prologue

She stared at her sister's teary eyes and could see how slim her 8 year old sister was.

"Sweethearts just hang in there. Mommy will get you something to eat, okay?" Her mom, Catherine Sunville assured them even though she was sure her mom didn't have any means of sorting things out.

Although she was just 12, she could see how things had not been too good for her family.

Ever since her father died when her younger sister was just born, things had been very tough for Catherine to cater for them.

She had gotten a small job which was the highest she could get as she was an illiterate. She had lost her job 2 years ago and things had worsen for them since then. Catherine had relied on one of her billionaire's wife friend who would send her little change once in a while.

"Mom," she called out, sitting beside her mom on the brown leather chair that begged to be changed, her younger sister was sitting on Catherine's lap.

They were sitting in the almost empty one room flat as Catherine had sold almost all their stuff to get money for feeding. The parlor only had a sofa and 2 old chairs while the room only had a ten-year-old bed with a closet.

Catherine turned to her and she still saw the hope here mom possessed even in the toughest times. Catherine had never given up even though they had nothing, it didn't stop her from having the hope that things will get better.

"Trust me love. I'll find a way to get food for you two to eat." Catherine pondered on something for a while before smiling.

"Maybe we could go ask Mrs Nice Woman for help." That was the name they called the rich woman who would always send money to her mom whenever they needed it, although she wasn't sure if she would do that at that point because the last time they went to her house, her husband got really irate at their presence that it led to him shouting at 'Mrs Nice Woman' which only made her mad at them.

"I'll follow you." She said.

She couldn't let her mom go to the house alone. Even though she couldn't say or do anything if the husband was shouting at them, maybe the sight of a child will soften their heart.

Catherine shook her head. "There's no need love, I'll be fine."

"No mom, I want to follow." She made it clear she was not taking no for an answer. She was going to follow no matter what and Catherine knew she was going to lose in the debate so there was no need for arguments.

"Okay."

***

They were on their way to 'Mrs Nice Woman' house and she found herself a little nervous. She had not been to the house before so going there made tension build in her for no sensible reason.

She clutched her mother's hand tightly, hoping it would suppress her twitchy feeling but it didn't work although it seemed to have bought Catherine's awareness to it as she stared down at her.

"Are you okay love?"

"Yes I am." Lies, she wasn't close to being okay. Being this nervous made her stomach hurt and her body shaky.

"Are you nervous?"

"No mom." More lies.

"Are you sure?"

Before she could make out another lie, her younger sister pulled into her mom's dress. "I want to have a wee mom." She said innocently.

"Now? But where will we find a toilet? Can't you hold it in?"

Her sister shook her head. "No mom, I can't."

Catherine sighed. "I guess it'll be a bush wee then."

"Mom, I'll wait for you guys in front okay?"

"Okay, but stay in sight okay?"

"Okay, I just want to check out the flower shop I saw up front." She released her mom from her grip, walking a little further from them.

She was hopping to the flower shop, hoping that would stop her from being so nervous.

As she was hopping, she realized she was getting into a more crowded zone. She turned back to see if she could still see her mom but she was out of sight. She couldn't go back so she decided to just keep going to the flower shop and wait for them there.

She kept on hopping but immediately came to a halt when she felt a figure hit her hard it caused her to stagger backwards almost landing on her butt, but grabbed onto a rail she didn't realize was there.

"What on earth-who are you?" She heard a voice say.

When she finally got her composure, she turned to see the figure that had hit her. It was a boy who was about the same age as she was. She noticed his white shirt was stained by what she guessed was juice.

It took her a few seconds to process what had happened, it seemed like the boy had bumped into her and was holding a cup of juice that he had splashed on his shirt.

"Look at what you caused you moron!" His voice was loud which only infuriated her.

"What I caused?!" She shouted back, if there was something she hated, it was being blamed for something that was not her fault. "Is it my fault that you were blind enough to not see me hopping towards you!"

"You crazy girl have ruined my shirt!" His voice had increased but that wasn't going to intimidate her.

"You ruined your shirt!" Her voice came out louder drawing the attention of some passersby. "If you had used your sense a little bit, you would have known you should have looked at where you were going."

Judging from his expression, it was evident he wasn't used to being shouted at.

"Hey, you kids shouldn't be fighting. Where are your parents?" A man's voice echoed from the crowd. He came to hold her hand.

A man immediately appeared behind the raging boy. "I'm sorry for leaving you alone Mr Kelvin, let's go." He led the boy from the crowd but before the boy left he turned to her with blood-shot eyes.

"You'll regret this." He said before disappearing out of sight.

"Where are you headed to?" She turned to the man who was staring at her with concern. "You know you shouldn't be involving yourself in fights, where are your parents?"

"Uh well my mom is-" At that moment, Catherine appeared with her younger sister. She looked confused as she stared from the man to her daughter.

"What happened?"

The man released her hand, explaining it all to Catherine who shot her disapproving eyes as she listened to the man

***

They had finally reached the breath-taking mansion. It looked nothing like a house but instead it resembled a palace.

The outside was beautiful, it was painted in beautiful whites and there were little and well taken care of elephant grasses on the floor.

"Who are you looking for?" A man dressed in a white shirt and black suit with trouser asked.

