Prologue

Dove's POV

"I would like to speak to your manager", this karen here thinks she can mess with me.

I smirked, "sure ma'am"

I returned minutes later with the manager.

"What seems to be the problem ma'am?" She asked.

"I ordered some roasted pork loin with potatoes but after a taste, I realized it wasn't well cooked and I made a complaint but she says she can't return it and give me a new plate", she said.

"You call that a taste? You literally chowed down on everything", I replied.

"Is this how you reply to customers?"

"I'm sorry ma'am, we will give her a note of warning", she turned to me "Dove!"

"I'm sure you will do something about this?"

"Sorry ma'am but this isn't possible, if you wish to get another plate you have to order it then and pay for the two."

She scoffed, "you've got to be kidding me", she got up and picked up her purse "I am definitely not returning here again."

"I never asked you to and you have to pay for this before leaving" I said and she immediately turned to glare at me.

She hesitantly and angrily placed some cash on the table before storming off.

Yeah byebye, make sure not to come back.

The manager turned to me, "Dove, this is the seventh time we're getting complaints on your service and even if she was in the wrong I don't think I can any further with this."

My eyes immediately dulled and I immediately knew of what was coming.

"I get it", she smiled.

"You'll be getting your last wage", I nodded "I'm really sorry, I know this is already your second place of work."

"It's alright, I understand I'm a handful to deal with."

I walked up to the kitchen and met with Sophia, my friend here, she was the chef.

"What's up with your face? Get moving, those Karens won't deal with themselves" said Sophia as she picked up a dish and hurriedly walked past me to hand it over to another waitress.

"I just got fired Soph, again!", I said and hit my fist on the table in frustration.

"What? I thought you were on the manager's good books, you're the only one she smiles at for some reason" she said while still busy with her work.

"I am but she had to fire me, I wasn't really helping around here."

"But then where would you get another job? You only have experience as a waitress and you've tried going for all the other restaurants and this is your last, what're you going to do now?" She asked, turning to me with concern in her eyes.

We're actually highschool mates and met here. She knows about my family's condition and had been trying to help in her best ways possible.

"I expected this, but I really thought I would last longer... I guess I'll have to think of another way."

"I'm always free to help"

"Yeah yeah, thanks but I think I should still go on with serving" I said trying to hide the dejected look in my eyes.

~~~

I walked through the alley with my phone in hand looking for another job, maybe I could work at Target, I mean, it definitely isn't hard, I've dealt with the right amount of karens.

My phone buzzed.

'MOM CALLING'

I have enough on my plate and I'm not ready to deal with her right now but I know better than to ignore the call. I picked up.

"Hel-" she cut me off right before I could even say a simple 'hello'.

"We're out of groceries" she said and I cut her off calmly.

"Mom" but she still went on ignoring me or maybe she didn't even hear me at all.

"-and Emma needs a new stack of... M&Ms, Lays chips-" she continues.

"Mom!!" I screamed.

"What?!" She also screamed "you wanna burst my eardrum?"

"I just got fired", she paused.

"Such a daughter, why couldn't I have gotten one with brains? No! I had to get one as lazy as this. Now you're unemployed and we're stranded", I bit my lower lip, this had always been her reaction and I wasn't much used to the hurt I felt, "how much do you have on you?" She asked and I looked down at the last earning I got wrapped up in an envelope.

"Only like 50 bucks", I lied, I knew if I told her the truth then none of the money would've gone to me.

"Use that to get the snacks Emma wants and use the rest to get the groceries or figure out something", she immediately cut off the call and I sighed and stuffed the phone into my pocket.

I could get that later, I'm going to Paisley's to cry my eyes out.

My eyes went down to the envelope, there would be about 500 bucks in here, I got sad again, the job paid really well and I just lost it!

~~~

"Why does this keep happening to me?" I cried while Paisley patted my back.

"I'm such a disappointment!"

"I'll never be an accomplishment!"

"I'm useless!"

"You aren't" said Paisley.

I was a therapeutic patient before since I'd tried to kill myself due to the hurtful words my mother always told me.

She'd even threatened me not to tell the therapist why I'd wanted to commit suicide and just tell her I was crazy.

Not like she bothered to pay for the therapy anyways, but when things got really tight and my dad who normally paid for the therapy, lost his job, Paisley became my therapist.

"Yes I am! It goes on like this all the time."

"You're not a disappointment and you're not useless."

"Of course I am, what'd you know?"

"I know you're an amazing person-" I cut her off.

