Chapter 2 - Chapter 2 A Gift

Hera completed her 10-hour shift. She was supposed to complete another 12 hours but she insisted on going home early to buy her boyfriend the gift he has always been nagging her about.

Patek Philippe 5303R - GRAND COMPLICATIONS in rose gold.

She made a quick beeline to the luxurious mall located in the most expensive mall for the wealthy. When she reached the front door of Patek Philippe, the shop assistant looked at her from head to toe and felt disgusted. They did not even mask their disdain over her 12-dollar t-shirt. Her overall outfit did not even reach 100 dollars, which was a lot cheaper than their manicure. Her canvas backpack is already fading from continuous washing over the years.

No one wanted to assist her but they watched her like a thief. Hera felt uncomfortable but she couldn't do anything about it. She is indeed out of place. 

She made an effort to not let her emotions show. She strolled through the store, conscious of the attentive shop assistants. She tried to remain calm, but when she peered into the glass display, she discovered that the watch she desired was worth several million dollars.

She sucked in a mouthful of air from shock, the shop assistant standing near her sneered mockingly and said. "Miss, we do not sell a 10-dollar watch here. Why don't you try checking a street stall instead?"

The second shop assistant giggled at her. Hera felt embarrassed to even ask. Her bank account only has fifteen thousand dollars, which is a significant amount of money for her, and she had saved this money for years through her hard work.

She gritted her teeth and asked. "Excuse me, do you have a watch that is worth at most 15 thousand dollars?" Her voice was a bit shaky but she was determined to buy it.

The second shop assistant stopped laughing, glanced over at her, and clicked her tongue. "Miss, the cheapest watch we have here is $25,000 and that's only an entry-level watch. " She seemed to have enough goofing around with Hera because she doubted that she could buy a single piece from their store, so she called the newbie and asked her to watch over Hera and not let her run away with anything in her bag.

The newbie shop assistant could only awkwardly smile at Hera and repeatedly apologize for the treatment she received. She did her best to introduce the watches that fit Hera's requirements. Despite their effort, they can only choose the Patek Philippe Calatrava for men with black leather straps and a stainless steel body. 

Knowing that the money she had was insufficient, she texted Athena to borrow some money to pay for her purchase. Athena did not ask for reasons because she knew Hera was buying a gift for her sleazy boyfriend so she just transferred $10,000 to Hera's account.

This is the first luxury item that Hera bought with her own money, and she was happy to gift it to her boyfriend.

The shop assistant saw her happy and couldn't help asking. "Is this a gift for your boyfriend?"

Hera nodded and beamed at the shop assistant. The assistant was taken by surprise by Hera's gorgeous face and innocent smile. "Who wouldn't want a beautiful and sensible girlfriend like her?" She thought.

Hera asked the shop assistant to wrap the gift in an elegant black gift wrap with a gold ribbon then she swiped her card to pay.

When she got out of the store, her stomach grumbled and she only remembered then that she hadn't had her lunch and dinner yet.

But she only has 50 dollars in her account and 20 dollars in cash. She had no choice but to go home to their apartment and hope that they still have some ingredients left so she could cook a simple meal.

When she arrived home, the apartment was still dark and the garbage can was full of rotting vegetable skins and other trash. The unpleasant smell made her nose scrunch up, so she quickly went to the kitchen to dispose of the garbage.

After disposing of the garbage, she cleaned up the spacious apartment, wiped the tables, and did the laundry for both her and her boyfriend.

She and her boyfriend are flatmates, living under the same roof, but they sleep in separate bedrooms. The apartment was located in the well-known luxury apartment complex housing heirs and heiresses.

The monthly rent alone is tens of thousands of dollars. This is why it was necessary for Hera to work multiple jobs while also balancing her studies and love life.

She's been paying the rent, electricity, and water bills since they started living together last year to save up. He is a rising celebrity, he told her that he'll save up for their marriage and property in the future once they are married but for now, Hera has to pay for everything else since her boyfriend has to buy most things like expensive clothes, shoes and other things to show in his social media account to garner more fans.

You might have wondered why Hera was allowing this to happen. But it's not always that one-sided, from time to time, he would gift her with luxury bags, accessories, and clothes.

Hera just can't bear to wear them for daily use. This is because she spends most of her time working part-time and attending classes at the university. She's afraid she might misplace these items, so she keeps them safe in her room.

On the following day, she made up her mind to put on the clothes and accessories to commemorate their anniversary.

After cleaning up the apartment, she quickly cooked an omelet and a simple soup and ate it with relish. When she was done, she cleaned up and went to bed so she'd have enough energy tomorrow to work.

The next day, Hera went to her next part-time job in a pizza store to deliver the order. She would receive tips from her delivery which makes her happy, she carefully placed the tips she got from the half-day delivery and changed her clothes to the white chiffon maxi dress that she brought with her.

She paired her dress with a white stiletto and a white Chanel Quilted Lambskin hobo bag. These were all gifts from her boyfriend, the shoes was from their first anniversary, the dress were from their second and the bag was just from last month.

She returned to the apartment happily, with a spring in her step and a radiant glow.

As she entered the lobby of the apartment building, she noticed a group of private bodyguards in suits standing in the corner. However, she quickly glanced at them and didn't pay much attention as it was a common sight for high-profile individuals to be accompanied by multiple bodyguards. She assumed it was just another day for them.

There are bodyguards standing around the elevator door on the fifth floor where her apartment is, which surprises her after she gets out of the elevator.

On each floor of the building, there are only two apartments. The penthouse is occupied by a single tenant. She has never met their neighbor. She assumed that the next-door tenant was a high-profile individual, but either way, she didn't want to get involved in their affairs.

While entering the apartment code, the bodyguards were eyeing her differently, but she tried not to overthink it, despite feeling uncomfortable.

She let out a sigh of relief after she entered her apartment and patted her chest after feeling nervous just now. As her head is currently lowered, she notices a woman's red stiletto in the doorway.

She felt her breath stuck in her throat, her chest pounding so hard that it hurt. She feels her eyes and nose sting with a thought swirling in her head.

As she approached the living room, her heart pounded harder in her chest. A clutter of men's and women's clothes lay on the floor, leading to her boyfriend's bedroom.

It doesn't require intelligence to comprehend the situation as the sounds of a woman's flirtatious moans echoed from the room. She could also hear her boyfriend's satisfied groans and their suggestive whispers.

Although she already saw this coming, it still hurts. She believed that changing herself would lead to a better life and better treatment from others. But she was wrong, how others treated her was never her problem. Only now did she realize it.

Her trembling knees momentarily lost their strength and she plopped to the floor. This loud sound surprised the people inside and they immediately stopped what they were doing to check what happened.

Her boyfriend came out half-naked. Surprised, he stared at the beautiful woman who was silently shedding tears in front of him. He silently scanned her face down to her outfit. She was breathtakingly beautiful, and this was the first time she dressed beautifully.

He felt greed taking over his being, he wanted to possess his girlfriend but not only was she a poor orphan but she did not allow him to sleep with her. He felt vexed.

Their silence was interrupted by the woman who came out of his room wearing his oversized shirt. She circled her arms around his, leaned on him flirtatiously, and sized up the woman on the floor.

She frowned and felt displeasure. "Is she your sister? The one you mentioned before?"

The man's body stiffened and look at the woman beside him.

She pointed at Hera who was looking at them pitifully. "Didn't you say that you're going to gift the channel bag I don't like to your sister? She's using the bag, so she's your sister right?"

Hera was stunned and she looked up questioningly.

Sister? What does she mean?