Zoe didn't have a life anymore because it was over. Ever since she got scammed, she has been living like a zombie. What was the point of living anyway when she had nothing to live for?! All of her money was gone! It was just like puff! And it vanished with the wind!
She didn't know what to do anymore! Had anyone told her that Mr. Jones was a fraudster, Zoe would never believe it, not even in her next life. He was so kind and always smiled at her. Who knew that his kind expression that she trusted was all a facade?! He played her real good and she was still reeling from the shock.
Zoe had taken a one-week sick leave from work to sort out her life after that disheartening news, but so far, her future looked as bleak as the darkness falling on the surface of the earth at night. What was she going to do from this point on? She was doomed.
The cash she had at hand was running dangerously low and she couldn't even eat three square meals since yesterday in fear of it exhausting completely. How did her life get to this point? Zoe burst into another round of tears. She had been crying since the day her money got stolen and it was not enough.
It was almost as if there was nothing in her life to look up to anymore and the more Zoe looked, the less she saw and it broke her already fragile heart. Her instincts were never wrong and she should have listened to them in the first place when she got the red flags about Mr. Jones, but she didn't listen because she had been greedy and anxious to get rich quickly.
Now, what was she going to do about her cash issues? Zoe had the ridiculous thought of going to the school and meeting up with the principal. Her pay was merely two weeks away and perhaps she should request it in advance, but deep down, Zoe knew that it was impossible.
Everyone knew that the principal of her school had loose lips and Zoe had let the rumors of her being an heiress run unchecked for so long now that everyone believed it. They all believed that instead of following her family's path of making money, she decided to become a teacher because it was her passion - if only they knew.
So you could already imagine what would happen if she came to request her pay before hand. Rumors would begin to fly around - they would think her family cut her off because she chose to follow her passion for teaching as they thought, instead of the company and now, she was poor. In the end, Zoe would still get the sympathetic look that she had been avoiding in the first place.
Not to mention that rumors are good incentives for one to satisfy their curiosity about someone they perceive to be better than them. It was only a matter of time before one of them dug into her background and found out her secret. So no! Going to the principal to request her pay in advance was impossible. Unless she wanted her secret to be out and be tagged a liar.
God! What was she going to do?! Zoe groaned inwardly, tugging at her hair in frustration. She was in deep shit and didn't know how to get out of this one without getting burnt! Wait a minute, what if she asked her mother for a little cash and pay back when her salary comes in? It would be like it never happened, right?
But no, she couldn't do it.
The reason Zoe left her family and returned here was to not be a burden to them, she was old enough to take care of herself now. They had enough troubles on their plate and doubted that there would be much cash left with her mother after buying her brother's drugs. She couldn't selfishly ask for money from them.
Her father was working twice as hard to bring them to their former glory, but then he was getting old and his previous working experience was no longer valid for the now-evolving global economy. In one word, his glory had faded and younger people filled in the spots these days.
Her parents were finding it hard to survive and she should be the one providing for them, not the other way around. Moreover, what was she going to tell them? That she needed money from them because she was scammed? Zoe had never been so embarrassed in her entire life than now.
Even when her family lost everything, she had hope and trusted in her vision that things would turn out for the better. But this? There was no hope at all. Nowhere to go for help, nor anyone to turn to. Zoe didn't even have friends, not here, not abroad whom she could get help.
What girl in her right mind would want to befriend a broke heiress? Girls these days are fake and materialistic. Not to mention the few friends that tried to get close to her, Zoe pushed them away because she wanted to focus on improving her life and family and needed no distraction. Now, she regretted not making a single one.
Her life which she desperately wanted to improve was over. Boohoo! Everything was a loss. She lost! Game over. She was over!
However, amid her distress, Zoe was already thinking of plan B. She can't just sit around and wait for a miracle to happen else she ends up on the streets. Hence, she was seated in front of her laptop and looking for attractive jobs that would pay her in a matter of days - even hours, if possible.
