It was just another normal, boring day. It was the kind of day where Favour had to drag herself out of bed, go through her morning rituals with heavy limbs, and then head straight to the most important place in her life.
Her workplace.
It was the most important place she knew, but it certainly wasn't the happiest place for her to be. It was a cycle of survival. When bills are constantly breathing down your neck, you don't really have a choice. You work all your life just to keep your head above the water for one more day.
Sometimes, while sitting at her desk or riding the bus, she would wonder why the world was so unfair. Why are some people born rich? Why are they born with everything the poor pray for every single day?
Favour was born poor, and that mark stayed on her. From a young age, she had to hustle just to survive. She spent her youth going to school while juggling a part-time job that left her exhausted. When school finally ended, it didn't get easier. After school came the grueling reality of a full-time job.
While everyone else her age was posting photos from vacations or talking about their weekend plans, she was staying back for extra hours. She took every shift she could get just to earn a little extra change. There was no such thing as a break for her. She lived on less sleep and spent her free time always counting bills, over and over, hoping the math would somehow change.
When will this ever stop? She asked herself that question a thousand times.
The real answer was one she didn't want to admit. Never. It would never stop until death.
Even the word retirement sounded like a foreign language to her. She had a family who looked up to her for everything. They depended on her every cent just to have a roof and a meal. Because of them, there was no such thing as retirement for this girl. She was a machine fueled by necessity.
Until one day, the machine broke.
She had just gotten back from a long shift at work. Her feet were aching and her head was throbbing. She didn't even get the chance to sit down or take off her shoes before her phone started buzzing. It was a call from her brother, James. His voice sounded frantic on the other end. He said he was in trouble, deep trouble, and he needed her right away.
With no questions asked, she pushed through her exhaustion and ran to his location. That was what she did. She was the fixer, the one who always showed up.
The location was a terrace. It was dark, the kind of darkness that felt thick and heavy. The air was still, and the only sound was the distant hum of the city.
"James, where are you? Are you okay?" she called out. Her voice was filled with a sharp worry as her eyes scanned the shadows, looking for any sign of her brother.
"Hello, sister."
Favour turned toward the sound of his voice and saw him standing there. Without a single hesitation, she rushed to him and hugged him tight. She touched his face, checking for bruises, and smiled through her panic. This was her little brother. He was big now, taller than her, a man grown. It had been a long time since she had actually sat down to look at him, to see how much he had changed.
But before she could even open her mouth to ask what the problem was or why he was in trouble, the world exploded in a flash of white light. Something heavy and cold slammed into the back of her head.
Her vision blurred instantly. She stumbled backwards, her hands flying up to cradle her head as the pain radiated through her skull. The person who hit her stepped out from the darkness and stood right in front of her. They moved with a casual confidence, standing right beside her own brother.
When Favour managed to look up through the haze of pain, she recognized the face immediately.
It was her own colleague from work. Veronica.
This was a woman she once shared a meal with. Someone she thought was a friend in the middle of that corporate shark tank.
"Why?" That was all Favour could manage to say. Her legs gave out and she collapsed to the hard ground, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
"You always act like the perfect girl in the office. Yes, boss, every single time. Always wanting to impress our boss. I have worked so hard but he never recognized my hard work because of you," Veronica spat out. The words were full of a spiteful venom that Favour never imagined could come from her. Never once did Favour think this kind of hate was brewing under the surface.
"I was just working for a living..." Favour said weakly. Her voice sounded small against the concrete.
"You were trying to steal my boss..." Veronica snapped back, her eyes wild.
Favour never meant to steal anyone's boss. To be honest, she didn't even like men. She didn't have time for romance or games. All she ever wanted was to get her work done and get paid. That workplace was a living hell for her, but she forced herself to smile every day. She did it so she wouldn't bring bad vibes to the team. She did it to survive.
No one ever showed their real face in a workplace. That was the hard truth.
Even Veronica had been wearing a mask this whole time, pretending to be her friend while sharpening a knife behind her back.
But as painful as Veronica's betrayal was, it wasn't the biggest one.
It was her own brother, James. He was just standing there, watching.
His own sister had been hit, her blood was on the ground, yet he didn't show even a tiny bit of concern. He didn't move to help her. He didn't tell Veronica to stop.
Favour looked up at her own blood brother, her eyes searching his for a sign of the boy she grew up with.
"James, I understand where she is coming from, but you... what are you doing? Why are you doing this? Why are you just watching her do this to me?" Favour cried out to him. Her heart felt like it was breaking faster than her body.
On his face, there was a sinister smile. It was a cold, calculated expression. That brotherly puppy face she had loved and protected was gone. Now, there was only the face of a complete stranger.
This was the boy she had worked day and night to feed. This was the person she had sacrificed her own education time and her own comfort to train and support. And now, he looked at her like she was nothing but an object.
What was happening?
She waited for someone to jump out and say it was a joke. If this was a dream or a sick prank, it needed to end right now. She wanted to wake up in her bed, even if it meant being tired again.
"I need money, and I am going to sell your organs for money," James said. His voice was flat, devoid of any emotion.
Money.
Of course it was about money.
That was all she was to him in the end. A paycheck. A resource.
Money.
Every time he had called her over the last few years, it was to ask for money. It was never to ask how she was or if she was eating well. It was always about what she could give him.
And now, he was going to sell the very body that had worked itself to death for him.
This wasn't a dream. This was reality. It was a cold, hard lesson in how people you think you know can suddenly become people you don't, all because of greed.
As she lay there on the cold terrace, the only thing Favour regretted wasn't the hard work. It was that she never allowed herself to actually live. She regretted never having enough sleep, never eating enough good food, never going on those vacations she dreamed about, or having a life that belonged only to her.
She had been a slave to her responsibilities. She never once allowed herself to be lazy, because she had been convinced that working all her life was the only way to be a good person.
If she had another chance... if she could just have one more shot at life...
Favour promised herself she would become the laziest person to ever exist. She would never lift a finger for anyone else ever again.
But she didn't get to finish that thought. James stepped forward and took the heavy metal rod from Veronica's hand. He didn't hesitate. He swung it down with everything he had, slamming it hard into Favour's head.
The world went black, giving her the finality of death.
The darkness lasted for what felt like a second and an eternity all at once. Then, a blinding light pierced through the void, accompanied by a sound she hadn't heard in years.
"Congratulations, it's a girl...."