Chapter 1

In a fancy restaurant, a man was cleaning a shiny yellow glass table. The man's name was Aiden. He worked as a part-time waiter at the restaurant. This was his third day on the job.

"Hey, you! Clean this one up too, quick!" A man dressed as a waiter yelled at Aiden. Quickly, Aiden carried out his orders.

Even though they were both servants, the servant gave orders because he felt much more senior than Aiden.

"Okay, I'll clean it up."

Aiden moved to the other table pointed out by the male waiter. Aiden wiped the glass table carefully until it was shiny. He didn't want any dust left behind as it might affect his performance appraisal.

There was going to be a proposal here soon, so all the waiters were busy sharing the cleaning duties. Fresh flowers were arranged in large vases in all corners of the restaurant.

Aiden was a student, but chose to quit in order to make money to pay for his girlfriend Lola's schooling. Lola once cried and told Aiden that she wanted to go to university. However, Lola did not have the money.

Aiden, who could not bear to see his girlfriend cry, tried to comfort her. "Let me pay for your tuition. I'll work hard."

Lola felt happy to hear Aiden's words, as if there was hope for her. She trusted Aiden with that. So, Aiden decided to quit college and started looking for a part-time job. Not only at this fancy restaurant, but he was also still looking for work in other places to increase his savings.

There was a silver ring in his left pants pocket. Tomorrow is his girlfriend's graduation day. Right on that graduation day, Aiden wanted to propose to Lola. They had been dating for more than two years, it was time for Aiden to take their love to a more serious level.

Aiden held his pants pocket for a moment to make sure that the ring was still there. "I can't wait to give this to you, Lola."

In Aiden's head, the image of Lola's smiling face flashed. Aiden always fell in love whenever he saw Lola's sweet smile. He imagined Lola's happy expression when she received the ring from him.

Thinking about that, it made the spirit inside Aiden rise again. Even though he was tired of working more than one job every day, he felt happy doing it.

Some of the waiters seemed to notice Aiden. They had been gossiping about him while whispering. "Look at that guy. He's so pretentious, but he doesn't know anything."

"He looks hick and uneducated. Just look at the way he clears the table, it's awful." The waitress with curly hair tied in a bun chimed in, watching Aiden work. She felt great because she had been working there longer.

One of the male servants chuckled irritably with both hands folded across his chest. "Yes, she doesn't have any abilities. Useless. It's been three days of work, but still can't do anything."

They were laughing about Aiden. Even the look in their eyes couldn't be hidden, seeming to really dislike Aiden.

Aiden could hear their voices well because they were no more than ten meters away. Ever since Aiden started working at this restaurant, all the waiters always seemed to be nasty and insulting to him even though they both worked as waiters.

Aiden was cleaning the expensive utensils that had been neatly arranged for the event at the restaurant. The other waiters were also cleaning the same equipment. They were annoyed at the way Aiden cleaned it.

One of the short-haired waitresses approached Aiden. "What a bumpkin! Holding fancy equipment like that. You must be really surprised to see this fancy equipment, huh?"

A maidservant was holding a rag, folding her arms across her chest. "Of course he's shocked because he's never seen such luxurious equipment. All this time, he must have seen only cheap, worthless equipment."

A male servant was holding a gold-colored crystal glass. "Look at this glass, it fits perfectly in my hand. It's very expensive."

"Yes, hands like ours deserve to hold this expensive tableware. It would sparkle more if we were the ones holding it." Those words were directed at Aiden. They were merely serving guests with the utensils, but acting like they owned them.

Aiden chose to ignore them. He turned to the other table that had just been used by a customer. He cleared the table, then carried two dirty plates to the kitchen.

"You guys are just like me, but arrogant. Have you ever used it?" Aiden smiled faintly. Of course they had never used it because they could only touch it when serving customers.

They were just as poor as Aiden. Just because they had worked longer, they acted bigger and better than Aiden. Aiden focused on walking with the two plates, careful not to drop them because he knew they were very expensive.

However, suddenly someone pushed her from behind, causing one of the plates in her hand to fall and shatter on the floor.

