Chapter 2: Thirty Seconds.

The next day Dua began her job hunt early in the morning, and by the time evening fell, her result was a negative one. No one was willing to employ her since she was below twenty years old. With a downcast mood, she went back home, her mind flooded with how she was gonna care for her family with her joblessness. "Should I begin a petty business?" She thought.

"With which money?" She scoffed at herself. "You're penniless, Dua."

She reached home and went straight into her bedroom, relieved that her family didn't see her come in, or know that she's back. She freshened up and laid on her bed, still thinking. Her eyes went to the picture frame of her father, standing on her small table. "Dad, I miss you."

Her father was a soldier who died in service when she was ten years old. Her mother had been providing for the family since then until she fell ill when Dua was sixteen years old, and had just finished from high school.

"Dad, I'm confused..." a tear rolled down her cheek. "What do I do? How will the family survive now that I'm jobless?...All this should have waited a little until I turn twenty next year, then things wouldn't be this hard," she cried.

Desmond's eyes burned with tears as he overhead his sister. He wanted to help Dua clean up her room. He believed she wasn't back yet, since her room light was off. As he was about opening the door, he heard her speak and decided to not go in anymore. He went to the living room and sunk into the couch tiredly.

"Are you done cleaning up sis's room?" Denise asked as she came out of the kitchen.

"I didn't clean up the room." Desmond replied, his voice low and unhappy.

"Why?" Denise asked.

"Sis is back." Desmond replied.

"Really?" Denise asked happily, and was about skipping off to Dua's room, but Desmond stopped her.

"Don't go... sis is crying. That's exactly why I didn't go into her room. You know how embarrassed she becomes when we see her cry, so let's give her some time alone to cry it all out without getting embarrassed." Desmond said.

Denise being the sister she is couldn't afford to just stay put. So she quietly went to Dua's room and stood at the door. Standing at the door, she could hear Dua's little sobs, that pricked her heart, causing her own tears to fall, as she apologized to Dua in her heart, "we're so sorry, sis, for turning your life into hell." She believed they're the reasons Dua was never happy, because she was always thinking of ways to provide for the family.

Hearing Dua cry for five minutes, Denise could no longer bear it. So she went into the room and switched on the lights. "Huh? Sis, you're back?" Denise pretended to not know that Dua was back.

"Yeah, I'm back," Dua cleared her throat and wiped her tears with her hands.

"What did you want to do here?" Dua asked.

"Nothing, just wanted to check if Desmond's cleaned your room." Denise replied and Dua nodded.

"Come have dinner, sis," Denise pulled Dua with her to the living room.

"Hey, sis," Desmond greeted Dua and she winked at him.

Denise quickly set Dua's food on the table and Dua began to eat, while they both watched her.

"What do you guys wanna say?" Dua stopped eating and sighed.

"Nothing," they both replied.

"You've both refused to take your eyes off me. You do that when you have something to say," Dua said and Desmond asked straightaway, "did you get the job?", causing Dua to pause, then she shook her head as a reply.

Silence reigned between the siblings, then Dua spoke, "don't worry, I'll try again tomorrow. I'm sure I'll find a job tomorrow."

"We're worried, sis, because we're sure that you'll never find a job in this countryside. Why not go to the city?" Denise said.

"I won't." Dua replied sharply.

"But sis..." Denise and Desmond were saying but Dua cut them short, "enough! Worrying about this family's survival is my headache, don't let it be yours!"

"But it's my headache too," Stella spoke, and Dua looked behind to find her, "mom."

"It is my headache from the start. It only became yours because of my illness, and I blame myself for that," Stella took a seat.

"No, mom, please don't say that." Dua said.

"Then will you go to the city?" Stella asked. "There's no guarantee that you'll ever find a job here before you turn twenty."

"There's also no guarantee that the city will be better." Dua argued.

"You can never know until you try." Stella said and Dua closed her eyes and sighed.

