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The Bargain The gardens of Xen
The MC climbed back on the stage and led the other activities. Accolades were given to several businesses, new industry innovations were discussed and demonstrated. Racheal felt alive as she learned new things seated in the middle of very intelligent people. Thalia returned from the restroom to the hall much later.Racheal looked at her face searchingly, and she suspected Thalia had been crying although she had done a good job of repairing her makeup. She felt a little prick of guilt. Had she gone too far? Did she say too much during their confrontation?Soon after,She saw two tall blond women in short dresses walk towards their table and stop beside Steffan. None of them even acknowledged her with as much as a glance. Steffan smiled up brightly at them and one of the women bent low to whisper to him. He nodded and both women left after the second one kissed his face and caressed his chest in the full glare of everyone.Racheal felt tears burn her eyes. A few people from the crow
The Bargain An odd meeting
Racheal shook the thoughts away from her head. He would not dare. What would he tell his parents?She turned in resignation to return to the hall. If she could not find him, she would ask the guards to take her home alone. They would not refuse her. At least she doubted they would. She suddenly stopped, there was another staircase she hadn't noticed before that led down some other part of the building. She was immediately consumed by dreadful excitement. She was nervous about what she would find. She looked around to make sure no one was following her, then she slowly walked towards the staircase and went down the steps slowly. She was grateful that there was a carpet that muffled the sound of her clicking heels.She then walked down a tiny hallway till she got to a door that was slightly ajar. She held her breath and peered in.She saw men from around Steffann's age and older, all seated around a huge table. Oddly, they had on the same shade of black suit. The only thing that wo
The Bargain A mystery package for Racheal
She spent the entire morning in anxiety the next day. She knew this was not good for her health but she could not stop.She was worried. When she finally stepped out this morning, her maids had informed her that Steffan called last night but turned away after he heard her instructions about not wanting to be disturbed. At first, it had pleased her, she had turned the president’s son away. He had respected her wishes and left her alone. But as the day progressed, it began to bother her. It appeared to her that he did not care, why had he not tried even a little harder. Now, it was almost noon, he had not come to check on her to see how she was doing. She shook her head in self pity. She would never learn. Why was she suddenly so invested in this man and his actions towards her. She should be focusing her energy on other things. Making friends for one. Danna Sherrod had accused her of trying to buy allies so she would be untouchable. She might as well truly do that. She needed al
The Bargain Racheal confronts Steffan
All three young women froze. They somehow knew there would be unsavoury consequences if anyone saw these things here. Luna was the first to react. She dove for the basket, but she was not quick enough. Before she had even completely lifted it off the table, the door opened and Steffan walked in.Leah melted away, while Luna held the basket suspended in the air, her eyes bulging at having been caught.Racheal sighed. “You can take it later Luna.” There was no saving this, Steffan had already seen it. Luna slowly dropped the basket and exited the living room to the balcony. Racheal smiled weakly at Steffan but he did not return her smile.“You were missing from the party twice yesterday.” He said without preamble, walking further into the room.Racheal sighed. So she was been watched after all. She decided the best course of action was to tell the truth. “Yes.”“I cannot even trust you to behave for one minute in my absence?” He asked through gritted teeth. Racheal flinched. He wa
The Bargain A harrowing experience
“Where were you at 11:40 pm Friday 9th April 2021” Racheal heard a voice from the wall ask.She was startled, and frantically looked around. Where did the clear voice come from? She was the only one in the room.“Please answer the question.” The voice said. Racheal looked behind her, she could hear the voice even from behind. The voice came from everywhere. Did these people intend to frighten her? How could she hear them when there were no speakers in sight?As if reading her mind, the voice said. “The speakers are installed in the walls. Now please concentrate on the question.”“I was preparing for bed.” She said finally.“Any witness to this?”“My personal maids.” Racheal said. There was silence for a few minutes and then the voice shouted. “Liar!” Racheal jumped, startled, knocking her seat over. She looked around in alarm. This was intimidating. They could see her but she could not see them. She was put in here like a hamster on a treadmill for entertainment. She could not se
The Bargain Still a captive
About one hour later, the door suddenly swung open and the cop who had led her in earlier, stepped into the room. Racheal quickly bounded up from the floor where she had been crumpled crying. Has someone come to save her? Was it over?The cop moved to the side and ushered in a younger looking cop who had a bag of fast food in hand. She broke down again in tears. Food? What did she need food for? She wanted to go back home, to her cosy quarters at the villa no matter how oppressive the walls seemed sometimes. The young cop placed the bag and what looked like a cup of iced tea on the table. Both cops hurriedly left, shutting the door behind them. She looked at the greasy bag in disgust and moved it to the far end of the table before she sat down.She was still in her seat when she heard the voice again. As usual, it was a completely new voice. “Are you ready to speak now?”“There is nothing to say.” She responded tiredly. There was silence and she thought they had left, when the
