Chapter 5. You Lost What?

Vanessa's POV

My days started pretty early with my brother, Victor, waking me from my sleep. "Vanessa, aren't you going to work today?" he asked, his voice tinged with concern. I rubbed my eyes and tried to shake off the remnants of sleep. He was wearing an apron and I could perceive burnt food in the air. Did he cook? I asked myself and wondered why he went to the kitchen again as I remembered, he was an awful cook.

Seeing his stern look, I realized that he asked a question earlier. "Work? I lost-" My tongue slipped, almost revealing my secret. Panic surged through me, and I quickly recovered, "I mean, I'm on off."

Victor raised an eyebrow, giving me a suspicious look. "You lost what?"

"N-nothing," I stammered, my heart racing. "I mean, I didn't say lost. I said I'm on off." I corrected.

He stared at me for a moment longer before letting out a sigh. "You're getting so many days off recently. Did you do something wrong?"

I swallowed hard, my mind