Job Interview

I stare at them wide eyed. How can they be here, today? They were going to come back tomorrow. They smile at me and Mrs Rae spreads her hands and starts walking towards me engulfing me in her warmth. While Mr Rae looks at us with a weird emotion in his eyes- a very uncomfortable one, I might add. I have been living with these two amazing people for a long time now.

"God! You scared me!" I exclaimed. I was jubilant for their early arrival but the look in Mr Rae's eye was not welcoming. When I pulled back from the hug I saw the same look passing through Mrs Rae's eyes. It was just for a mere second but it did not go unnoticed by me.

"How are you, my child?" She asks. I frown when she calls me 'my child'. She has never called me with that sort of nickname before.

"I'm good as always!" I say cheerfully. I look at both Mr & Mrs Rae and their faces hold sad, rue filled smiles. What is wrong with them? Why are they behaving like this?

"How are you both?" I ask them. They exchanged looks then looked back at me.

"We are good," Mr Rae spoke for the first time. He came forward and handed me a bag with a wrapped box in it. I look at them with wide eyes and a huge smile on my face. Apparently, they know that I love to unwrap gift boxes in these few years I have spent with them.

I have been staying under their shelter for a few years now and they have given me nothing but love. Parents love. I no doubt miss my biological parents and of course Isabella. I have no idea in what condition she is living in. I just know she is alive but what about her safety? Peace?

Mrs Rae shrugs me out of my thoughts and gestures to me to open the gift box. Just before I could tear open the gift box my phone started blaring. I look at the caller ID. I frown when I don't recognise the number displayed on the screen.

I excuse myself and slide the green button and place my phone next to my ear.

"Hello?" I greet you.

"Good Morning, Miss Madison Smith?" The female voice from the other end asks me.

"Yes, speaking," I say.

"Congratulations Miss Smith. You have passed the quiz given by the Volkov International Corporation. You have been selected for the interview. The interview will be held tomorrow at sharp nine in the morning, if you have any queries please mail the email provided," She says as if she is reading from somewhere.

"No, I don't have any queries and yes I will be there by nine," I responded to her in a confident voice.

"Alright, we expect you tomorrow Miss Smith," She said then hung up. I walk back to the living room to see Mr & Mrs Rae speaking to each other in hushed voices. I clear my throat and they jolt and look at me wide-eyed then start laughing. I ignore their weird behaviour then I tell them about the interview. They show me how happy they are for my new achievement by raining kisses and hugs on me.

The rest of the day passes by us spending some quality time together, laughing at lame jokes cracked by Mr Rae. I'm enjoying this time with these two people laughing but what about my sister? I don't know in which condition she is living in. I smile remembering that I'm close to getting her.

One thing that was weird and out of place throughout the day was of Mr & Mrs Rae both speaking about forgiving someone for betraying you. They said that someone close to you might not have any choice but to betray you. I frowned and ignored their weird behaviour.

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"Miss Madison Smith?" asked the secretary of the Human Resource Department manager. I almost forgot that I had changed my name to get a job in this corporation. The International Volkov Corporation. This will lead me to find my sister. The founder of this corporation is Sinister Volkov aka a Russian Mafia leader.

His mafia is known as the largest and with the strongest illegal business. No one dares to question him, although he is above sixty-five he has the power, money and name. His family is huge, it is an extended horizontal family. He lives with his two sons- Vincent Volkov, Dimitri Volkov. I don't know much about their family but I just know that their family is huge and for now, my target is to get a job here and then somehow reach their mansion in Siberia, Russia. I don't know how I will do it and how long it will take me to do it but I'm sure I can pass all the hurdles without anyone knowing who I really am.

If I successfully succeed in this I would be able to save my sister from those heartless monsters. I have to be quick to get my sister before our birthday- that again depends on how long it will take me to make these people trust me.