The Bargain A French Knight
The next two days passed the same way for Racheal. She was questioned every couple of hours. She could not track the time properly because she did not have her wristwatch, and there was no wall clock in the room either.She only knew when it was sunrise or sundown because of the window in the bathroom.The cops asked her the same question over and over, till she was screaming because she was exausted from having to repeat herself. Her hair was a mess, she was hungry and sleep deprived. The few bathroom breaks she had were short, but at least she could look up at the bathroom window. This helped her keep track of the days. The breaks also helped her clean her body. She used wipes to clean up as much as she could. Although she was not stinking up the whole place, she did not feel clean either. Anytime the cops led her down the dimly lit passageway that connected the restroom to the bright, bright interrogation room, she struggled with the urge to fight. On the third morning thoug
The Bargain A fresh start
Delbert helped Racheal into the back seat of his roll-royce phantom. He walked around the car and eased in through the other door.She knitted her hands together nervously. My God, how she must stink!Delbert patted the back of the chauffeur’s seat, commanding him to move. She looked back and noticed theirs was the only car moving. No convoy. It felt refreshing. She wondered what it would be like living a life like this. Not burdened by having to take a trope of bodyguards everywhere. She cleared her throat, and when he looked at her with all the kindness in the world evident in his eyes, she wanted to cry.“Thank you. Thank you for saving me.” She told him.His lips pressed together as he nodded. It appeared he was thinking of something, something that annoyed him. She could only guess that that they were thinking about the same thing. That saving her was Steffan’s job, Steffan was supposed to have been here to save her. But was it truly his job? It would be if they were real h
Latest chapter
The Bargain Epilogue
“Mind Skylar’s head.” Steffan said, watching her get out of the car. Racheal cradled six month-old Skylar’s head in her arms and got out of the car. Steffan turned and walked ahead towards the courthouse. She knew he did not like this, neither did her mother, but she wanted to lead a new life from now on.She would only allow any dispute to be settled by the court no matter how long it took, instead of the torture, killing and all they had done up to the point that she had Sterling.“Maman," Sterling said, peeking his head around his father’s shoulders.“Yes, baby.”“Maman.” He said again, and she smiled at him. Steffan adjusted him in his arms as they walked into the building.It was an informal courtroom, and the biggest case in Xen. This case was what had disgraced Roslyn and made her lose the elections. Journalists waited outside for the final hearing.She and Steffan sat side by side after the judge took her seat, and the accused began to be escorted in by the cops. Roslyl
The Bargain I can live with that
Racheal followed Steffan into his house quietly. His housekeeper greeted her warmly. She nodded at the woman. She was surprised to see Chef Bennett come out.“Dinner in five minutes, sir.” Then he paused. “Mrs Sherrod.” He bowed.“Make a place for two,” Steffan said. Those were the first words he had said, since she told him she missed him.“Sure, Sir.” Chef Bennett responded.“You kept him?” Racheal asked, as Steffan led the way upstairs. “You liked him.” He said simply.She said nothing more. He surprisingly led the way to his bedroom on the second floor. It was a dark masculine room, wide, dark and intimidating.She stood in the middle, unsure of how to act, or what to do next.He dropped his bag on the bed, and glanced at her.“I am sorry I hurt you.” She said. He paused, midway into sitting on the bed, then started to take his tie off.“That’s rare. Women never apologize.”She made a face at him. But continued anyway. “I was conflicted. I wanted to be with you, but I was
The Bargain Pregnancy test result
Racheal sat on the toilet bowl, staring at the pregnancy test kit. It clearly read positive. In denial, she took others. They read the same thing.She hurried back to her room and pulled on a dress. It would be stupid to make the same mistake twice. She sat nervously in the backseat as her chauffeur took her to the hospital.She waited nervously as her blood got drawn, and patiently waited for the doctor.She could not smile back as the doctor said.“Congratulations Mrs Sherrod. Would you like to see your baby?”She climbed the table, and stared at the ceiling as the doctor smeared a cold gel on her flat belly.“You are about seven weeks pregnant.” The doctor said excitedly. “Look at your baby.” She held her breath and turned.She could hear the heartbeat of the fetus as the doctor pointed out where the baby was in the sac. It was so tiny, she burst into tears.The doctor helped her up and soothed her, telling her it was OK to cry, that days like these were an emotional day for
The Bargain Please let me go