"Please, Dua." Stella held Dua's hand and Dua sighed again.

"Even if I go, who'll take care of you?" She asked.

"Ummm, hello, we're not invincible." Denise said.

"And you're not the only one who takes care of mom." Desmond added and Dua glared at them while Stella chuckled. She only said that to make an excuse to not go to the city.

"You can see Dua, I'm in safe hands, I'll be fine. When you go to work and they go to school, it's always only me at home, and I'm always fine till you all get back. I'm not as frail as you think, Dua, I'm strong." Stella smiled.

"But you weren't fine yesterday." Dua added in her mind. "Okay then, if there's a means for me to get to the city, I'll go," she leaned into the couch. Without her bringing money, there's no other way for her family to get money. And presently, she's penniless, so going to the city was officially cancelled.

"Here," Stella handed something to her, "your bus ticket to the city tomorrow at 6am."

"WHAT?!" Dua sprang to her feet, unable to believe what she was seeing. "How did you guys get this?" She asked.

"Easy," Denise smiled. "The little things mom knits, we helped her sell it. I make money from helping people do their homework, projects and write class notes. And Desmond makes money from reading people's palm and foreseeing their future."

They were all smiles as they looked at shocked Dua, until she took their smiles away with her next statement.

Go sell it," Dua gave the ticket to Denise. "Find anyone who'll buy it before it expires. Sell it at the amount you got it, so you'll find a buyer faster."

"Dua..." Stella called.

"Why did you guys have to waste money? We have bills to pay, there's no enough food in the house, your school fees are there to pay, and mom's fees for dialysis and surgery are there too." Dua said.

"Don't worry, sis, we'll be fine." Desmond smiled. "And besides, I've read your palm, and I foresaw that you'll make it really quick when you get to the city."

"That darn trick you play on people." Dua scoffed.

"It's not a trick." Denise and Desmond said together.

"My foreseeing comes true." Desmond said.

"It's just sheer luck." Dua rolled her eyes.

"You'll also have that sheer luck, and you'll meet a rich man who'll marry you." Desmond said.

Dua scoffed, "which rich man will marry an uneducated girl?"

"You're not uneducated, sis, you finished high school." Denise sighed.

Dua always said she's not educated since she couldn't go to the university because she was burdened with her family's survival.

"Here's extra cash that you can use to hold up until you get money." Stella gave Dua some money.

"Okay, but I'll need a day or two to pack up my things." Dua smiled as her mind raced with a new plan: sell the ticket and use the cash to pay off some bills. That way she could avoid the city.

"You don't have to do that, we already packed up your things." Denise said and Desmond nodded, completely ruining Dua's plan, and she scoffed, "you guys are unbelievable." She shook her head.

At The City.

Not far from Steven's Mansion was his warehouse which stood in his massive estate. Although he has a tech company, his warehouse was where he did all his illegal dealings. Presently, he leisurely sat in his office on the second floor and watched the activities going on in the ground floor, through the glass walls of his office.

He picked up his pack of cigarettes, lit up one stick and began to smoke. His phone rang, and when he saw the name of the caller flashing on the screen, his face drifted away from the phone as it rang repeatedly. The sound grating on his nerves.

Finally the phone stopped ringing and a text came in, "please, answer the call."

The phone rang again and this time he reluctantly answered.

"Hi, Steve," Diane greeted him, with a hint of happiness and relief in her voice.

"I'm busy." Steven replied, his voice lacking emotions.

"Okay, can you give me a minute or two?" She said.

"Thirty seconds," he replied.

"How are you?" she asked.

"Go straight to the point," he replied.

"It's part of the reason I called," she was disappointed by his reply but she still spoke with a little cheer in her voice, and got no reply.

"Okay, fine. I called because I wanna hear your voice," she said.

"And I wanna see you, I can't wait to see you at the altar in our wedding tomorrow," she added.

"Time up," he said and ended the call.