Chapter 1

I could tell this morning that something was wrong. I should've listened to my guts and stayed in bed. But I didn't listen. I just stood up and got ready for the day. But I could never have guessed how bad it'd turn. Nothing could've prepared me for that twist of fate.

Bip! Bip! Bip!

This morning, I woke up a little on the edge. My belly was uncomfortably twisted, telling me that something was wrong. But I didn't listen and just stood up, blaming it on my nervosity. You see, today was my first day of work  and I really wanted everything to go smoothly. Walking out of my room, I tip-toed toward the bathroom, taking a nice warm shower to wash sleep away from me. I was careful to cover my whole body with lemon-perfumed shower gel and to brush my chocolate brown hair neatly once I was done. I was quite a tidy person, but I had reasons to. Being the daughter of Robert MacCarthy, a well-known politician who was the attention center of a whole country, I had been raised into never doing anything which could embarrass my father. I was always mindful of looking neat, displaying good manners and doing well at school. Though, I had to admit I was a little shy and anti-social. Because I wanted to preserve Daddy's reputation, I never got drunk, never drove too fast in my car and never dated a bad boy. I guess I was the type of glass girl who was accidentally irritating because she never trespassed in her life. Though, there I was.

"Come on, Joan!" I urged myself, brushing my teeth in front of the massive mirror in my bathroom. "Don't be late!"

Another thing I needed to say was that my father was the director of bank, in addition of being a politician. Having freshly graduated from Quarlet High School, I was immediatly hired in my father's bank, even though at first I'd only be a secretary. But I was fine with that. Finding a job in such a prestigious establishment when you were only 18 was almost unbelievable! I couldn't say no, especially since that was my father's idea. That was important for me to make him proud, because he raised me on his own ever since my Mom died from a cancer when I was ten. But my Dad was always there for me, that's why I had to give my best to satisfy him!

"Welcome!" Greeted me a young woman in her mid-thirties with a friendly smile, as soon as I arrived. "You must be Miss MacCarthy. Please, follow me. I'm gonna escort you to your desk."

"Thank you very much..." I trailed off, looking at the badge she had pinned on her chest for her name. "Florence."

"You're welcome!" She waved off, already walking across the tables. "Mr MacCarthy told us that his beautiful daughter would be working here since today!"

The first thing Florence did was to give me a pin stating my name. Then, she introduced me to several employees who'd be my collegues since today. They all greeted me and seemed very friendly, so my worry should've dissipated, but that wasn't the case. For some reason, the knot in my belly only tightened.

"Nice to meet you, Miss MacCarthy!" Grinned an eldery man, shaking my hand in his larger and spongy one. "My name's Charles Stealman, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Likewise." I politely smiled even though I knew I'd have forgotten his name in a few minutes.

"Good day, Miss MacCarthy!" Grinned a short brunette with her hair chopped at the chin. "I hope you'll like it here. My name's Elizabeth Bradley!"

"Nice to meet you, Elizabeth." I replied, my smile being more genuine this time. "And I'm sure I'm gonna love it here."

"You know, you can call me Lizzy!" She giggled frankly. "I'm working in the same office as you, so if you need help, don't hesitate to ask."

Lizzy had a personality which was the exact opposite of mine: She was as loud as I was shy, as talkative as I was introvert and as bubbly as I was quiet. But having her around made my first morning of work much easier. True, she was permanently chatting, but that was reassuring to have a girl my age around while I was working. She had brown jaw-lenght hair, just a little darker than mine, slightly tanned skin and wide, doe-like brown eyes. Compared to my rather pale complexion and my greenish blue eyes, she looked extremely lively.

"I'm not hearing you talk about yourself a lot, Miss MacCarthy!" She eventually pointed out with a side smirk, causing me to look up from my paperwork. "Is something wrong?"

"No. Nothing!" I chuckled, awkwardly waving the question off. "I'm just a little nervous because it's my first day of work, that's all."

"Don't be nervous!" Laughed the chatty brunette, nonchalantly leaning against her desk. "Everything will be just fine!"

At the same time, just as if fate wanted to prove Lizzy wrong, the phone rang. Since it was the one on my desk, I picked up.

"MacCarthy Bank, hello!" I exclaimed, bringing the phone to my ear. "What can I help you with?"

"Hello, Miss!" Replied a low voice at the other end of the line, making me shiver. "You can help me by telling your boss that he's got until today 12:00 AM to fulfill our contract, otherwise we're gonna attack the bank."

"Sir?" I asked, my heart skipping a beat. "Sir?!"

But it was too late. Whoever had called had already hanged off. I hanged off as well, feeling a drop of sweat run down my back.

"A problem?" Enquired Lizzy, raising an eyebrow at me.

"T... This man on the phone!" I whispered, looking down at the said phone as if it was haunted or something. "He said he was going to attack the bank!"

"Don't worry about it!" Shrugged Lizzy, apparently not fazed whatsoever. "That's probably just a prank!"

Lizzy's cheerful demeanour almost made me forget about the threat for the rest of the morning, but I felt my bellyache grow even stronger as the clock ticked on. Eventually, the clock reached 12:00 AM