Unfortunately, the first on the list was prostitution and that made her face go sour immediately. Zoe hadn't come to the point in her life where she would have lost her dignity enough to sell her body. Not that she was shaming other people selling their bodies to survive - it was their life and decision - however, she would never strip that low. Zoe Clark would rather become a beggar than a prostitute.
Unfortunately, the list didn't get any better because the next on the line was being a stripper and that too was not her cup of tea. She had no clue how to pole dance, not to mention that she was quite reserved about her body. So no!
Next!
She scrolled up to the next on the list and one should see the way her face changed. It says robbery. Was the universe playing a prank on her or not?
But that wasn't the end because the next job was hacking and Zoe gave up altogether. What had she been thinking anyway, that she would get that huge sum of money through legal means in just hours? Good things don't come that easily.
What did she do so wrong?! Zoe stared at her ceiling in frustration, imagining that she was looking at the universe. Her life has been one trial or the other. Can't they give her a break?!
Knowing that her time was running out made her heartthrob and she placed her hand on her chest. Her heart hurts….. Oh, wait, a minute, a sudden idea crossed her mind.
What if she sold one of her kidneys? That would give her enough money, and she could survive with just one kidney, right? She only had to live a healthy lifestyle.
Zoe burst into tears once again, how did it get to this point? Her life was so miserable! She was still crying when her phone rang and she reluctantly lifted the device off the bed. However, her eyes widened when she saw the caller, it was one of the investors, and her heart rate increased. Zoe prayed that it was good news.
Clearing her throat, she picked up without hesitation, "Hello?"
"Hello?" The voice came from the other line and Zoe listened attentively to what she had to say.
"What?!" She shouted at a point, shooting up to her feet at once, "You found Mr. Jones?! He's at the airport? You're there with the others?!"
Zoe began to dress up in the middle of the call. She found a pair of flats and slipped her feet into them. Something told her that she would be doing a lot of running today.
"I'll be there in a jiffy." She ended the call and rushed into the bathroom where she splashed water into her face and didn't have time to cover her swollen, reddened eyes with makeup. You heard the woman, they found Mr. Jones, she had to go get her money.
Pulling her disheveled hair into a ponytail and combing her fingers through it. She hurriedly picked up her phone only for it to slip through her fingers and Zoe looked down to realize that the soft edges of her phone cover were ruined. Even her phone case decided to leave her at this point too?
Whatever! Nothing was going to delay her today! So Zoe ripped the rest of the cover and tossed it away before slipping the bare phone into the pocket of her pants and took off. Not minding that she was low on cash, she took a taxi to the airport since that would be the fastest. She would get her money back after catching Mr. Jones.
Inside the airport, Zoe met up with the other investors that were anxiously looking around for Mr. Jones. They had received information that he was trying to escape from the country today after coming out of his hiding place.
"Where is he then?!" Zoe was anxious to know. She needed her money! Her money!!!!!
"He must have sighted us and hidden," The woman pointed out the fact that his scheduled flight hadn't taken off yet.
Zoe ran her hands through her hair in frustration, "What if he has left the airport then? All of our efforts would have been in vain!"
"No," She disagreed with her, "We have the others staying in wait at all the exists to make sure he doesn't escape us. If I were you, I'll start looking around." The woman adviced her.
And that was what Zoe did.
Zoe searched the airport carefully. But even as meticulous as she was, the airport was too large to be covered all by herself, and her body tired out in no time. So she bent over, hands on her knees and slightly out of breath when she suddenly looked up from her position and caught a suspicious-looking woman… man… huh?
She couldn't exactly tell.
Zoe could only see the person's back because he or she was hiding behind the airport's pillar. Not to mention he or she had long feminine hair and a masculine physique. What if….oh no
"Mr. Jones…?"
It was supposed to be a whisper but it must have sounded much louder than she intended because the strange person turned and their eyes met.
It was him.
Mr. Jones!!!!!
Without a word, Mr. Jones broke into a sprint and Zoe was hot on his pursuit while calling the others at the same time on her phone to inform them that she has found the asshole.
Thank God, she wore flats.