I got into character, smiling forcefully, balancing trays of champagne and attending one arrogant customer to another. The smell of rosemary and curry filled the air, making my stomach growl with hunger.

Fuck.

Not now, I took a deep breath and looked around making sure no one heard it.

Just as I went to get the order of one of the customers, Daniel, one of the senior waiters snapped his fingers at me.

"I'll help you with the order, go and serve an important client in private room, number eight. They requested for a new server"

I frowned, there was a waiter specifically for each private room, so why would the client ask for a new one? I think Dianel read my mind cause he leaned in and whispered.

"They had him fired, he coughed while serving them. Apparently, the cough contaminated his food."

I blinked in disbelief. The previous waiter was trained to serve high-end clients so why was Daniel sending me that wasn't a professional?

Daniel rolled his eyes "you've worked here for two years, don't look at me with those eyes. By now you should have learnt everything needed to be learnt" he handed me a notepad and pushed me towards the direction of the private room.

"Be careful, he is a very important client"

I gulped and headed to the direction of private room number eight.

I entered the room and my eyes came in contact with the most breathtaking man I have ever met.

Sebastian Devereaux.

The man who I only saw on the news. His face was perfectly sculpted by God, his suit probably cost more than three years of my salary and his commanding presence made me want to escape.

Daniel didn't tell me I was serving Sebastian Devereaux, the man who literally owns the world.

When his piercing gaze locked onto me, I realised that I was just staring.

I cleared my throat and tightened my hands around the notepad. trying to keep my voice steady, I said "Good evening sir. Welcome to La Vienne. May I take your order?"

Sebastian didn't talk. He just watched me like he was accessing me. God, has he already found out that I wasn't a trained waiter? I knew this was a bad idea.

Seconds later, he shifts his eyes to the menu in front of him and points to a few dishes. I quickly jotted them down and fled.

I gave his order to the front desk then went to find Daniel.

"I can't go back there. If I go back there with his food I might be too nervous and make a mess, please send someone else" I pleaded.

Daniel scanned my face, when he saw that I looked so nervous that I could collapse anytime, he sighed in annoyance.

"Fine, I'll find someone else"

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. "Thank you"

I went back to my task of taking orders and serving meals.

Then my phone buzzed.

I don't have the habit of checking my messages during work but something made me check this one.

Bad idea.

It was a message from an unknown number.

"Hello Little Dove, I'm out. Miss me?"

My heart stopped for a second. The tray in my hand tilted and the champagne slid off the tray shattering. I didn't notice, all I could see was the text in front of me.

No, no, no.

Little dove.

Only one person calls me that.

My hands trembled as I reread the text.

Fabian.

He shouldn't be out yet. He's supposed to be in prison. There were still two years left for crying out loud.

One of the waiters rushed towards me. He was saying something to me, maybe calling my name. I don't know, I wasn't listening.

This isn't real, this can't be real.

"Liam" this time I heard my name clearly. It was my manager's voice.

I blinked, realising what I've done, there were broken glasses on the floor with spilled expensive champagne and dozens of eyes on me.

I panicked and went down on my knees and began packing the broken glasses back on the tray. I ignored the pain as they pierced my hands.

"Don't bother," the manager said coldly. "You're fired. Get out" he turned away and snapped at another waiter to clean up the mess.

I stood up, my hands and legs were trembling. Just like that I've lost my job. Fabian hasn't even appeared in front of me yet but my life was already taking a bad turn.

I saw Sebastian come out from the private room. His face is still as cold as ever. His gaze lands on me then at the mess at my feet.

He didn't say a word, he just walked out.

Not like I cared.

Fabian was out. I needed to get out of here. I needed to go home to collect my thoughts.

I turned on my heels and ran.

I was gasping for air when I reached home but I didn't mind. I slammed the door shut, putting the locks in place. I need to buy more locks.

I slid down the walls and wrapped my arms around my knees and let the tears flow.

Fabian is out.

He's out. I don't know how long I cried but I slept off in that position.

When I woke up the next morning, my head felt like it was splitting into two.

My body was stiff from curling up for a long time. The room spinned as I stood.

I entered the bathroom to prepare for school. When the water touched my hands, I winced, I had forgotten that I had cuts from picking up the broken glasses last night. The wound stung with every movement.

Fuck.

If I had known I was going to be fired on the spot, I wouldn't have picked them in the first place, I sulked up my complaints and endured the pain.

My movements today were slower, my limbs ached and every step I took felt like I'd been hit by a car. By the time I reached school, my head was pounding so hard that I felt like I would collapse any minute.

Every noise made the ache worse, from the teacher's voice to the rustling of papers.

I laid on my desk when we had free period and as If I wasn't suffering enough, the universe had to send Damien to test me.

"What's up pet?" I didn't respond. I was too sick for this shit. I was jobless with no money to spare for drugs, a psychopathic ex after me and now Damien wanted to add to my troubles.

"I'm talking to you" I could hear anger in his voice. I sighed and forced myself to sit up.

I saw him standing over my desk with his hands in his pocket and a smug smirk on his face.

I muttered what I always say whenever I saw him.

I pray your family goes bankrupt so that I can get back at you.

"Yes?" I replied. I stared blankly at him, his face seemed to blur in and out of focus.

I think he noticed I wasn't my usual self cause unexpectedly, his hands brushed against my forehead.

"Shit, you're burning up"

I flinched when his hands touched me and quickly slapped it away.

"I'm fine." my voice came out harsher than I intended.

