Eva's eyes opened the following morning on sensing a presence above her, and above her was a face so devastatingly handsome it made one drool, with sharp, godly features, a strong jawline, and eyes the color of a stormy sea. But just immediately, she was hit with the cold, terrifying realization of who this was: the crazy 6th Anderson, her new husband. She moved away immediately, scrambling backwards in panic and she tumbled clumsily from the sofa where she had passed the night to the hard floor.
"Please don't kill me, 6th Sir!" she cried, her voice a high-pitched wail as she immediately slipped into her foolish act. She sat up and curled herself up peeking up at him with wide, terrified eyes. "I haven't eaten French fries made in France yet! I don't want to die!"
But Jervis Anderson only had a frown on hid face, he had gotten home after a long, draining night out only to discover a stranger, a girl deeply asleep in his living room. Not only that, there were traces of food everywhere: empty bags of noodles, a discarded candy wrapper, a smudge of chocolate on his coffee table. His perfectly maintained, sterile home had been violated, and he just wasn't having it.
"Who are you and why are you here?" he asked, his voice a low and dangerous as it vibrated with suppressed fury.
Eva replied immediately, her words tumbling out in a rush, "I am Eva Macmillian, last child of the Macmillian family, and my daddy married me to you." She looked up at him with those big, imploring doe eyes of hers.
The word 'marriage' made Jervis's face darken, his handsome features hardening into a mask of icy rage. Another marriage, despite the fact that he had clearly, repeatedly stated he didn't want one. And this one... he didn't even know the Macmillians had a second child, or that she was such a sniveling baby.
"Get out," he commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Get out while I am still being kind."
Eva looked up at his face, a flicker of genuine surprise cutting through her performance. Was he dissolving the marriage just like that? Well, no problem. At least he didn't kill her. She scrambled to her feet, grabbed the half-empty bag of potato chips she had slept with the previous night, then hurried towards the door, only to pause upon reaching it. She fumbled with the handle. "I can't open the door," she mumbled, her voice small and innocent.
Jervis let out a sound of pure exasperation and stormed forward. He shoved her aside none too gently, furiously typed the code into the keypad, and the lock disengaged with a sharp click. He pulled the door open, only to be met with the stern, cold face of Old Madam Anderson standing directly outside, with Old Sir Anderson standing dutifully beside her, holding her parasol and handbag. One could have easily mistaken him for her butler with the way he was standing there but the whole city knew Old Sir Anderson was a devoted wife slave and was utterly obsessed with his wife.
"What is going on here?" Madam Anderson asked, her sharp eyes missing nothing, taking in Eva's disheveled state and Jervis's thunderous expression.
Eva dipped into a clumsy curtsy. "Hi, Sir. Hi, Ma. I am going back to my father's house while 6th Anderson is still being kind" she announced, as she casually put a potato chip in her mouth and crunched down loudly.
Old Madam Anderson understood immediately and her gaze snapped from Eva to Jervis, her expression turning to steel. "Jervis Anderson," she said, her voice carrying immense authority. "She stays. Or I will no longer be lenient and will make sure you are forever tainted and forgotten within this family and every circle that matters."
This statement tingled a bell in Eva's head. What did that mean? Was the rumor wrong? Was his situation within his family just like hers, a prisoner of expectations and disdain? But it didn't seem so. Without breaking her act, she continued eating her chips, one by one. It was Saturday, and she just wanted to play the whole day.
"Fine," Jervis bit out, his voice dropping to a sub-zero temperature. He suddenly yanked Eva back inside by her arm, making her yelp, and slammed the door shut with such force that the walls vibrated. The violent motion made Eva flinch, and her bag of chips flew from her hand, scattering its contents all over the immaculate floor. She stared at the mess, then down at her empty hands, and began to sniffle tears og self-pity welling in her eyes. She didn't dare look up at Jervis's cold, furious face.
"Quit that already," Jervis said, his voice thick with annoyance as he stormed away towards the hallway.
But she only cried harder, the sniffles turning into soft sobs and this irritated him further, he disappeared deeper into the house, the sound of a door slamming signaling his retreat to his room. As soon as he was gone, Eva quit her acting. The tears vanished instantly. With a resigned sigh, she began picking her potato chips off the floor one by one, dusting them off and eating them. He had no ounce of pity at all. As she ate, she began to wonder how she was going to bathe or change into new clothes. Jervis didn't seem like someone who would help her at all.
With a sigh, she picked her phone up from her bag, which had been dumped by the sofa, and texted a familiar number: I am coming over, baby.
The other party replied immediately with a single, bored emoji but Eva didn't mind.
She finished the potato chips on the floor, walked to the door and typed in the key code she had seen Jervis type in earlier, the lock clicked open and she grinned then dashed out. The Anderson estate was vast and heavily secured, but Eva was trained and she found her way out effortlessly, slipping past sensors and avoiding patrols. Jervis obviously didn't want the marriage either, and he definitely wouldn't say anything if she stayed away for the time being.