The president is dead did not cover the horror of how Spencer Sherrod had died. He stared at his father’s coffin the next morning as the priest talked on and on. He had wanted to kill this man. He had wanted to kill him with his own hand, so why was he reacting this way to the man’s death?His mind kept going back to how Spencer had looked in the video he had seen. He was headed for a meeting, surrounded by his guards, edgy and nervous, and alone.The old woman had come from the crowd, begging an audience. He had hesitated, but asked them to let her through. The woman had hugged him, even as his guards had yelled that it was against protocol.One had even reached out to pull her away. Then flames. He shook his head as he remembered the explosion sound. They had quickly found out the woman was the journalist’s aged mother. The journalist Spencer had killed at Racheal’s office.He felt someone squeeze his arm. He looked down at the little woman. She was the only good thing in
The Bargain Stay away from my daughter
“We should start moving. I don’t want Limuel’s men to find us here," he said as he stocked the fire. She dropped a plate of Ramen in front of him. He smiled up at her, and she smiled back.He did not mind if he lost all his wealth, and became doomed to this kind of life, as long as he had her. She was all he wanted now, all he had ever wanted really from the day he met her.“It will be a few hours still before we can start moving.” She responded. He nodded and picked up his meal. She walked closer and sat beside him. He turned to her, caressed her cheek, and kissed her lightly. She returned his kiss, enthusiastically, the way he remembered, the way he liked.He loved how much she loved his touch. They were soon grappling at each other, their meal forgotten. He squeezed her warm soft body as she moaned his name and dug into his back. He savored the warmness of her, the fullness of her curve, the lusty way she matched his thrusts, squeezing tight around him.He did not want to
The Bargain Do you still love me?
Racheal sat shocked, staring at Steffan’s face, just barely able to see it in the near darkness. But she could see clearly enough the honesty in there. His blue eyes were clear and honest, open and pleading.“You should have said that when I wanted to hear it.” She said, shaking her head, starting to move away. But he held her.“I should have. I was a fool not to have.”“I even told you once that I loved you. You said nothing.”“I am sorry.”“Stop apologising. It won’t fix anything," she said, trying to pull away. She did not have to hear this, she did not want to hear this. It would make leaving him that much more difficult. It was easier walking away from a man who hurt her, and had never admitted to loving her even once. But now…“Racheal.” He said, taking her face between his hands. “I love you. I have always loved you. My heart stops at the thought of losing you. The day Isaac told me you were dying, the day you sent that divorce document, my heart completely stopped beatin
The Bargain He ruined my life
“I thought you changed. Apparently, you did not," Steffan said finally, looking away. “You are still as stubborn and careless as ever.”His words stung her.“Careless? You sound like I got some warning that a certain Limuel was after me and ignored it.”“I tried to warn you. I sent a dozen messages, tried to make an appointment,” he blew up.She shrank back. Well. There was no way she would have known. She had his number blocked, so there was no way she could have seen his messages. She still did not know how he had gotten her new contact number by the way. She could not think of any of her staff who could have given him her personal number.She knew he was in contact with Isaac, but could Isaac have given him the number?“After all that has happened to you, I don’t know how you can still put yourself in danger like this.”“One could say I was in danger, hiding with you in a storm like this. At least Maman would think so.” She said quietly, lowering herself to the floor. That got
The Bargain Locked in
“What are you doing?” Racheal asked as she watched Steffan walk towards one of the many couches in the room. He said nothing.He placed a bright flashlight she suspected he must have found wherever he found the axe on the floor, lighting the whole room up. He raised the axe, and began to hack at the couch.She stared at him in shock, at first not understanding what he was doing. Then she turned back, and shut the heavy bolt on the door. He had to make fire somehow, or they would freeze to death before the storm was over. Between the both of them, they could probably buy a million couches for this family.She walked further into the living room, past him, checking the whole place out. The only place that was open to them was the hallway, the open kitchen in the living room, and a tiny bathroom at the end of the hallway. All the other rooms were firmly locked. She was not very eager to ruin their locks like she did the front door.She walked towards the kitchen, and turned on th
The Bargain Can you run?
“What? Why?” Racheal screamed in confusion as she watched Limuel’s guards pull a limp Steffan up.Then they began to pull him to pull him away, his tall frame causing his foot to drag behind him.“I had a suspicion he might come here.” Limuel said, pulling out a big cigar.“What did we do to you?” She asked, looking from Limuel to Steffan, who was being dragged away.“I have no problems with the Sherrods. Just you.”“What?” She asked just as she saw Limuel’s toddler run out of the house. The guards tried to stop the child who was not warmly dressed for the weather. The toddler screamed. He just wanted his father.Lukas Limuel turned at the commotion. “Let him through," he said, standing up. The child broke through the barrier of guards, and ran into his father’s arms.“I don’t have the time to explain anything. I hear your mother has suddenly returned from the dead. I believe she will pay a decent price in exchange for you as compensation for what your family did to us.” Lukas sa