Surprisingly, he didn't deal with me for slapping his hand away, he just scoffed "You look like you're about to drop dead."

I blinked my eyes repeatedly "Just drop off today's assignment and go. I'll make sure to write it for you"

To my surprise, he left without dropping the assignment.

Well, isn't today just full of surprises?

I laid down for the rest of the classes. I couldn't jot down anything anyway, my hands were useless, the wounds sting whenever I moved them.

After school, I moved out sluggishly, my steps were getting heavier.

Everything in front of me began spinning.

I felt myself falling and braced for the impact.

But I didn't hit the ground. I felt strong arms around me breaking my fall.

"Liam, hey are you okay?"

Damien's voice was the last thing I heard before everything went dark.

White ceiling was the first thing I saw when I woke up, and the smell of antiseptic made me realise I was in the hospital. I panicked. How did I get here? Who the hell took me to the hospital?

"Relax" I heard a voice from my side. I turned towards the source of the voice to see Damien sitting on the couch at one corner of the hospital.

I stiffened instantly, why was my nemesis here?

"What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice was hoarse.

He raised a brow "I brought you here."

He brought me here? Damien?

The disbelief in my face must have been obvious.

"Why? Can't I bring you here? Or am I that much of a terrible person that I can't bring you to a hospital?"

I shot him a look. Obviously.

He looked like he wanted to hit me but held back.

"How much is the bill?" I asked sitting up, my entire body screamed in pain. I need to get out of here. I couldn't afford to stay here.

"You need to lie down, the doctor said you have to stay overnight for observation" Damien said. He stood up from the couch and walked towards me.

I refused "No, I'm leaving"

"You're still sick, don't be stubborn"

"I asked how much the bill is," I snapped, I didn't even bother apologizing, why on earth did he bring me to a hospital? I couldn't afford to buy drugs, and now he brought me to the hospital. How on earth was I supposed to afford it?

"We'll talk about it later" he wasn't angry. Not even in the slightest. At this point I wondered if the person in front of me was Damien's twin.

I stood up angrily and too fast! My vision blurred and I used my bandaged hand to grab onto the edge of the hospital bed to stabilise myself.

Damien furrowed his brows "you're still not fully healed, I'm drive you home"

"I don't need you to drive me home, I'll find my way back." I didn't want him to know where I lived. What if he brings his bullying to my doorstep? I can't live with that.

Damien stepped aside and watched as I stumbled towards the door.

I leaned against the door. Walking to the door had already weakened me. How much more walking home. The worst part of it all is that I don't know the hospital I'm in right now or how long it is from home.

Damn it!

I should have accepted when Damien asked nicely. Now I didn't know if he would still drive me home. Between driving me home and staying back overnight, driving me home was definitely the better option. Not the best but I'll handle whatever comes my way.

"Can you drive me home?" I Muttered.

Damien smirked. "See? That wasn't so hard, was it?"

I wanted to punch him, but doing so will only put me in more trouble than I already am. Besides, I'm too weak to do that right now.

The drive home was silent. We didn't each other till we arrived at my place.

"You live here?"

"Yes" I came down from the car as soon as he parked. "Thanks for the ride, you can leave now"

He didn't go as I expected him to, instead he came down and followed me to my door.

"What?" I asked, staring up at him suspiciously, he was acting too strange and I didn't like it.

"You're not going to invite me in?"

"Why should I?" I don't know where I got the audacity to talk to him in a rude way today, maybe it's because of the thought of the amount of money that was going to leave my account.

He smirked "Because I helped you?"

I stared at him, wishing for him to disappear.

"Fine" I muttered, if I didn't let him in, he would probably force his way inside.

Inside, Damien looked around and frowned.

"If you're not comfortable, you can leave"

He ignored me and walked around.

I sat down and watched him, my gaze following him like an hawk

"Why are there no pictures here? Why do you leave alone? This neighbourhood seem unsafe"

I didn't respond, I just waited for him to finish fooling around.

He seemed to have felt my gaze, he turned to me and frowned "why do you keep looking at me like I'm a thief?"

"You're acting strange and I don't like it." I leaned forward "what exactly do you want?"

He finally sat down on the most decent chair I have.

"Aren't you going to offer me anything?"

I gave him a deadpan stare. "There's nothing to offer"

He clicked his tongue and went to the fridge.

"Holy shit! I've never seen a fridge so empty." He opened the cupboards "You really don't have anything to offer"

"I thought you work at La Vienne. Why do you behave like you have nothing?"

I stiffened and stared at him coldly "how do you know where I work?"

He noticed the change in my expression "Relax, a friend told me he saw you there."

"How I live is none of your business. Please leave, I need to rest"

Damien scanned my face before deciding to stand. "I'll leave you to rest, I'll bring your drugs to you tomorrow, you..."

"No need" I cut him off. Does he want to make my account bleed?

When he walked out of the door, I remembered he hadn't told me how much I was owing him.

"So, how much am I owing you?"

"I didn't ask you to pay"

I glared at him.

"Sigh, since you want to know so bad, it's one million dollars."

I stumbled back when I heard the price "What do you mean by that"

"The drip, the bed, the..."

"No, I mean, what kind of hospital charges one million dollars for less than a day?"

He looked at me like I was asking a stupid question "Obviously. It was the best hospital that was nearest to school at that time"

I gritted my teeth in anger "what do you mean best hospital? What happened to the common ones scattered around?"

"I've never gone to any place that's not the best" he scanned my house "your house is the first"

The urge to punch him was strong.