The Villainess Doesn't Want To Fall In Love

Chapter I: The Faraway Land Part 1

Present Day, Philippines

As the clock pinned on the wall of her tiny, gloomy room which only had one window and a light bulb bearing a faint light, struck at 1:00 AM, Reina finally made up her mind. She decided to drop her college courses.

Heaven knows how she wanted to go to school and earn a college degree to secure a ticket to adult life and to get a stable job for herself in the future but her miserable situation right now had left her no other choice but to surrender her dream career altogether. Although her heart aches at the thought, it was way more practical to focus on taking more sideline jobs to sustain her daily needs, to pay the debt of her late father. She had to give up for now.

How did everything turn out like this?

She closed her eyes, trying to travel back in time. How could she forget the fearful events of the past? It was when her late father who was only good at nagging at them and drowning himself with liquor all day suddenly disappeared on that usual morning. The afternoon came and some unfamiliar men went to their house just to announce that he loaned a huge sum of money from a hideous lending organization making his family his guarantor.

"Is this where Antonio lives? Are you his daughters?" asked the stranger with a baritone voice.

There were five of them and the one in the middle had a dark and heavy demeanor. His towering height, huge body, and long beard only added fear to her and her poor younger sister who was only five at the time. They look rich, wearing luxurious yet all-black clothes and expensive jewelry.

That time she realized they were not just some ordinary loan sharks but some sort of underground mafia. They don't look like good people. What are they doing in a place like this? Are they acquaintances of my father?

"Are you deaf?" Her deep thoughts were cut off when the other guy grabbed her in the arm and pointed a gun at her forehead which made her flinch, her face automatically went pale. The tip of the deadly metallic thing was cold, her body would end up the same if she made a wrong move. "Wanna get your head shot with this cold friend of mine, in front of your cute little sister?"

She trembled in great fear, her sweat began to escape from her skin. Even if she wanted to speak, her tongue seemed tied. She couldn't even move a single bit, even taking a breath seemed too hard to make. Only then did the guy in the center tap the shoulder of the man who was so eager to pull the trigger of the gun and grin. He must probably be the leader of the gang since everyone halted and listened to him.

"C'mon, man. I know you've been dying to show off your shooting skills but we can't just kill her, can we? At least not for now, she still has to clean up her great father's mess. Right, sweetie?"

"Ate!" cried her little sister and was about to run to her but the other man pushed her sister hard to the ground.

[ Ate = Filipino term for sister (I thought I should use the local term to feel the authenticity of the setting.) ]

"Eunice!!" Her voice finally escaped from her dry lips as she saw her younger sister running towards her She opened her arms and covered her with a warm embrace. She clenched her fist and turned her gaze to the strangers who just barged into their house without prior notice. And now they're threatening their lives like they're some kind of murderers. In her observation, this might not be the first time they did horrible things like this.

"O-our father's not here and I don't understand what you were saying," she answered with enough bravery that was left in her. If only not for her sister, she wouldn't pull off a tough act. She just didn't want her sister to feel scared but if things got worse, she would cry a river and kneel to spare their lives.