This is the order of things that David Harken loved:

1) Himself

2) His job

3) His cat

4) His wife, Rhonda

5) His daughter, Caylee

There were more pictures of his cat and himself in the house than his wife and his daughter. As far as his daughter, she was nonexistent in Harken's life. A few days after his wedding, an ex-girlfriend, Nora Leeds from high school called him and demanded a paternity test for her child. Once the results said proved he fathered five-year-old Caylee Harken from that slut cheerleader he had slept with in high school soon demanded child support, threatening to take him to court and telling his new wife about them. He never wanted children. Now this bitch showed up with a five-year-old. Fuck Nora! He would make her go away…

And he did…and ended up with a five-year-old crying snot-nosed brat named Caylee. He told Rhonda that it was his child but the mother abandoned her and waived all the rights. That's right! And he got the paperwork from that slut Nora Leeds to back it up.

Rhonda Harken had always wanted a child, but her selfish husband didn't want any. He hated them. To him, they were nothing but crying, whiny, demanding brats that shit their pants and cried for toys or sweets. When little Caylee fell into their lives, Rhonda was overjoyed to be a mother to this abandoned love-child of her husband's. She raised her by herself, giving all her love to Caylee.

Harken didn't care for her. He refused to be acknowledged as her father and hated that title 'dad'; he insisted that she call him 'Mr. Harken' or 'sir'. He wished he dropped her off at an orphanage, but it was complicated. She knew way too much. She had seen things that she wasn't supposed to see. That she would tell the authorities what had happened. As long as he kept her close, she wouldn't say a word. He hated Caylee for being in his life and made sure that she knew it. He used emotional terrorism, humiliation, manipulation, and physical abuse to keep her in line.

For the next few years, Caylee, now twenty-four, became a quiet, shy young woman: her head down, hiding behind grey sweaters, black skirts, a pair of horn-rimmed black glasses, her honey colored hair escaping from her French twist in a hair clip and her baby blue eyes to the floor, working at her father's office, Comnidyne Industries, as an assistant to none other than him. It wasn't enough that she was his slave at home, but at the office. Harken did a variety of abuse to Caylee at the office: yelling at her, teasing her cruelly, humiliating her in front of other coworkers while she just stood silent, taking it like a submissive dog.

The only thing she looked forward to at Comnidyne Industries was seeing Nick Hendricks, one of the executives at the office. She liked talking to him at the water cooler, in the lunchroom, at his desk. He was her only friend. He was handsome with his blue eyes and dark sandy hair. His voice was soft and kind. She felt sorry for him since Harken made Nick a target his abuse as well, forcing him to work overtime that it intervened with his personal life. David Harken was an abusive, slave-driving psychopath. Everyone at Comnidyne Industries knew that. Yet, there was nothing they could do since they were all afraid of him.

While Caylee lay asleep in her bed, she had the dream again: a woman screaming and sobbing, a huge wave of blood coming towards her, a gunshot, a door just halfway open. She tried to get closer to see what had happen, but it was cut short when her four thirty AM alarm screamed. She woke in a cold, startled sweat, her heart pounding. She pressed the off-button and got out of bed to get ready for another day at work. She showered and brushed her teeth and hair in the bathroom.

"Let's go, stupid!" yelled Harken, pounding on the door. "We're going to be late for work!"

Caylee trembled slightly as she stood in the bathroom, fixing her hair and putting on her glasses. She stepped out to a red-faced Harken.

"You didn't iron my shirts!" he said. "How many fucking times do I have to tell you to iron my shirts?"

"I did iron them," she protested weakly.

He held up one of his shirts, which looked very neat. "Well, I don't like the way this one was ironed. Now, get your ass downstairs and iron my fucking shirt!" He threw it in her face. "MOVE!"

Caylee didn't dare protest. She knew how nasty Harken could get: he could be as unpredictable as a storm. His wrath would range from a calm to a full-blown typhoon. It was the calm that frightened her more than the yelling: the throbbing vein in his temple and his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper while he stared at her with cold, soulless brown eyes.

She heated up the iron and prepared the board, getting the starch. She ironed them the way he liked them until they were perfect. He was such a neat freak! She was forced to clean his house from ceiling to floor every day. Once she got in the door after 8 hours of slave-driving at the office, she had to change out of her office clothes into cleaning clothes and do more work and slave-driving until dinnertime.

