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Racing down the hospital hallway in fear, Dua's lips moved in a silent prayer, "mom, please, be okay." While at work, she was called by her neighbor that her mother was rushed to the hospital.

Soon, the doctor came out of the ward with a not so happy face. "Dua, your mother's condition is growing worse, her surgery shouldn't be delayed any longer." He said.

"Doctor..." Dua was saying but the doctor cut her in, "you should have brought her for dialysis at least.

She missed dialysis for three months. I must say, your mother is a strong woman. If it were some people, they'd be long dead by now."

With eyes glimmering with tears, Dua replied, "Doctor, I'm trying my best..."

"I understand, Dua, but it isn't enough." He said.

"She's stable for now," he continued and Dua gave a sigh of relief as she tried hard to control her tears.

"Although her condition isn't that good," he added and the tears Dua tried to hold finally fell, making the doctor sigh.

"It is well with you," he said a prayer to her, patting her shoulder, and then left.

Dua stared at the ceiling, fighting back tears before finally entering the hospital room. She hated being seen crying by anyone, especially her family. "Hi, Mom," she smiled, as if everything was okay.

"I'm sorry, Dua, for the hell I'm putting you through." Dua's mother (Stella) said weakly, leaning against the bed.

Since Dua's father died, Stella's been taking care of her three children until she was diagnosed with kidney failure. Even so, she continued to provide for her family, until her case grew worse, and Dua had no choice but to pick up the responsibility of being the breadwinner of the family.

"No, mom, I'm the one who is sorry for failing you. I've been unable to help you get the surgery." Dua apologized.

She and her siblings were ready to donate their kidneys to their mother, but the problem was the surgery fee.

"I promise, I'll try my best to make sure you get it this year. Just hang in there a little longer, mom." Dua smiled.

Stella smiled, feeling grateful for having Dua as her daughter.

"How are you feeling now, mom?" Dua asked.

"I'm fine." Stella smiled, but Dua sighed deeply, knowing it's all a lie.

"Mom, see you at home, gotta go back to work." Dua said and Stella nodded.

Dua left the ward and paid the bills with the money she came with, and left the hospital. By the time she was out of the hospital, she was penniless, so she had to walk back to work. As she walked, she took out her phone and called her younger sister, Denise.

"Dua?" Denise answered the phone.

"Denise, calm down and listen to me. Mom's in the hospital. Come check on her after school," Dua said.

"Oh, my God, is she alright?" Denise panicked.

"She's fine." Dua assured her and Denise sighed in relief.

"Okay, don't worry" Denise said and Dua ended the call.

Getting to work, she was called into her boss's office. His face flushed red, he pointed at the door and angrily shouted, "You're fired!" Then, he spat and ignored her.

Dua sighed and lowered her head, tears welling in her eyes. She had expected this, having rushed to the hospital without even asking for leave.

She pursed her lips, took a deep breath, and pleaded, "I'm sorry, sir. This is an emergency. My mother is in the hospital. Please reconsider, sir."

"Leave my office now! I never should have hired someone like you!" he gasped, and his voice filled with resentment. She jerked her head back, tears streaming down her face and falling to the floor.

"Now? Just like that? What about my pay? At least I've worked two weeks in this month." She tugged nervously at the hem of her clothes and retorted rapidly in an excited tone.

"What?" He scoffed. "You committed an offense, I fired you, and you dare to ask for your pay?"

"Of course, I begged you, but you asked me to leave your office, so I'll like to have my pay." Dua replied.

Dua’s gleaming eyes and shrill, emotional tone caught him off guard. He threw her a sharp glare before turning to yank a few crumpled bills from a money roll in the drawer and flinging them toward her. "Bad luck on my part. Take it and get out now!"

Dua wiped her tears with her sleeve and quickly said, "It's a pleasure working with you." Then, she took the bills, bowed, and left the office.

She went straight home and decided to shake off her sad mood by doing a little chore. She prepared lunch and ate her lunch with a lot of things on her mind, especially how to get another job.

In this countryside in Mexico where she lives, no one under the age of twenty years can be employed, as they're still counted as teenagers. This happened because an eighteen year old sued a company by saying that she was employed against her will. Dua's workplace was the only place that accepted her, and she was the only teenage employee there.

Just as she was thinking, the door opened and two children walked in, chatting. The little boy smiled at her and hurried over to her side. "Dua!" said her brother, Desmond, the youngest.

"Hey, little one." she said, wiping beads of sweat from his brow.

Denise was also very surprised to see Dua, but after putting down her schoolbag, she asked in confusion, "It's already noon, why are you home?"

Looking at Denise's frightened and worried face, Dua was speechless and turned away.

"I smell something delicious," Desmond suddenly said, breaking the awkward atmosphere. He walked into the kitchen and sniffed. "Oh my goodness, Dua! Your cooking smells so good!" Desmond said, eagerly taking a bite.

Dua was a little embarrassed. Because she was always in a hurry, her cooking always made a mess in the kitchen.

"Shut up! Clean up first, then eat!" Dua said to Desmond with a mock stern tone.

"Dua, seriously, why did you come home so early today?" Denise asked.

Dua paused as she put away her cutlery, then whispered, "I'm sick."

Denise frowned, walked over, gently took Dua's hand, and said, "Dua, what happened? You never miss work because of illness."