I looked at the secretary and then nodded. "Please come with me this way," I followed her till she stopped in front of a wooden door with the nameplate on it 'Noah Clayton'. She motioned me to go in, I smiled at her and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" I heard him saying. I went in and walked confidently to the desk positioned in the middle of the large room. I sat down on one of the visitor seats as he motioned me to.

"Good morning sir," I greeted with a confident smile.

"Good morning Miss Smith," he greeted and then read my resume. He seemed impressed by looking at his expressions. "So, Miss Smith, tell me about yourself," he asked me.

Easy! "I'm Madison Smith, twenty-four years old. I have studied high school in Edinburgh, studied and got my accountant degree in Washington DC, I have done an internship for a year as an accountant in the Finance Organization. I also speak other languages like Arabic, Urdu and I am learning Polish," I replied. This isn't a lie but a truth. I have done everything written in my resume. The only lie is my age. I haven't added that I speak both Russian and Italian too; I will take that to my advantage.

"Okay! So, Miss Smith, what attracted you to our company?" he asked. I answered with a short answer. He asked a series of questions leading to the end of the interview, "Impressive, I must say! Miss Smith please wait for our call, if you are selected then you will get a call from the HR Department by Friday," he said smiling.

"Okay thank you, sir, I may leave now…" If I do not get this job then I have to find another way to come closer to this family. As soon as I reached my house. I saw the bill stuck on the door. I frowned, Mr & Mrs Rae have always informed me the amount of the rent but never showed me the bill. They had refused my contribution in paying the rent but I had requested them to let me contribute. This is the first time I'm seeing the actual amount of the rent, water and electricity bill altogether.

They must have gone out because they never leave the bill out for me to see. It is weird. They have informed me everytime they left this house and- I immediately checked my phone to see if I had received any message from them. No, I hadn't. I frowned and went inside the house to get fresh.

They don't know about me. They think that I'm Madison Smith; I did not tell them about my real identity. Anabella Jones died on that unfaithful day when my sister was taken from me. I can not let myself down, this is going to be a very long and agitated journey of my revenge. Anyways, I picked up the bill and looked at the amount at the end of the paper; my eyes widened seeing the amount written on the paper. I did not even pay fifty percent of the bill. I took out the pouch from under the mattress, then went down to Mr & Mrs Rae to give them the rent.

I knocked on the door once, but nobody opened it, so I knocked on the door harder the second time and to my surprise, it creaked open. "Mother? Father? Hello? Are you home…" I entered their part of the house but then gasped in horror when I saw two people lying in a pool of blood on the floor. I walked slowly towards them, still in shock. The scene in front of my eyes was horrendous.

As I stared at the two bodies in front of me all the good memories passed by. The times when they held me at nights because I was too afraid of the nightmares, the times when they made me laugh, the times when they enrolled me in university and called me their daughter. They were like parents to me; the parents which I never got the chance to live with for more than a few years of my life. Good thing that they don't have children, they would have not been able to look at their parents in this state.

I squatted in front of their bodies not knowing what to do. My tears leaked from my eyes, knowing that these people were the best I have known all my life after my parents' death. I wiped my tears roughly with the back of my hands and analysed the scene. I touched their hands. It was already stiff, meaning that they were murdered about a few hours ago. Their legs were stiffening as well, confirming my suspicion.

I looked around for some clues, but I could not find anything. I checked their cupboard to see if the money or jewellery was missing from it, but it was right there so the murderers did not murder them for wealth but for something else. When I turned towards their body again, something caught my attention. There was white crumpled paper on Mr Rae's hands. I went close to him and carefully released the paper from his hands. I carefully unfolded the crumbled note trying not to tear it while opening it. What I read in the note was not something I had never expected. It felt as if the floor just swept away from beneath me.

Dear Madison urf Annabella,

I know that you are alive, sadly you don t know how to cover your tracks, you have left many clues for us to know you are alive. You better be careful about what you do otherwise the people you adore will end up like them, if you know what I mean you would act wisely.

