Chapter 12

When Serenity had been in prison, she had been all alone. Lisa had visited her from time to time, encouraged her, and worked hard for her affairs. Otherwise, she might not have gotten out of prison alive. It was Lisa who had supported her during those three difficult years.

‘Lifesaver?’ Thoughts flickered in Jackson’s eyes. Lisa seemed to hold an unusual place in Serenity’s heart. “But isn’t it ridiculous to regard someone as a lifesaver? If your lifesaver abandons you one day, wouldn’t that give you more despair?”

“She won’t,” Serenity spoke with unparalleled certainty and absolute trust in her eyes.

Somehow, Jackson had an uncomfortable feeling because of Serenity’s confidence. It seemed as though he did not want someone else to be worthy of her trust. It was as if she could give everything to that other person.

***

Soon, Serenity had an increase in workload. As the higher authorities were coming to inspect the Sanitation Office over the next few days, some overtime was required.

Fortunately, Jack would prepare the food and wait for her to get home, and this warmed her heart.

Serenity had told Jack not to wait for her and that if she was late, he should eat first. Despite that, he insisted on waiting for her to come home so that they could eat together.

Sometimes, Serenity felt they were like siblings, depending on each other in a shabby and humble rented place. Maybe this was what it felt like to have a younger brother.

Serenity cleaned the streets she was in charge of in the early morning and returned to the Sanitation Office. After putting the tools away, she stood in the empty space in front of the entrance.

The inspectors from the City Council would be arriving in a moment, and everyone in charge of street cleaning would stand there to greet them as it would be convenient for them to report on their work later on.

Serenity’s slender figure stood out among the group with mostly middle-aged women and men in their forties to fifties.

Soon, the inspectors arrived at the Sanitation Office.

Among them, a young woman around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old suddenly exclaimed when she saw Serenity. “Serenity? You must be Serenity!”

Serenity looked up only to see a lady in a light blue suit. Although she was wearing sophisticated makeup, she looked ordinary with her round face, narrow eyes, and her hair that was tied up.

Serenity was stunned for a moment, and it took her a while to recognize her high school classmate, Janice Moore.

“It’s really you.” Janice looked at Serenity in surprise, “Why are you here? Are you… a sanitation worker?”

“Yeah. I’m working here now,” Serenity answered frankly. She did not evade Janice’s probing eyes. After all, she would always meet someone she once knew. Even though she was a little embarrassed, she had to bear it.

“Janice, do you know each other?” Janice’s colleague who had come along for the inspection asked.

“Yeah. Meet Serenity Lewis. She was the prettiest and top student in our class, always ranked at the top of every exam. Many boys in our class liked and chased her, but she didn’t fancy any of them.” Janice spoke to her colleague, deliberately praising Serenity highly.

However, the more she praised Serenity, the more it contrasted with Serenity’s current state.

Sure enough, Janice’s colleague frowned. “Her? Was she really the top student and the most beautiful in your class? You must be kidding.”

Janice pursed her mouth in a small smile with a self-satisfied pleasure in her heart. Serenity had been admired by many people in the class. Meanwhile, she was just an ugly duckling. No one had ever noticed her.

However, what was the use of being the prettiest in the class? Serenity had still ended up as a sanitation worker who had to clean the streets!

Upon hearing Janice’s comments, Serenity’s colleagues turned their heads toward her. The people surrounding her had different looks on their faces. It was either looks of surprise, sympathy, or mockery.

The next day, Serenity came back to return the tools after completing her work in the morning, and a young girl from the tool department asked Serenity curiously, “Serenity, were you really the prettiest and top student in class?”

Before Serenity could answer, Quinn Fender, another member of the tool department snorted coldly. “What’s the use of being the prettiest and top student? She’s just a sanitation worker now. If she was that good, she would’ve changed jobs.”

The young girl who had asked the question before looked at Serenity with an awkward look. Serenity only lowered her head, signed her name on the record book after returning the tools, and turned to leave.

Xyla went after Serenity and patted her shoulder, comforting her, “Don’t take Quinn’s words to heart. She’s taking it out on you because she likes Pete from the team.”

Serenity was simply confused. She did not know who Xyla was talking about and what it had to do with her.

“Pete is the driver of our team, and he seems to be interested in you. Doesn’t he usually say hello to you?” Xyla explained. She was truly concerned for Serenity’s sake. “Pete is a nice guy, and he’s well-established in his career too. His parents even bought him a house for his future marriage. Why don’t you consider him?”

Serenity shooked her head. “No, thanks. I don’t want to be in a relationship at the moment.”

“You’re already 27. When your age goes up, it’ll be hard to replace a partner.”

“I’ll just stay single,” Serenity replied. She no longer had any expectations for love by the time she was released from prison.

Zeke and Serenity had made vows at the beginning of their relationship, however, things had changed later. Even when she had had her ten nails pulled out, Zeke had shown no sympathy for her, merely faintly stating without a frown, “You deserved it.”

That moment had been devastating for her. All the emotions of the past she had were wiped out. Many times, she would dream of this scene and wake up from the dream in terror. Her fingers ached many times. Whenever it happened, she told herself that this so-called love was simply cruelty.

Serenity simply did not want to experience love again.

Besides, it was tough for her to replace a job as an ex-convict. Would replaceing a marriage partner be any easier? How many people could ignore her history?

However, Jack’s face flashed in her mind as she spoke of this. Speaking of which, she would get her salary in the next few days. Then, she could buy a cell phone for Jack.

“Oh, child…”Xyla sighed and said no more.

Serenity took Jackson to the mall after getting off work on payday, intending to get Jack a cell phone.

“Having a phone or not doesn’t really matter,” Jackson said indifferently. He did not think she would actually get him a phone.

“Everyone has a cell phone nowadays. It’ll be easier to replace a job with a phone. It’s convenient for the company to contact you. Handing out leaflets daily isn’t a good long-term job,” Serenity said. “Besides, if you have a cell phone, it’ll be easier for us to tell each other if you’re coming home late.”

The two came to a cell phone store in the mall. There were many brands for sale, but Serenity could only afford a phone around two hundred dollars or so. She then checked online and found several cell phone options in this price range.

Serenity picked out the phones she had chosen and asked Jackson to see which one he liked.

“I can only afford these phones now, but I’ve checked online. These are the best value phones in this range and with great specs. You can use it first, and we’ll get another one after saving more money in the future…”