Chapter 1 Life Can Be Cruel

• "Your drinks."
• Cara mumbled, dropping the tray filled with drinks on the table before walking away. Anyone could tell she was extra grumpy and moody tonight.
• Who wouldn't be?
• Struggling to make ends meet with a drunk and gambler for a father hasn't always been easy for her, but he was her only family. She'd pick doing this every day over losing him.
• Like everyone else, her family was once a happy one. She had a loving mother who was the best stay-at-home wife and a hard-working father who worked at one of the top marketing firms. Everything went crashing down when her mother became diagnosed with stage three lung cancer in her first year at college. Being the breadwinner of the family, her father couldn't take a break from work, and Cara had to take a year break from college.
• Who knew a year break would become a permanent drop-out?
• Fate decided it was time to play a cruel game on them, and her mother passed eight months after. Between the piled-up medical bills and long avoided utility bills, her return to college seemed distant as she had to work to assist her father, who couldn't go on as though nothing had happened.
• Today Cara had woken up feeling lighter than any other day. It was her 22nd birthday, and she made simple plans.
• Go to work as usual, take no extra shift, have a simple lunch with dad, and spend the rest of the day with her man. That was until she received the most devastating call of the day-her father had done it again.
• Ever since her mother's death, he became a shadow of himself. They had bills to pay and debts to make up for, but he couldn't be bothered. It was as if time had stopped for him and there was no reason for him to continue living. It all started from coming home drunk five days in a week, to not coming home at all, until it cost him his job.
• Drinking took everything away from him, and now what? Gambling?
• Cara had received a threatening call earlier in the day; she had a week to pay back thirty grand from one of her father's gambling escapades or risk losing him. Of course, this wasn't his first time, but he had never owed this much. Their entire savings wasn't even up to five thousand dollars and she was to pay back thirty?
• Working absentmindedly through the day, she thought about everything that had gone wrong and wondered why life couldn't even be kind to her on her birthday. Resigning to her fate for the day, she took an extra shift, all her plans taking the back bench seat as she looked forward to the end of the day. Cara decided that she was not going to think about it today. Instead, she would work her ass off as usual, get a lot of tips, and spend the day with her man as planned.
• That was until she got his call two hours ago.
• "I have a meeting with a client; I think we'll have to reschedule baby."
• Was all her fiancé said in a rush before hanging up on her.
• Did he have to go to the meeting? On her birthday at that?
• She wondered after he ended the call but would never voice it out. It has always been like that. They've been dating for just three years and a few months, but she's lost count of how many times he has disappointed her. Not that she'll ever question him; she did that once, and the pain in her right ankle whenever it gets cold still serves as a reminder. She never voiced out her wants. He was hers, and that was all she needed.
• "Hey Cara, this is for booth 14." The bartender called out, snapping her out of her deep thoughts. She picked up the tray once again, her thoughts taking a temporary break in her head as she walked up the stairs.
• Usually she only walked on the ground floor, but the club was at its peak tonight, so all hands were to be on deck.
• Being the one to always see the good in every situation, Cara happily sighed. She felt lucky that she wasn't told to work on the second floor tonight. It is known to contain the richest and most snobbish of their clients, and she didn't think she had the patience to suck up to anyone tonight.
• Arriving at booth 14, she plastered a forced smile on her face as she walked in.
• "Hello! Your-
• Timothy!" She gasped, wide eyed.