She could feel tears pricking her eyes, combined with years of suppressed hateful rage and hurt, but what was the point anymore? Tears were useless ever since she was five. Harken would just laugh in her face, calling her a crybaby and mockingly mimic crying. She wiped away the beginnings of tears and just thought of the song "18-Wheeler" by Pink, her favorite singer. Pink would never take shit from anybody, her songs said it all. She'd probably kick Harken's ass.

Harken came into the kitchen in his pants, undershirt, and socks.

"Is my shirt ready?" he demanded.

She nodded and handed it to him, careful not to wrinkle it. He put it on and did his tie and put on his shoes. She stared at that hateful yellow and blue striped tie that he always wore, wishing she could strangle him with it.

"Let's go," he barked.

Caylee sat in the back seat and said nothing, trembling. She thought it would be best to stay quiet since he was in a foul mood from her not ironing his shirts the "right" way. She kept her head down, holding his briefcase.

"We're having a staff meeting tomorrow. You got the memos to pass out?"

She nodded and replied with a quiet "mm-hmm", showing him that she didn't forget. Caylee often went above and beyond her abilities to please her father, hoping that he would show some kind of love or appreciation. Sadly, he showed not even the smallest amount. Yet, if she couldn't get love from him, then her stepmother, Rhonda, gave her love more than he did.

Though she loved Rhonda and appreciated everything she had done for her, she missed her real Mom. Harken made her real Mom go away. He only said that she left…only, she didn't remember what happened…why did she leave? Did she not love her anymore? Why did she leave her with this monster that was her father? She didn't understand.

They opened the office around 5:30 AM and Caylee set up Harken's desk with the notes. She organized the memos for the staff meeting, which announced the promotion for Vice President of Sales at Comnidyne Industries. It didn't say who though. She had heard rumors that Nick was getting the promotion. He sure deserved it after working for eight years in the same position. He had talked about it in the break room several times and how excited he was, after dealing with all the shit Harken put him through. It was finally about to pay off for once.

The office opened at 6 AM. She had prepared everything while Harken ordered her around. Not once did she complain. Nick came in about two minutes after six. He was always the first one there, aside from Thomas, the security officer or the janitor. She walked over to his desk, placing the memo there and greeted him with a polite hello. Nick's face broke into a smile. He was always happy to see Caylee since she brought sunshine into his life. It was the only good thing around the dismal office.

"Did you get the flowers and card I sent you?" she asked. She had sent them since his grandmother died at the hospital a while ago.

"Yes. Thank you so much," he said with a smile.

"How was the funeral?"

"It was lovely."

"Good. I'm sorry for your loss, Nick. I wish I could've gone."

"Thank you." He smiled appreciatively.

"Excuse me?" interrupted Harken. "Are you two having a coffee break or something? If not, I suggest you get back to work."

Caylee nodded.

"Nick, my office please," he said. "I want to speak to you. Caylee, pass out those memos."

Caylee went to pass out memos, asking the coworkers if they wanted coffee and ordering breakfast. She went to knock on Harken's office and saw Nick running out of his office, coughing.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I'm taking breakfast orders, sir," she said. "Do you want anything?"

"Did you pass out the memos like I asked you to?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Now order me some oatmeal and bran muffins. Don't forget to confirm my teeth whitening appointment."

She nodded and sat at her pathetic little desk just outside of Harken's office, placing her headset on and putting in orders. She looked at Nick from across the way and decided to surprise him for his promotion. She'd order a cake and ask everyone in the office to chip in. She called everyone at their desks and whispered to them her intentions, which they all agreed to chip in. She called a local bakery and asked to have a large cake made by tomorrow with the words CONGRATULATIONS NICK! Though it was expensive, it was worth every penny. She used some of the company's money to pay for the rest as well as her own that she kept stashed away.

Harken always demanded that she pay rent at his house, aside from cleaning his clothes and cleaning his house. It was hard to hold onto her paycheck to have any fun since it all went to him in the end. After all, he quoted: "I paid for you to go to high school and college to get your secretarial degree…the least you can do is pay me back for living under my roof."

She wasn't ungrateful that he did all those, but sometimes he made it sound like it was all her fault. To him, everything she did was wrong or her fault. She would stash a little bit of money from her paycheck in her secret bank account that nobody, not even Rhonda, knew about so she could leave Harken and get her own place. Yet, she felt sorry for Rhonda for having to stay behind. Hey! Maybe she could convince her to come. She knew she wasn't happy with Harken. She knew she was cheating on him, but so what? It was completely understandable. Maybe she'd leave him soon.