Chapter 2

10 years later

Bosnia and Herzegovina

It's Monday morning…

Melisa and her stepsister reached the fishing port. Melisa parked the pickup truck outside the seafood market. A marketplace where they buy seafood supplies to cook in their seafood restaurant.

They needed to enter the fish market to buy seafood products. However, Sara, her stepsister, never wished to visit such a place her whole life. Melisa always entered that place whenever Esmeralda asked them to buy supplies for their restaurant. Sara didn't like seafood. She dislikes its smell.

From outside the fish market, Melisa can see the slippery floor covered with dirt and thin mud. This is made by the footprints of people who come and leave the area. She can smell fish and seafood inside the market. There are many fish vendors and fishermen who are too busy buying and selling. It appears that the situation inside is chaotic. It's too noisy inside the building.

Melisa walked inside the fish market like she used to do while Sara stayed in the pickup truck. She talked to the fisherman and fish dealers. She bargained with a seafood vendor looking for supplies at a cheap price. This is because Sara gave her only a small amount of money to buy the supplies they needed for their restaurant.

Sara always omits part of the money Esmeralda gave them to buy supplies, so Melisa always needs to find the cheapest supplies. When Sara hangs out with her friends, she uses the money she gets from them.

After half an hour, Melisa got a good deal and bought an adequate supply. But the problem is that she needs to transfer the seafood from the seafood dealer's storage container to the seafood storage ice box. She also needs to carry fish outside the market by herself.

Without hesitation, Melisa removes her worn-out long-hooded windbreaker jacket and ties it around her waist.

Melisa's fitted sleeveless shirt shows off her beautiful body. And she is pretty, so most men in the marketplace look at her when she removes her jacket that covers her face and body. Some of the men greeted and whistled at her, but she never responded to them.

Melisa frowned while transferring the seafood to the ice box from the dealer's seafood storage container. She moved quickly as if she wanted to leave the place immediately. She feels like she is in hell right now. She is tired of doing these things for 10 years while living with her adoptive family.

She could not leave her adoptive family's house because she never regained her memory until now. She never had a chance to look for another job because she had no diploma or documents to show for herself. So she had no choice but to live her life with her adoptive family.

She finished what she was doing in just a few minutes. After paying for the fish, she lifted the ice box on her shoulder and carried it outside the marketplace.

When he got near the pickup truck, she loaded the fish onto the truck. She got into the pickup truck.

Sara smells of Melisa. She dislikes Melisa's smell. Her perfume smelled of seafood. So Sara orders Melisa to drive as fast as she can to escape the market, outside the fishing port area.

After an hour of driving, Melisa reached their restaurant. Sara stepped out of the pickup truck and met some of her friends who were dining in their restaurant. Melisa started unloading seafood from the pickup truck. In the restaurant's kitchen, she brought it with her.

Melisa started to help their cook prepare ingredients for restaurant recipes. Her stepbrother, Sanin, called her and sent her on an errand. Sanin is five years older than her, so he passes all their parents' errands on to her.

"Melisa, deliver these food orders to Mr. Ajdin Feratovic. He is in the nearby cottage with his friends."

"Alright, Sanin."

"And be sure to impress him. You know he belongs to a wealthy family…"

"So?"

"So? Is that all you can say? Do you hear what I said? He belongs to a wealthy family. And he is a young billionaire. Imagine the good luck you will have if he likes you."

"Haha. Do you think a billionaire like him will only pick up a lady like me who smells like seafood?"

"I'm telling you, Melisa. If he shows any signs that he likes you, all you need to do is grab the opportunity."

"Why should I do that?"

"Idiot! That is a big opportunity for us. You can uplift our family status if he marries you!"

"Marry? Huh! Forget your illusions, Brother. I bet he will not waste his time on me with even a single look."

"Fine! Let's see... Go ahead. Deliver his orders. Now."

"Alright."

Melisa grabs the food to deliver and loads it onto their motorcycle to deliver it. After fifteen minutes of driving Melisa reached the cottage where Sanin told her that Mr. Ajdin Feratovic and his friends were.

Melisa delivers to the elegant cottage. Several men and women enjoy the beach scenery. They take selfies and photos of the place.

"Excuse me. Food delivery for Mr. Ajdin Feratovic."

All the people in the cottage looked at her. The three women looked at her from head to foot. While the three men smiled at her. One of them answered her.

"Put it on the table and wait for Ajdin. He was out for a while answering a phone call."

"Alright, Sir."

Melisa did what the man said. After a few minutes, a man wearing a sleeveless shirt and ripped-off jeans arrived. He looks so handsome. His shirt almost revealed his 6 pack abs because he wore a dropped armhole tank top. One of the men in the cottage talks to him.

"Ajdin, the food delivery is here. The food looks delicious, including the deliverer."

"Will you stop Macro? Where are your tastes? Even a lady who smells like fish is beautiful in your eyes now."

One of the women said and laughed out loud while looking at Melisa.

"Yeah! Ena is right." The other woman smiled.

"Ajdin, will you please pay so that she can go ahead? It seems that she needs a bath."

The most beautiful of the three women spoke. The three men laughed but not at Ajdin.

Ajdin pulls his wallet from his pocket and gets the money to pay for his order.

"Melisa, here is my payment."

"How did you know my name was Melisa?"

Ajdin frowned when he heard Melisa's question.

"Of course, the restaurant told me that Melisa was the name of the person who delivered my order."

Melisa was embarrassed by his answer. Her face turned red. She seems like an idiot by asking him that question.

She could withstand the insult she received from Ajdin's friends but not from Ajdin. This was especially when she heard all Ajdin's friends laughing at her again because of their conversation.

"Okay, Sir. I'll go."

"Alright. See you again when you deliver my next order."

"No way! You'll never see me deliver your order."

Melisa murmurs as she walks outside the cottage. Ajdin follows her and hears what she says. She almost jumped when she heard him speak because she didn't expect him to be behind her.

"But why?" "You don't want to see me again?"

"Yes, you are right. I don't want to see you again and your friends."

“Please accept my apologies if my friends and I embarrassed you. We didn't mean it. I want to make friends with you.”

"But I don't want to make friends with you."

"Seriously?! But why?"

"We have a different status in life..."

"It doesn't matter to me."

"Really?"

"Yes. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Alright."

"So we're friends now?"

"Okay. It's up to you if you want."