"I'm asking for the lady of this house." Catherine replied politely.

"And who may I say you are?"

"Catherine."

The man left and came back in a few minutes. "Follow me." He led them in.

As they got into the mansion, she found herself awed by the beauty of the interiors.

The walls were filled with beautiful paintings. There were lots of beautiful flowers. The white tiles were so neat she could see her reflection. The chairs were obviously of very high price, these were the types of chairs they needed at home.

There was a woman sitting on one of the sofas. She had the stature of a model. Her straight black hair was left swaying on her shoulders.

"Have a seat Catherine." Her voice was sweet and nice.

She guessed the woman was going to be 'Mrs Nice Woman'. As soon as the three of them sat on the very comfortable sofa, a man appeared from a place she didn't even know was there. A frown was formed on his face as soon as he sighted them and she immediately guessed he was her husband.

"What is she doing here?" He turned to his wife. "I thought you promised she'd never show her face here again." His voice was stern and bought fear to her spines as she held on to her mom's shirt.

"Honey, don't be mean." 'Mrs Nice Woman' said, standing up.

Immediately, the door opened and her jaw dropped to the ground when she sighted the boy she had had a fight with. She immediately regretted everything and felt tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

He sighted her immediately and she saw his expression change from whatever it was before to complete hatred and choler. She found her heart racing ten times more.

"You," he walked towards her, causing her to involuntarily stand up, "why is she here?!" He demanded in an unnecessarily loud tone that caused her to flinch. "What on earth is she doing here! I don't want to see her face!"

"Listen-" She wanted to apologize but he didn't seem to want to listen.

"Kelvin dear, what's the problem?" 'Mrs Nice Woman' who was obviously his mom asked.

"I don't want to see her!" His scream was getting louder. "She dared to talk back at me! I don't want to see her or any of her family!"

"But-"

"Leave now!" His mum was interrupted by his dad.

Catherine looked confuzzled as she tried to make out what was going on. "But-"

"I said leave." His voice was demanding and stern.

Catherine turned to Kelvin's mom, her eyes pleaded for her to help. "Just leave."

"Wh-"

"Leave." Her voice also became stern and they knew it was their queue to leave. "And don't come again."

That had hurt her as she turned to Kelvin who seemed very pleased with what was happening. She didn't know what to do. Their only hope was gone but she was sure her mom was going to find a way to settle things for them, she always did.

Once outside, she turned to her mom. "What are we going to do now?" She asked in a low voice and when her mom turned to her, for the first time in a long time she saw tears in her mom's eyes. "I don't know, I really don't."

That was it, all hope was gone. They had nothing anymore, they had no where to go or no one to run to. The only family member was Catherine's brother who was also suffering and couldn't help.

***

The last week had been filled with suffering. Her mom had had nothing to eat and they were surviving by the little Catherine would bring for them from wherever she went to.

They had spent most of the nights hungry and just crying themselves to sleep.

She could sense Catherine was considering selling the house but that was not a right option as they would be left homeless and even if they rented a house they would still have to pay rent and would probably lose all the money soon. The house was also the only memory left of her dad, she didn't want to lose it.

It was afternoon, she had told her mom to rest while she tried to distract her sister from hunger. She walked to the room and stared at her mom sleeping unusually stiff. Her heart began racing. Her mom had not eaten for a whole week.

"No No No." She felt her eyes tear up as she walked closer to her mom.

She slowly bent to touch her and the reality dawn on her as soon as she felt her mom's cold skin.

She was too shocked to say anything. Her life had broken to shatters. She felt the tears pour down her cheeks but she couldn't move.

She barely heard the sound of her mom's phone vibrate. She wasn't sure how she mustered the courage to turn, she saw an alert from Kelvin's mom '$2657'. "No." This time it came with tears evident in her tone. Why did her mom not wait longer?

Immediately the phone rang, she saw it was Kelvin's mom but she didn't answer. She stared at mom. It wasn't possible, she didn't want to believe it.

"Mom." She called out hoping her mom would open her eyes, laugh and say it was all a prank.

She didn't realize when her sister walked into the room running to Catherine with tears dipping down her cheeks and her shouting words she couldn't ear. It felt like her ears were covered with tears.

All of this happened because of Kelvin and she made a promise to herself that day that if she were to find Kelvin ever, she would make him suffer.

-Eri Sunville-

I heaved a huge sigh. Why was this happening to me? Why did bad things only happen to those who can't handle it? If this were to be happening to a billionaire or something, he wouldn't care but why me. Was my family cursed?

I dropped my phone, covering my face with both palms, resting the back of my palm on my knee as I just sat there on the bed.

I recalled the conversation I just had with the doctor and if I heard him right, which I obviously did, my younger sister had pancreatic cancer. I mean why? Why is the world so cruel? She's the only one I have, the only one I can be with and now the world wants to take her away.

Doctor Mike had said the treatment would cost $55000. I mean $55000. Do I look like Bill Gates?

Where in the world was I supposed to get such a huge amount? I have never even seen a quarter of the amount before not to talk of raising it and I needed to do it fast as the disease must not stay in her body for much longer else it could become worse.

Apparently, Doctor Mike had said she still had stage 2 cancer and it was still easy to treat and we must do that quickly before it advances to stage 3.