It was really hard finding a taxi around the exclusive area, and Eva had to walk miles away from the estate perimeter before she finally found one. All the energy from the chips she ate had burned out already. She boarded the taxi to her usual thrift stall in the middle of town, bought a couple of cheap, colorful clothes, and changed into one right there, a flowery gown and a simple pink sweater. She looked so sweet and cute, the picture of innocent charm and she headed out happily, but enemies would always cross paths.
She almost bumped right into her sister's little pet of a boyfriend, Richard Ricardo, the only son of his wealthy father. He was on the sidewalk, openly groping a girl who was definitely not her sister, given how pretentiously innocent the lady was dressed in contrast to Zora's provocative dressing what a good way to meet.
"Hello, brother-in-law and hello side piece," she greeted sweetly, batting her eyelashes.
The unknown girl turned away uncomfortably, while Richard frowned, his face paling slightly on sighting her. "What are you doing here, Eva?" he asked, his eyes scanning the area nervously, obviously fearing she had come with Zora or someone else.
"Sister brought me to buy clothes, clothes for myself," Eva said, her voice dripping with fake excitement. "Only if she hadn't stopped to ease herself, she would have been so happy to see you here!"
Richard pushed the girl in his arms away immediately, and the girl stumbled, almost falling.
"Oh no, Side piece!" Eva cried loudly, attracting the attention of passersby and Richard immediately grabbed Eva's arm and dragged her away from the crowd into a quieter alley. "You better not tell your sister about anything that you saw," he hissed, his grip tight.
"But God said to be truthful," Eva said, infusing her voice with a pious, wavering tone.
"If you tell her, I will make sure no one ever plays with you again," he threatened.
"But no one ever plays with me," Eva countered, her doe eyes blinking in genuine-seeming confusion.
Finally, he did what she wanted. He grabbed his wallet and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. "Take this and keep quiet."
"A thousand dollars or no deal," Eva said, her voice suddenly firm and clear. "How can I sin with just this little amount?"
With gritted teeth and his face filled with anger, he counted out a thousand dollars and shoved the bills into her hand. "Not a word."
She finally smiled, a bright, victorious smile. "Have a good date, brother in law," she said and hopped away, the free money feeling light and wonderful in her pocket. Free money for a hot Saturday. She immediately boarded another taxi, this time giving the address for an auto mechanic stall in a greasy, industrial part of the city.
The place was all noise, grease, and frantic activity, despite being managed by a lady. A dark-skinned woman with long, dreadlocks was barefoot and covered in smears of grease as she lifted a heavy car engine from the dusty floor. She walked with purpose through the throng of male workers to the front of the stall and dropped the engine by another worker with a grunt. She turned to go back inside, and before she could even move further, a figure in pink dove straight into her arms, not caring about the grease and grime.
The dark-skinned lady, Ida, pushed her off with a blank expression only for Eva to suddenly shriek, "My new clothes! They're filled with grease! My beautiful pink is black!"
"Keep it down, you idiot, you are in my space," Ida said, her voice irritated as she picked up a rag and wiped her hands.
"But it's a new cloth!" Eva whined, pouting.
Ida just rolled her eyes, a long-suffering expression on her face. She walked back into the stall to her office and Eva followed her, still complaining loudly about her stained sweater even though she'd caused the stain herself. Once they were inside the cluttered but organized office, Ida closed the door, muting the outside noise.
"You weren't supposed to take the job of killing Able Man, you know he his the brother of a well connected crime Lord, Zino" she said, getting straight to business. Only she knew the true Eva; they had been good friends since childhood, though they were complete opposites. Ida was from a poor but loving family, while Eva was from a wealthy, cold one. Eva was bubbly and chaotic; Ida was stoic and preferred solitude. Despite all the differences, they were each other's most trusted ally and crime partner.
"Duh, like they would miraculously find my identity," Eva said, flopping into a worn-out chair, not the least bothered. She picked up a stray wrench and began fiddling with it.
"I hope you would take this more seriously. Zino is very connected. That man has tentacles everywhere," Ida said, her frown deepening.
But to Eva, the conversation was over. "I already sent you your money. What do you have that I can eat?" she asked, dropping the wrench with a clatter.
Ida shook her head negatively. "Didn't they cook at home? Why are you here trying to mooch off me again?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"They married me off, and my husband didn't feed me," Eva said casually, as if announcing she'd gotten a new haircut.
Ida paused immediately, her entire body going still. "They married you off?" she repeated, her voice low and serious. "How did that suddenly happen? To who?"
"To the 6th Master Anderson. How tragic for my life," Eva said with a dramatic sigh.
Ida's frown deepened into a look of genuine concern. "Your family married you off to a walking death machine?" Ida said, the irony of her words hanging thick in the air, given that was exactly what Eva was.
"This is serious, Eva. And stop trying to make me deviate," Ida said, realizing Eva was deflecting.
But Eva didn't think it was a big deal. "My husband doesn't want me, so I can stay anywhere I like. It's actually a win situation for me because this means I am free till I am needed," she said, already getting up and going through Ida's cupboards to see if she could find any hidden snacks.
"Seriously, your family is crazy," Ida stated, her voice flat. "Crazy as in they behave like they found you on the streets and were just raising you for charity."
Eva just shrugged, finding a half-eaten packet of crackers. She no longer cared. She had spent too many years caring, and she had lost the sense of caring already.