Evil, Inc.

Lai's alarm was ringing, so it must be 6 AM already. She woke up and went to take a hot shower. After showering, she began to get ready. She sat by her brown dressing table and tied her hair in a high pony.

Staring at the mirror, she added light makeup to her face and some lip balm on her naturally pink lips. She wore a silver blazer and pants business suit with a white t-shirt, which she had purchased three years ago but still looked as good as new.

She put on her black kitten heels and strolled to the kitchen. She was immediately hit with the aroma of bacon, eggs, sausages, and toast.

Her nose was delighted by the tantalising aroma, making her almost salivate like a dog that was just given a bone after being starved for a few days.

"Wow, mother!" Lai exclaimed, walking towards the kitchen table and taking a seat, "What's the special occasion?"

She grinned and licked her lips as her mother placed a plate of delicious food on the table in front of her. Her mother smiled at her and kissed her right cheek.

"Don't be silly," she said with a genuine smile, "This is to wish you luck on your interview. Can't go looking like a starved human being."

She laughed at her mother's statement and nodded, grabbing her knife and fork, ready to eat. She was so happy to see her mother smile again, even if her smile was for a brief while.

"Thanks for the food!" she exclaimed before digging in like a hungry wolf.

Her mother washed the dishes in the sink while Lai ate. Eating her food in silence, the sound of dishes was the only sound heard in the kitchen.

When her mother finished with the dishes, she walked to her bedroom to grab her handbag. She then took her daughter's plate after seeing that she was done eating.

"No, mother. I'll wash it," Lai said, taking the plate from her and walking to the sink.

"But you might mess your suit," her mother said, her black eyes eyeing her daughter.

Lai playfully pouted.

"Oh, mum. I'm not a kid. I'll be careful," she told her mother, "Have you already eaten?"

Her mother nodded, and she carefully washed her plate. When she turned around, she found her mother placing her lunchbox in her handbag for work.

Her mother grabbed another lunchbox and put it in Lai's tote bag.

"Thanks, mum," Lai smiled with her eyes and mouth.

"I'm not sure what time I will be back tonight, so just in case I don't make it by 7 PM," her mother began, "Just order pizza or cook something for your dad and yourself."

Lai gladly nodded at the thought of ordering pizza. Her mother worked as a nurse in one of the country's private hospitals, Golden Valley Private Hospital (GVPH), about an hour away from where they lived.

Sometimes, as a nurse in one of the country's private hospitals, she would return home the next day due to how busy the hospital was.

"Bye, sweetie. All the best on your job interview," her mother said, giving her a soft peck on the cheek.

"Bye, mother! All the best for work today," she said, waving goodbye to her mother who had stepped outside and closed the door.

Lai grabbed her white tote bag and let out a long sigh to calm and ready herself.

"Okay, Lai. You can do this."

She rubbed her hands together and walked to the door. Wrapping her hand around the doorknob, she turned it, and just as she was about to leave, the voice of her father made her freeze.

"You're dressed to impress this morning," she heard him groggily say.

She did not turn around, not wanting to see his face this morning.

"Job interview, I'm guessing?" he scoffed, his face holding a sour expression.

She squinted her eyes shut and told herself to just walk away before she said something she'd regret. So, she walked out of the house, quickly closing the door behind her and hailing an incoming cab.

She promptly sat inside the cab and told the cab driver her destination. She fanned herself with her hand as her face had turned red in anger and irritation.

The cab driver watched her using the rearview mirror and wondered who made such a beautiful lady angry early in the morning. When she arrived at her destination ten minutes later, she thanked the cab driver and stepped out.

She turned around and scanned the building of her father's former workplace. Many candidates were walking into the bank. Some were memorising their lines. Others looked confident, while some did not.

She let out a long breath of air and clutched her tote bag. When she stepped inside, she was greeted by an employee who gave her her name tag.

She clipped her name tag to her suit and walked to the waiting area. There she saw a large number of candidates waiting their turn.

"Mr. Hou Shi!" a name was called out by an employee.

The person to whom the name belonged abruptly stood up, adjusted his tie, and headed to the interview room. When he had passed Lai, she noticed that his brow was beaded with sweat.

The man was clearly nervous, not that she blamed him. Even she was slightly nervous. Her heartbeat was quickening, and she began to bite her lip, a habit she had whenever she was nervous or anxious.

"Mr. Jiang Bo," the employee began calling out more names, "Miss Luo Shufen and Miss Lai Xiulan."

She flinched when she heard her name as she did not know she would be interviewed so soon. She gulped, told herself to calm down, and lifted her head. She stood tall and walked to the interview room.

She noticed that the interviewers were interviewing four candidates simultaneously. The candidates sat down, and the interview began.

Lai answered her questions in the best but simple way possible. She exuded confidence, humility, and intelligence.

She was the perfect candidate to proceed to the next phase of the job selection. Everything was going well for her as the interviewers happily nodded at her responses.

Well, that was until one of the interviewers whispered to his colleague a few minutes later. The colleague's eyes widened in shock, and he stared at Lai in disbelief for a brief moment, then whispered to the other colleague sitting next to her.

Lai felt her heart start rapidly racing again. Once the interview was done, candidates would receive an SMS immediately if they made it to the next round.

"We regret to inform you," she began to read the message on her phone as she stepped out of the bank, "that, unfortunately, you are not the individual we are looking for. We wish you luck in your future endeavours."

She clicked her tongue, her face flushing red in both irritation and anger. It's not like she was surprised this happened.

She knew the only reason she failed was because of her father's record of misconduct. She sighed and hailed a cab and headed to Ebony Chocolate Café.

"Well, fuck me," she softly sighed again.