the button.

"Thank you."

I noticed the numbers written on the side wall just as I got out of the elevator. I read through the rows of residents' names and found the name of the pizza-ordering rich guy.

"Melucci's, units 10–15. Which unit should I come to?"

There happened to be someone passing by me. Overcoming my confusion, I asked him about Melucci's apartment unit. He took off the sunglasses perched on his crooked nose and replied, "You can take the food to unit number ten."

"Thank you."

For a moment, I felt a different aura from him. I could see his iris, which turned yellow after looking at me deeply. I shook my head and walked away from the elevator. I turned around briefly to look at that person again, but I couldn't find him.

I finally arrived in front of unit number ten. Before I could actually press the bell, the door of the unit opened first. I didn't expect the electricity in the apartment to go out at the same time as the door opened.

The only sight I could see besides the light coming through the gap in the curtain from inside the unit were two small yellow-colored dots, exactly like the iris of the eyes of the person I had questioned earlier. Afterward, I felt my hand being pulled by someone towards the light source I saw in the window.

"What is this? What's going on?"