Dua silently twisted her fingers, hesitating for a long moment before finally saying, "Let's go to the hospital to bring Mom some food first."

Dua sat by the hospital bed, tidying up the food containers, and said to her family with a smile, "I got fired."

"You what?!" Denise finally came out of shock.

"Don't worry, I'll find a new job," Dua smiled again.

"Why is this happening? Did that asshole boss bully you again?" Denise said angrily, her arm around Dua's. Desmond, beside her, also looked at Dua with a worried look on his face.

"Why were you fired, what did you do?" Stella asked nervously.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. He's always wanted to fire me, and today he got his heart desire." Dua laughed to lighten the mood but no one laughed.

Seeing her mother's tearful expression, Dua had to tell the truth: "Okay, okay. I quit without asking for leave."

"This is all my fault." Stella facepalmed herself, blaming herself.

"No, mom, it's not." Dua said. "Come on, guys, be positive. I'll get a new job tomorrow." She tried to comfort them, but her words were ineffective. Everyone in the ward was dejected and silent. They all knew what it meant for a family like theirs to lose its sole labor force.

Somewhere in the heart of the capital city of Mexico, stood a dreamlike mansion in an elite estate. It was the residence of the notorious, ruthless and enigmatic Steven Levi, known only as "The Devil," in whispered circles. He ruled the Mexican underworld with an iron fist, feared by all, that even the Mexican government trembled at each mention of his name.

While Steven worked on his laptop in his study, his assistant and right-hand man, Shane walked in and bowed, "my Lord."

"Stop that, Shane. I told you to address me casually." Steven said and Shane chuckled. He addresses Steven formally to tease him.

"Miss Sierre is here." Shane said.

"Send her away, I'm busy." Steven replied and Shane turned to leave but Steven halted him, "wait!"

"Send her in," he added and Shane nodded and left.

Few minutes later, a young beautiful woman came in, Diane Sierre, his fiancee. "Steven," she smiled.

Steven, intently studying the documents on his computer, replied without looking up, "Get to the point. I'm busy." The sight sent a chill down Diane's spine.

"You know our wedding is the day after tomorrow, we should go for our dress fitting today." Diane said, carefully phrasing her words, her voice tinged with nervousness and a hint of shyness.

"I look good in anything I wear." Steven replied without taking his eyes off his laptop.

"Then the photoshoot, we should go check the pictures." Diane said.

"I look perfect in any picture I take." Steven turned her down again and she sighed.

After repeated rejections, Diane said aggrievedly, "Steven, I'm your fiancée. At least look at me."

Steven paused his typing, looked at her, and said, "Don't crave my attention. You might never get it." Then he returned to his work.

"See you at the altar," he added.

Diane was about to say something, but her phone rang so she gave him one last look, and left the room. She took out her phone from her purse and hissed when she saw the caller. It was her boyfriend who she used to have fun and while away time with. She had no feelings for him. The one she loves is Steven who doesn't even have any interest in her. He was only marrying her for a reason.

She drove to the boutique to try out her wedding dress which she didn't even put on, and just requested for a few designs to be added to the dress. Then she drove to the photo studio to check their pre-wedding photos, but was told that they were already delivered to her house, so she drove home straight instead.

Getting home, she unpacked the packages and the pictures came in view. She smiled as her fingers traced Steven's face on the picture, "just as you said, you look perfect in any picture you take."

"Are you that happy to get married?" Her mother, Sandra, asked. She was too overjoyed that she didn't even notice her parent's presence in the living room.

"I'm happy... happy that I'll be spending the rest of my life with the man of my dreams." Diane smiled, her eyes filled with admiration as she stared at the picture.

"Have it in mind that you'll have to carry out a little and easy assignment on your wedding night." Her father, Bob said.

Diane dropped the picture and walked to her parents, wearing a smile on her face. "What task? If it's holding Steven's hand and taking vows, I'd be happy to do it."

"You'll eliminate Steven." Bob sneered and Diane's smile disappeared instantly, her brain trying to process what she just heard. "What?"

"You want me to kill my husband on our wedding night?" Diane couldn't believe her ears.

"He's not your husband!" Bob said.

"He'll be my husband on the wedding night!" Diane replied.

"Whatever, I can't let my only daughter be a debt repayment." Bob said as his expression slowly changed to angry one.

Diane scoffed, "you owe a debt, so it's only right that you should pay!"

"By using my only daughter?"Bob said.

"Oh please, dad, stop pretending," she was getting sick of it. "You're the one who initiated the idea of using me to pay your debt."

"And I know your reason for it is so that you could use me to kill Steven, so you can become the Mafia King. It's all because of your greed!" She lashed at him.

"And you know what, you got the wrong daughter," she smirked and stormed out of the living room.

Bob glared furiously at Diane as she strode away, then turned and harshly scolded Sandra: "See how you've spoiled her?!"

Sandra didn’t dare talk back and could only murmur timidly, "Maybe… maybe just let it go? Or don’t make Diane do it—find someone else…"

"What do you know?!" Bob snapped, cutting her off, his face dark and menacing, every line on it hinting at his ruthlessness.

But soon, his expression smoothed over. He turned calmly toward the door, though his tone grew even colder. Under his breath, he muttered, "No one will stop me…"