Some of the waiters laughed at Aiden's surprise. "He looks stupid with a face like that."

"He's an idiot! He thinks he can act great here. What an idiot!" The waitress with her hair in a ponytail seemed content to insult Aiden.

The other maidservant covered her mouth, holding back her laughter. "She must be panicking right now because that plate is very expensive. Even one month's salary working here wouldn't be able to replace that plate."

One of the waiters deliberately pushed Aiden. Their faces looked satisfied that they could do that to Aiden.

Aiden heard it all. He looked at them sharply. "You guys must have done this to me, right? You shouldn't have done such a disgraceful thing!"

They laughed at Aiden's words, sounding wise. "We don't care!"

Hearing the loud sound of shattering plates made the restaurant manager rush out of his room. His eyes widened at the sight of the pieces of expensive plates scattered on the floor.

 "Who did this?"

Roland looked at Aiden and the others, wondering who was at fault among them. "It's bad. This kind of problem has never happened before."

Everyone there was united in pointing at Aiden. "He did it, sir."

Roland looked sharply at Aiden. He pointed his index finger at Aiden's face. "You broke this expensive plate? You idiot, weren't you careful?"

Aiden tried to protect himself by giving an explanation. "I didn't mean to, sir. Someone pushed me from behind."

"What a liar! He's incompetent at his job. He's slow and sloppy!" One of the short-haired waitresses provoked Aiden in front of the restaurant manager.

"Yes, sir. His work is always poorly done. He's been knocking things over here." The other waitresses also provoked Aiden.

The waitress with her hair in a ponytail grinned. "Just yesterday, he dropped a candle decoration and it broke because he was careless. Fortunately, we were able to fix it again."

Aiden shook his head quickly. Of course none of that was true. His gaze shifted to the employees, then to the manager. "No, sir. I've tried to work carefully."

"Are you being evasive? It's obvious that we saw it ourselves. You suck! None of your work is right." Several maids chimed in, confirming the previous maid's statement that Aiden was incompetent at work.

Aiden tried to explain again to the manager, but the manager slapped him instead. Suddenly, everyone there was shocked to see him.

The manager pointed his index finger in Aiden's face. "These plates are very expensive, you know? You should pay 500 dollars for them!"

Aiden widened his eyes perfectly, shocked at the price of one plate. "That's not right, sir. Please don't be like that. I really didn't do it on purpose. Someone pushed me from behind."

Aiden tried to get the manager to understand that there was no need to replace the expensive plates. He pressed his palms together in front of Roland, pleading sincerely.

Roland dismissed both of Aiden's hands roughly. "You can't. You have to keep replacing it or I'll fire you right now so you can't work here anymore! And I, for one, will report you to the police for harming the restaurant!"

Aiden was even more shocked. His situation was so desperate, there was no better option. He had to change it if he wanted to survive, especially if he had to deal with the law.

Aiden felt sad because he only had 500 dollars now and he would use that money to propose to his girlfriend tomorrow. He bowed his head respectfully. "Very well, sir. I'll go withdraw the money and replace the plate."

The servants there smiled happily at that. They whispered to each other contentedly. "Feel that!"

"That's why you shouldn't act like a hero here. You can't do anything now!" They grinned at Aiden who looked confused and sad.

But just as he turned his body, about to leave. She saw two people entering the restaurant, they looked intimate holding hands with each other.

Aiden's eyes widened perfectly. One of the couples who had just entered the restaurant was Lola. Lola seemed to be hanging her head on a man's shoulder.

"Didn't I see wrong?" muttered Aiden softly. His heart seemed to stop beating for a few seconds.

Even more surprising, Aiden knew the man who came with Lola. It was Brian, his close friend from university. Brian was the son of a rich man, his parents even worked as councilmen. Aiden couldn't believe what he was seeing.

They looked intimate, like star-crossed lovers. Especially with the look on Lola's face that implied happiness. Unlike when she was with him, Lola always looked sad and upset.

Both of Aiden's knees went weak in an instant. His body wavered, and the one plate left in his hand fell to the floor, shattering loudly.