<And so the trouble starts>

|prologue|

"I HATE school," murmured the little girl to herself, but her mother wasn't listening.

"It's time for me to drop you off at school. You know you're entering first grade today and you're gonna be a big girl, right?" Sasha asked her daughter Olayinka who sat down on the park bench clutching a brown teddy bear.

A small cute girl of six, Olayinka was gifted with a chubby body, peachy cheeks and big brown eyes that were so adorable.

When Sasha noticed her daughter wasn't responding she glanced at her, face frowning a little. "Baby girl, what's wrong?"

Olay lifted her head full of black glossy curls and said in a wobbly voice, repeating what she'd mentioned earlier, "I hate school and I don't wanna leave you."

Sasha sighed. "Now darling, don't say that. School is fun and besides it's your first day so you have to be happy. In fact, I'll tell your teacher to treat you real nice, you hear baby girl? Not only that, I'll buy you a big can of pringles on our way home if you take my hand right now. Will you do that for me, Olay?"

Olay nodded and mumbled something that sounded like I guess so. She stood up and held out her palm to her mother while using the other hand to hold the teddy bear.

The park was a five minutes walk to Nebula Elementary School and it didn't take long for the mother and her daughter to reach there.

The school, three storey tall, was built with bricks which were painted white, a signboard that advertised the school's name mounted there. Soon enough after all the requirements and arrangements were made, Olay was taken by her new teacher to her classroom, after being hugged goodbye by her mother.

"Now dear Olay. . . my gosh. I can't quite get the pronunciation of your name. Do you have any other name dear? One that I can pronounce easily?" the teacher asked Olayinka. She was a fair tall woman, her square glasses making her blue eyes smaller than they seemed.

They stood in the hallway that led to the grade one class.

"You can call me Jamila," Olay whispered.

The teacher bent down to hear her very well. "What did you say?"

"Jamila. My name's Jamila."

"Oh okay. Nice name. Way better than Olay. . . whatever that is." She strengthened herself up.

"Okay Jamila, let's go into the class now." Gripping Olayinka's fingers, she led her inside.

Olay glanced around, her eyes widening as she took in the strange yet familiar surroundings. The classroom was big. It was painted yellow and had a wide window where sunlight filtered through casting a golden warmth to the room. The class had learning materials like drills placed on the wall and the tables and chairs were arranged so that a group of students could sit down on one table.

Some students were writing, others were staring into space, while most were playing and talking loudly to each other. It was a noisy place to be at that moment.

Olay could not see a face that had the colour of her skin and she was puzzled.

No one here looks like me, she thought.

Olay's teacher clapped her hands together. Everyone started, unaware their teacher had come back.

"Okay children, go back to your seat. I want to introduce someone to you. She's starting school later than usual and that's why you all have to get to know her." Everyone returned to their seats and the class was quiet.

"So Jamila, these are your new classmates and they'll like to know your name."

Olayinka remained mute and hugged her bear tighter. She was a timid girl and wasn't really prone to talking to strangers.

"Jamila, you have to introduce yourself. Come on now, don't be shy. We don't bite." The teacher smiled at Olayinka, trying to reassure the little girl.

She gulped. "Hello. My name is Olayinka Jamila Kincade. I'm 6 years old and I like pringles."

Soon the class was buzzing. Olay could hear her new classmates whispering loudly. Some were saying she didn't have the colour of their skin and that her skin was so dirty and disgusting. Others said she must be an African to have that kind of name. Who answered a name one could not pronounce easily?

The teacher noticed it too and shouted, "Class keep quiet!" They all kept shut. The class was serene once more until a hand shot up.

"Yes, Noah? What is it you want to ask?"

"Why is she carrying a teddy bear? Is she that a baby?" Noah inquired, laughing out loud. His classmates joined him. They began chanting in a noisy manner. Baby! Baby!

Olayinka stayed huddled beside the wall trying her best not to cry. All the words she had heard hurt her.

The poor woman was flabbergasted. "Quiet!" she roared. "I'm so appalled that you guys are behaving this way and if you don't keep quiet, I'll report you all to Mr. Sam. You hear me? And I don't want to hear a single noise. Respect yourselves!"

With their teacher's warning, the class stayed quiet once more. No one wanted to meet Mr. Sam, a renowned disciplinarian. Satisfied, the teacher helped Olay to her seat and gave her a picture book.

Feeling dejected, Olay tried to talk to the blonde haired girl sitting next to her. Maybe she would be nice.

"Hello. Do you want to be my friend? My name's Olayinka. You can call me Olay for short-" Olay was cut off.

The girl piped up, "I don't want to be your friend so stop trying. Your skin is so dirty, eww. I think I'm gonna shift my seat." Huffing, she put her face the other way.

Once the teacher turned her back to write something on the chalkboard, the children sitting next to her shifted their seats leaving a wide berth of space between them. Olay's heart ached and she pretended not to notice.

A boy poked Olay with the sharpened end of his pencil.

"What?" she asked, turning to face him.

"My name's Kian Fields and I hate you. I'll torment you for the rest of your life. Just you see." He grinned in a sadistic manner, showing off little white milk teeth and yanked on Olay's curly hair hard.

"Oww! Please stop hurting me." Olay's huge brown eyes glistened with tears that carried a hurtful look had any of the children cared to gaze into them. They didn't care to, especially Kian.

"You deserve it, dirty skin," Kian stated firmly and bent to whisper to his fellow boys who began laughing aloud.

Olay latched on to her teddy bear tighter and wished with all her heart that she could be at home.

Whipping her head back, the teacher saw the little black girl who appeared frightened, sitting all alone by herself. She sighed.

These kids. It'll get better for her, besides it's just the first day. They'll come around, she thought.

But she was wrong. It didn't get better. It got worse.

A/N: So how is it? Okay? I hope it's okay. Please vote and comment. Thank you.

Btw, Kian Fields' story is out now. Have a look at it's excerpt and blurb below:

"Now, be a good girl and suck my cock. Your job, casino and everything you own depends on how well you pleasure me."

I made no move, frozen to the spot. Unseeing, I bit my lips hard, at a loss at what to say or do.

Impatient, Kian pulled me towards him, jerking my chin to look at him. "Why are you acting so shy? It's not like you haven't done this before. Tell me, you do know how to suck a cock, don't you?"

No. But I wasn't going to tell him that.

"I do, just not yours," I gritted out, teeth clenched.

***|***|***

Coldhearted and ruthless, Kian Fields is done with his toxic marriage. Bitter, he focuses on his multi-billionaire company, loathing all women that roam the face of the Earth. Until he meets feisty Jadesola, who goes out of her way to ridicule him.

Stunning and hot-headed, Jadesola is well on her way to being poor---her no-good ex-fiance has made off with half of her casino's earnings--- and the only choice she has to prevent bankruptcy is to request financial aid from none other than her nemesis, dominant and arrogant Kian.

Except that Kian has a thrilling game plan up his infuriatingly gorgeous sleeve. He's out for revenge and will only agree, if and only if she becomes his personal assistant a.k.a office slave.

But Jade is a woman with a fierce backbone and it would be a cold day in hell before she dances to his wicked tunes. With sinister family secrets and chilling mysteries blowing their entangled way, it's a wonder who would tame the other and come out victorious.

The game is on.

Nita.