Chapter 1

A year ago

"Crystal!" Her dad called her to say their goodbyes before they went on a  business trip. She was already awake ofcourse just adjusting her clothes to look presentable. She seemed too old for her age not physically but the manner she addressed and carried herself you'd swear she was in her early 20s while in actual fact she was only 17 years old. She swayed downstairs and hugged both her parents goodbye like it'd be her last...if only she knew.

Hansen and Alca felt bad for living their baby girl all alone although they knew she was more than capable to take care of herself. But still parental instincts kicked in from time to time, in fact they were planning on retiring since they had already worked a fortune as PAs of the Oddet empire. They made their way to the airport and settled in first class. The aeroplane half way suffered a mid air collision and ended crashing in the ocean. There were no survivors and the news spread like wild fire before sunset. Crystal was catching up with her schoolwork as she had already made sure each chore was done. The family only had one maid who they considered as  part of the family eventually because of Diana's kindness. Their house was situated in Great Neck Gardens....one of the rich suburban areas in New York. And yes that's how rich they were.

A door bell distracted her with her quadratic equation and she lazily got up to see whom it was. She opened the door to only find her parents' employers. They had a look she couldn't quite decipher but then it may be just her so she shrugged it off. "May we come in, sweetheart?" Mrs Oddet weakly smiled. She nodded with her bright welcome smile and led them to the living room. "What do you prefer, juice or green tea?" She politely offered. 

The Oddets knew little miss Crystal since she was a child and they fancied how well groomed she had always been. Her manners and everything about her spoke elegance, she was such a sweet and alluring girl ,they thought from every occasion. From certain times they found themselves envious of how their employees had such a wonderful child with a bright future glimmering. " Green tea it is my dear" Mr Oddet replied. They knew better than to turn her down, plus they found themselves dreading to tell the poor child the horrible news. " Diana!" Crystal called out. Diana came rushing in, greeted the guests and took her orders. "So to what do I owe this lovely visit for? " Crystal questioned quite curious but still polite. "My dear what's the rush for? We haven't even had our tea yet." Mrs Oddet teased. Crystal awkwardly smiled and nodded. Diana came with a tray of their green tea with some cracker biscuits. " thank you" they all said in union. After they finished their tea they knew they couldn't stall any more so they told her everything. " The engine seemed to have had some problems " they continued while trying to console her. The horror on her face said it all.....she was broken, her world in ruins. She had quietly listened to every word they said without any interruptions, I mean what could she say. After long menacing 10 minutes of silence she finally spoke up." Thank you very much for coming, your visit was indeed splendid " she weakly smiled as her lips trembled with each and every word she said. That was a sign from them that they need to leave so they gathered their belongings and head for the door. Crystal ushered them to the door ofcourse." If you need anything, dont be afraid to call" they offered.  She just weakly smiled and watched as their foot steps descend after they left.

She finally released a painful sob that she had been holding in since she had heard the news. She crumpled to ground rocking her body while crying out loud. Diana had overheard everything so she wasted no time to console the girl.

She buried her parents a month later after their death. It was a crucial moment in her life and she found herself questioning God if she had been a bad child to deserve this. Either way she got no answers and she began to isolate herself from friends. She had no other relative so she was all alone. Dell her parents' lawyer, now hers had made sure she wasn't taken to any foster care. He had argued that she was more than capable and responsible and the state agreed to his pleas. Crystal had asked him to do that because she loved her home and felt she was closer to her parents here than being raised by strangers. Next year she would be of legal age to live alone as she pleased. Her parents had left her a fortune and everything they owned but according to Crystal if she stayed attending school at a private school the fortune would soon run out before she got to her dream University. So she decided to attend school at a public high school. With her amazing reference letter that displayed her sky rocketing grades and her pleasant behavior the school had no choice but to immediately accept her. Yes she was intelligent! And along the way she had been offered opportunities to skip grades but her parents always declined the offer.

Crystal was not only intelligent, she was what you call alluring. She had raven black long hair, soft porcelain skin as white as snow ,brown eyes that had small golden flecks around them which they were enough to captivate whomever she made eye contact with , an elegantly straight nose and full pink plum lips.

As time went on she adapted to her parents being gone but she still missed them very much. Diana kept working for her, she couldn't bring herself to fire the old woman in her late 40s with six mouths to feed at home.