"I'm not taking in all those sweet rubbish today Paisley, I've thought it through and all those things you said about me aren't true."

"Of course they are."

"You're just trying to blind me from the truth and make me feel better but it's not going to work this time... I should just go ahead and die!" Paisley gave me a shove and I fell on the carpeted floor.

"I've gone ahead trying to make you feel better and comfort you but I'm not going on with dying!"

I cleaned up my snot with my hoodie's sleeve.

"Great, you've also gotten tired of me, you had one job, comfort me and just make me feel better but you couldn't handle it anymore and flipped"

"Whatever Dove, if you want to die then go ahead but know that if you die I'll kill you!"

I opened up my mouth to go on with my grief when my phone buzzed again.

'MOM CALLING'

Again! I picked up the call and held it away from my ear.

"Where the hell are you?!! Emma's throwing a tantrum because you haven't gotten her snacks yet and I have to go through everything, plus everyone's hungry and there are no groceries and no one to cook!!" She yelled.

"Stop screaming at me!!" I yelled back and she paused.

"Oh so you've grown wings now, you've got the nerve to talk back at me now. It's that Paisley girl. You're already a disappointment yourself and you just had to get friends of your level to pull you down more" she said.

"Oh yeah? Why don't you go to hell then!" I yelled and cut off the call and I immediately registered what I did.

I'm definitely in trouble now, I wasn't thinking! What did I just do?!

I immediately scrambled up from the floor "oh my gosh!" I pulled at my hair.

"What's wrong?" Asked Paisley "was that your mom?" My nervous stare told her everything she needed to know.

"You can't go back there, only a miracle wouldn't have you beaten to death this time." she said and stood up to walk towards me.

"I have to" I replied, I know it sounded stupid but I did, I couldn't just leave, I mean they could find me and they were my family.

I'd never told anyone this but once upon a time, my dad was loving to me and even if he's the opposite now, I still hope that ounce of love for me is still there. That tinge of hope is what keeps me going.

"Hold this and I don't want a single cent missing!" I said to Paisley and handed her the envelope along with the 50 bucks and I immediately headed home.

It's ironic how a twenty-two-year-old rushes home like she's a teenager about to be grounded.

~~~

I walked in with shaky knees and Emma, the little witch, immediately screamed.

"You're finally back!!" She screamed and my brother immediately rushed into the living room with my mom behind him.

"Oh you decided to return. I thought you'd grown wings and decided to fly" she looked behind me to find no bags "where are Emma's snacks?" She asked as she walked towards me hurriedly.

"Um... I ran into some gangsters and they stole the money", she laughed.

"Why didn't they just take you with them? And I know you didn't run into some thieves" she said as she scanned me and before I could blink I received a slap at my left cheek and I raised my eyes to see my younger brother with his hands raised. He actually hit me!

"How dare you lie to us? And you lost the job? Such a disgrace, let's throw her out already", he turned to mom and she rolled her eyes.

I had the sudden urge to open up my mouth and today, I gave in.

"Why can't you get a job lazy-ass? All you know to do is laze around or get a bitch to play with" I said and regretted it the second later as I received a punch on my cheek.

He immediately pounced on me and I fell to the floor while Emma also came over to hit.

My mom immediately dragged him off.

"Stop it Mas, you know your father will be coming back soon and you hit her face, you could hit everywhere else but you know he's obsessed with her face" she said and I held my stomach with tears streaming out of my eyes but I wasn't one to sob, I bit on my lower lip with glossy eyes.

She dragged him back to his room and dealt with me herself.

"Get out! You're guarding the house today, and I don't want to see you get close to the kitchen, get the groceries and cook some lasagna before going out, I'm watching you girl, if you close your eyes a wink or leave I will come after you! And get those weird eyes away from my face, don't ever stare at me that way again!" She screamed.

I knew she would go on with what she said and I couldn't sleep today, there were cameras outside the house and she always checks it the next morning, I don't even know why I should guard the house, she just wanted things bad for me.

I never really knew what I did to her. I had considered the fact that she wasn't my mother and only a doppelganger but the DNA results slapped me in the face, that was until she told me the reason herself.

I reminded her of her ex, my real father who had broken her heart terribly by ghosting her before finding out she was pregnant and when my father found out that I wasn't his real child, he had harbored hatred for me too and the others hated me because, their parents hate me and I wasn't their real sibling too so they got a human punching bag.

Tears streamed down my eyes uncontrollably as I thought of how miserable my life was.