FOUR

MAY

My legs wobbled. My heart began to pound as I tried to think of how this even happened. The worst of it was as my head spun and my legs buckled threatening to throw me to the floor, I heard a knock at the door. The vortex stopped and my mind focused on one thing: Talking to Cupid.  I managed to walk to my front door and unlock it. As the old thing creaked open, Cupid came into view. Rage took over and all that pent-up rage that was merely bubbling from within seeped out. I wanted to do nothing but scream and vomit all the repressed venom but I chose to keep my cool. Why? Because whoever these people were, they were beginning to scare me.

"My bank account..." I stuttered, shaking as I shoved the notification in her face.  "This cannot be legal."

Cupid's eyes swept through my phone and all she did was smile. What kind of psychopath does that? Her face tilted to the iPad in her hands and then she spoke.

"Section 2.1 states that if needed, we can use coercion to instill cooperation." She then looked me straight in the eye. "The means of coercion includes... temporary confiscation of financial assets and landed properties that you legally gave us rights to."

"So what does that mean?" I shot back. "Where the hell is my money? I just lost my job and the entirety of what was just pulled from my account might be the only thing that keeps me surviving for the time being. You can't do this to me. I'll sue."

"And you will lose." Cupid chipped in, brushing a tendril of my flaying hair behind my burning ear. The act itself infuriated me but I was too frozen to even try to slap her hands off. I was crippled with defeat. "Whether intended or not, you have given Snuggle the legal right to let us help you. But if you keep fighting our assistance, we might be forced to use rather unsavory methods to ensure cooperation"

I narrowed my eyes at the witch promising that I wouldn't cry. "You mentioned the confiscation was temporary. How do I get back my money?"

"It is quite simple actually," Cupid answered. "All you have to do is adhere to the terms of our contract and that means forming a relationship with your husband, Mr. Edmond Walters."

I cringed hearing that name. How was I supposed to look that man in the eye? I could not even manage a false smile in front of him at the moment because all I fantasized about was smashing his teeth while I watched him suffer. I also knew the pairing was an impossible match. Apart from having nothing in common, just like me, that foul man would refuse to heed a word. It took a moment but when that word replayed in the recesses of my mind for the second time, a wicked idea burned into my brain. I shook my head frantically. "I wish it was that easy but the same man that fired me from my job is Edmond. I highly doubt he wants to set his eyes on me again. Can I just match with someone else?" The last sentence was a mistake. I never intended to say it. Gosh, I wasn't even thinking about it but my deep-rooted hate for my now ex-boss had made my lips move faster than my brain, and all the words had poured out before I could caution my brain. I hoped in my heart of hearts that the sentence I just spewed wouldn't jeopardize the petty mission I had enacted.

Cupid merely chuckled. "That will not possible. Our matches are algorithm-based. You only matched with Mr. Edmond because your likes, dislikes, and life experiences correspond with one another."

I raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Most of the interest I typed on the app was false. If they were going by the algorithm of my lies then this was bound to fail. As if reading my mind, Cupid spoke.

"Oh, we don't follow what our users tend to type as their likes and dislikes on the app. Most people tend to be dishonest filling those but it's hard to hide who you truly are in your texts and social media handles. About Mr. Edmond, don't you worry, I will be having a similar talk with him."

"And what if Mr. Edmond refuses to comply? Even after you've used your means?"

Cupid looked at me, perplexed. The faith she had in her methods was outstanding but I knew this was how things were going to go when they approached Edmond. One, he would refuse their services. Two, They would confiscate the meager things they could from the bastard, and three, with how huge his ego had to be, I doubted Mr. Edmond would let it slide and a huge lawsuit would ensue but before all that happened, my money would be back in my account. Well, I was a hopeful woman. At the moment, all that filled my head was petty revenge.

"Mr. Edmond will comply," Cupid assured. "He has a lot to lose."

That got me thinking. Did someone as wealthy as Edmond Walters accept a shady application's permission without even glancing through? I couldn't also let go of the fact that Edmond was on that app. He was rich and if I ignored the foul attitude, Edmond could pass as a suave gentleman who was gentle on the eyes. With all those features and a high social standing, there was no way he could not easily snag himself a girlfriend. But what did I know? I returned my attention to Cupid mentally wishing her good luck.  Gingerly, I reached for my doorknob and turned it open. As the door creaked open, I noticed Cupid wasn't leaving to go and torture Edmond. I turned back at the exact moment she chose to speak.

"What do you think you are doing?" She queried.

"I'm going inside and hoping my money somehow makes it back to me," I replied with my heart pounding. A larger part of me refused to acknowledge it but I strangely knew where this conversation was heading to.

"You don't need to do that. You'll be following me."

She had to be joking, I muttered to myself. I was a woman who had just lost her job. A woman with empty pockets. A woman who had somehow managed to involve herself with a shady application that now had control of her bank account and possibly a lot more. The list went on but there was no way I was walking my way up to a possible court case. I didn't care what dirt  Cupid or Snuggle had on Edmond but I wasn't risking my sorry job-seeking ass. No agency wanted publicity coming from a negative perspective.

"And why would I do that?" My stomach flipped as the words left my throat. I wasn't even sure where the confidence exuded from. My boot was shaking just thinking about what means of coercion she was going to use next if I refused to play Snuggle's game.

"May Wolfe, you are married. The traditional concept of marriage expects that you move to the house of your husband and as you said, you are no feminist."

"What makes you think that?" I shot back.

"Think what?" Cupid repeated. "That you are no feminist. Well, a few of your Reddit and F******k interactions have shown very clearly that you are against what you call radical feminism, and on a couple of occasions, you have lashed out at women who chose to stand up against heteronormative dominance. Not to mention that you are a devout Christian. Need I go on?"

A chill washed over my back as I took on the facts she spew. The fragment she gathered from comments I had made online. My amygdala pinged while I tried to convince myself that the dread sending my senses haywire was just brain chemicals, and I tried to analyze the situation as best I could. I  made a faint attempt to picture this scenario from an outside point of view. As if it were a scene from a movie rather than something unfolding right in front of me. I pondered on what choice my character would make but in the end, I broke my methods because I could not handle rational decision-making. After all, there was nothing logical about this situation.

"I am trying my best to make this normal. This," I began, pointing at her. "Is not normal. None of this is. But I draw the line at pure insanity. I am not following you to that man's house. At least, not until it is safe for me to do so. He could call the cops on us for trespassing."

"Like I might have to do. If you keep being difficult."

I frowned hearing her say that. "What do you mean by that?"

Cupid popped her ready fingers and swiped at her pad. She handed the device to me and then proceeded to speak. "We took into consideration your weaknesses too. A part of why you won't be staying in your apartment, for the time being, is because of your fight-or-flight nature. We've noticed a pattern with you when it comes to a situation you feel you cannot handle so snuggle worked its way around it. This apartment is no longer yours, Mrs. Wolfe. You've leased it out to Snuggle and it belongs to Snuggle for an entirety of thirty days."

"You can't..." I tried to plead but Cupid would not stop her assault.

She grabbed her pad back from my fidgety hands and continued. "You have fifteen minutes to get your things or I'll be calling the Police on you for trespassing and remember, time in jail can mar people regardless of how they got in there."