Chapter 1 Meet

Daisy

It was early in the morning. Bitterly cold. December had a way of making everything feel heavier. I had to get up for work. I worked in a café for minimum wage, but I had no choice. My small apartment wasn’t going to pay for itself.

A text message beeped on my phone. I sighed and picked it up. It was James.

@James: Dad says hello…

@Daisy: James. What do you want from me? Why are you texting me? You cheated on me… with my stepsister. Why now?

@James: Your father says you won't get a cent from him for breaking up with me. You'll lose everything, Daisy. Absolutely everything.

@Daisy: Was I ever supposed to be with you? Really, James? You cheated on me, and I don’t care what your father thinks. I don’t need either of you. Neither of you wanted me anyway. Goodbye. Blocked.

I got dressed and rushed out. Minutes felt like hours. My mind kept replaying James’ betrayal. Almost two years, wasted. I thought he was “the one.” I was wrong.

I barely noticed the icy patch until I slipped. The world tilted, my arms flailed—and then strong hands caught me. A man bent over me, brown hair falling slightly across chocolate-colored eyes that seemed to hold some unplaceable warmth.

"Are you okay?" he smiled at me.

"I… I’m fine. Thanks for saving me. I could have easily broken my leg," I whispered, heart still racing.

"You're right. What's your name?"

He helped me to my feet, and for a heartbeat, we just looked at each other.

"I.. I'm Daisy,"

"I'm Liam. Nice to meet you. I hope to see you again," he said and walked away. I smiled and went to the cafe.

"You’re late. Do you know what time it is?" Emma barked. My manager. Every day, the same humiliation.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"No. No sorry. I’ll deduct it from your paycheck. Understand?" She shouted at me and walked away.

Who was that man? Who? I can still feel his hands touching me. His intense gaze. His beautiful chocolate eyes. What's wrong with you Daisy?

When Emma left, I picked up my phone. I sat down on a chair and started looking at James's Facebook profile. Something caught my eye. That man. That photo was of James and the man who saved me that morning. A few words were added to that photo.

Happy Birthday Dad

That's probably not possible. He's James's father. The father he always told me the worst about. The father who didn't like him. He always said he couldn't show me home because his father would probably kill him. For starting with someone like me. But he didn't seem bad at all, and not like James himself described him to me.

"Are you thinking about him again? When will you understand that he left you? That he didn't want you? I don't know why. Maybe because you're poor. Look at how James looks and how you look. You're unkempt and ugly too," Emma shouted at me. She humiliated me at every possible opportunity.

"I was just looking at something. Nothing more," I whispered and stood up.

"So you were looking? Please go do your job. Do you think I'm just paying you? I'm not paying! And I might even fire you soon. Zoe wants to go and do this,"

"You can't do this to me Emma," I screamed loudly.

"Why can't I? Look at yourself. You're just too beautiful to look at. Zoe is really pretty, smart, intelligent. The complete opposite of you. I don't care that you won't have anything to live on, anything to function and exist on,"

"Zoe took away James, my parents and my job. You can't just fire me Emma,"

"But yes. I'll do it and now go to work and do it right now," she yelled at me. What am I going to do? Where am I going to find a job? Why am I so unlucky?

A Few Hours Later. I was working when James and Zoe came here and they came straight for me. I didn't understand why they couldn't leave me alone? Why? What did I do to them that was so terrible?

"What do you want from me?"

"Don't talk to customers like that, Daisy. Do I have to kick you out right now?" Emma yelled. I saw a few people come in here.

"Yes. You're not going to talk to me like that. What do you think of yourself anyway? Look at how you look. And you stink," Zoe said and started laughing. I felt like everything in my life was wrong.

"That's enough of your impudence, Daisy. Stop it. Give me everything. You're fired,"

"You can't do this to me Emma," I screamed and in the distance I saw James's father, the man who saved me this morning. He was there with someone. He was looking at me.

"I can! Give me everything you have. Is that clear? Give me everything now," she screamed loudly. I put everything on her table and looked at Zoe and James.

"You took everything from me Zoe. Everything I had. Your parents always loved you more. Ever since you were little. Then you took James and my job away from me. Is that what you wanted? Did you succeed,"

"Your parents completely pushed you out of Daisy's life. Do you know what they said? That they only had me and they've completely forgotten about you. "They said they didn't have a daughter anymore," Zoe told me.

I took off my apron and left. It was incredibly cold outside. It was below freezing. I needed to be alone. I needed to think about everything, especially my life.

I don't get used to regretting things. I've been through enough. Breaking up with James. He cheated on me and then started with my sister.

From a young age, she was smarter than me. From a young age, she was prettier than me. My parents made it clear to her. I was like the black sheep of the family. I came to tell her everything. About James. About work. But I had to pull myself together somehow. I had to move on. Somehow get through this bad time and start all over again. There was nothing else I could do. I went to the nearest park, sat on a bench and closed my eyes.

Then, I felt the sound of heavy, firm footsteps drawing closer and closer, until they finally stopped right in front of me. I opened my eyes.