You better stop killing my men otherwise… you know the consequences, I hope I don't have to repeat this. If I do then it would be someone else in their place.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Time is running Anabella you better act wisely! Your sister is next!

Your,

Nightmare

There was a roaring wolf stamp and the end of the letter. I wonder how they know that I'm alive. First of all, I don't even know who 'they' are. After brainstorming I concluded. I think I know who they are. They surely did not name themselves but they did leave a small sign. The roaring wolf confirms it.

Volkov. It's this stupid Volkov Family! The Russian Mafia! Ugh… I kicked the bedside table not realising the condition of it was already poor.. Volkov means wolf. It is the Volkovs' for sure and I had killed one of their men. They have Isabella, no I can't let them kill her. I have to take precautions and be prepared when I'm outside. I have to do something. I searched the drawers and everything, I found a brown envelope below the pile of clothes in the cupboard.

I opened it knowing what it is. They had a dream to build an orphanage for disabled kids, unfortunately, they did not have the needed finance to do so. They once mentioned about it, that one fine day…

*Flashback*

"Mr and Mrs Rae! Please come have coffee with me!" I called them from the living room. Although this house is not huge, it was really good and cosy for a loving couple. They came out of their room and sat on the love seat while I was sitting across from them. They were queerly quiet and I have no idea why.

"Madison, do you have a family?" Mr Rae asked me. Out of all the questions, why would they ask this? I looked at him, memories of my past flashing in front of my eyes. I looked at them and then shook my head answering him.

"Oh, dear! We are extremely sorry. What happened to your family? If you don t mind sharing with us." Mrs Rae asked. I looked at her astonished, crap! I never thought about this question being asked. I had to think of something real quick. Think Ana!

"They passed away in a horrible car wreck. Their bodies weren't identified in the car wreck, but the doctors did a DNA test to confirm if they were my parents." I said then continued to make it sound real, "they were kept in the morgue for more than a month before I could prepare for their funeral, I don't have any relatives as my parents eloped when they were young so it's quite obvious that my relatives don't know I exist," I sighed when I finished.

Mrs Rae was looking at me with sympathy and pity, "Oh, dear we are sorry to hear that." rue could be seen in her aged eyes.

I shook my head "It's fine Mrs Ra-" before I could complete she interrupted me.

"Please call me mother or mom, I would love to hear it from someone." She seemed sad.

"So mother as I was saying you don't need to be sorry. It had to happen and it did happen," There was no reason for me to not fulfil her wish. They have been and taken care of me like I'm their daughter. I saw the way her eyes lit up when I said 'mother' to her. I felt abominable lying to them, but I had no choice.

"Madison, we would like to talk to you regarding our will," said Mr Rae or should I say 'father'? Never mind, I nodded and he continued "as you know that we don't have anyone to inherit our wealth; we would like to give it to you." me? Why me? What's in me? I m not a perfect girl so why me? "I know you might be thinking about why we chose you? Right?" he asked.

"Yes! I was thinking about it, I will not be able to take care of your wealth properly father," his eyes softened "please don't do this-" he interrupted me.

"Listen, Maddy! We have a few conditions, so listen up. We want you to build an orphanage with our years savings, on the piece of our land which would be legally yours afterwards." I made an 'O' with my mouth. I nodded my head in understanding. There is no harm in accomplishing their dreams. I can do it and will do it after I successfully get Isabella back.

"Okay," I agreed. They smiled and we continued our chit chat along with coffee and biscuits.

That day this house contained laughter and light, it was a home to me. Now, it's just a piece of land with four walls and a roof, everything seems dark. These two adorable people are now dead, because of me. It's my fault. I should have known better. I crouched down and cried to myself, I composed myself after my tear ducts were dry.

I remember how happy we all were on that day. Father had me sign the papers on that day itself, he also signed the papers. I own two acres of land with a mission to build an orphanage on it. I have to take revenge on my 'dearest stepfamily, to be precise my so-called stepmother.