CHAPTER 1. THE LIE THAT COULD SAVE A LIFE
"If you don’t take this identity, Clara, your mother will die."
These words sound poisonous and true, wrapped in Andrey’s quiet voice as she passes the brown envelope across the café table towards me.
I froze.
It all started in a city buzzing around with car horns, rushing footsteps, the low hum of people chasing big dreams. But in my world, everything paused. More like the life of a struggling poor girl.
At the age of 25, I knew what life had on me with hustles. My fingers trembled as they hovered over the paper that was handed to me by Andrey. Inside it, was clearly written everything I wasn't. It was a new name, new life, a new job and a new chance.
Something that is totally different from my identity.
“I can’t Andrey. I responded.
As my conscience struggled with the right choice to make.
“You can’t afford to lose this Clara.” Andrey’s tone came in sharp immediately. It was too calm for someone suggesting fraud.
Andrey is my childhood friend who had known suffering with me from a tender age. We grew up on the same street in Oakland. She had always been the quiet one with too much ambition and too many secrets. Now she is offering me one of the hidden secrets I've never dreamt of which I'm not sure whether I could survive from it.
“Clara, It is just a cleaner job… she said.
It is high paying, with zero questions, less stress and lots of money, but they only take referrals from inside the circle. That is where this identity comes in.” You need it to secure this job with the Bishops in order to save your mother's life.
I swallowed hard.
A cleaner job was supposed to come with less stress than this too much risk? I thought to myself.
“How did you even get this Andrey?” I asked.
“Don’t ask me, just know that the family is elite. They are discreet, influential and powerful.They don’t ask about your past, but they don’t tolerate lies either, so you have to play smart.
If you’re in, you stay in but if you are caught. Her pause sliced the air
You will be eliminated”.
I looked away swiftly as my heart tugs my chest in fear.
I didn’t need a full explanation because right now,I have a cue of what is likely to happen.
But, my mother was dying. Every clinic had closed their doors, the loan officers had blocked my number. The last hospital bill sat unpaid, painkillers were running out and my mother was running out of time and dying slowly.
I need to act fast.
I need to act quick.
To me, I couldn’t remember when hope had become a luxury because I grew up with a mother who laughed even when her bones ached. Who worked triple shifts just to buy me second-hand books and paper crowns from dollar stores.
Her illness came like a thief in the night.The illness grew unexpectedly and was outrageous . At first, it stole my mother’s voice, then her energy, and dignity.
I was fifteen when I stopped being a child due to the harsh conditions life throws at me.
Now, at twenty-five, I don't dream anymore. I survived. And the only thing standing between me and complete devastation was an envelope filled with lies. A FAKE IDENTITY.
“You said they don’t ask questions,” I asked Andrey innocently.
Yes… Andrey nodded.
There will be no interviews. You’re just there to help and they pay too much just to keep quiet.”
I closed my eyes with fear gripping my stomach. At first it was a hard nut to crack,but at second thought, I had no option rather than to choose what I feared would haunt me in no distant time.
“I’ll do it.” I said.
My words ached in my throat.
I opened the envelope again as I sat in the small corner of our apartment.
Inside the envelope: I pulled out the documents. It was written with a new name - Elena Cruz.
A forged ID with a smiling photo that barely looked like me.
What? Andrey? … I gasped.
How did you get this?
A signed referral letter?
What was written on it was an instruction with a mansion, the gate code and the family’s name: The Bishops’.
I didn’t need to Google them. Everyone in San Francisco knew about the Bishops’. They are the billionaires, who are private and untouchable.
I’d once cleaned their building lobbies during a temporary job but wasn’t allowed to pass the elevator.
Now, I am going to live there.
---
The next morning, I was at the Bishops' estate. I stood in front of the towering black gates of the Bishops’,my breath ditched,my feet were shaking as I walked towards the gate.
The mansion sat like a beast on the cliffside of the estate. Cold and perfect. The security cameras were blinking, the air smelt like roses and danger at the same time. I entered using the gate code. When I touched the last button, it opened without a sound.
“Welcome, Elena! One of the waitresses, dressed in a comfy regalia, screaming luxury but corporate, said to me with a smile.
Inside the mansion was cleaner than a hospital and colder than a morgue. My shoes made soft sounds on the shiny white floor. The whole place smelt as clean as fresh soap. Not a single speck of dust was found.
A woman in a grey uniform met me at the door.
You’re the new housemaid? You’re to report now to Mr. Nathan Bishop.
Mr. Nathan Bishop? My mind flashed back as my thoughts pondered.
‘I've heard that name a thousand times on the news’. I said to myself in fear.
He is a tech billionaire with a heart made of glass who is reclusive, dangerous and smart enough to build empires. But too cruel to crush anyone in his path. And now, he is my boss.
---
I made my way upstairs with the lady leading the way. The hallway to Nathan’s office felt like a tunnel of doom. We walked quietly. The lady pointed at the door,leading to Nathan's room.
As I got to the door, I wiped my palms,tugged my shirt, knocked and pushed the door open.
He was already standing behind the desk. Tall with a sharp jaw, black shirt and a gaze that sliced straight through me.
“You’re late,” he said.