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A harrowing experience
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
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
The Bargain Homecoming
Racheal finally stepped onto the landing of her apartment floor. She walked slowly towards the huge front door of her apartment. There was not a single guard waiting out here.Racheal smiled sadly, they truly were not expecting her back, or at least so soon. She inhaled to steady herself, and then opened the door.She met her maids sitting in the living room. They turned in surprise at the sound of the door opening. When they saw her, they flew off their seats to hug her.Racheal had to steady herself as they almost knocked her down. Leah was sobbing and when Luna stepped back to look at her, her eyes looked moist too.“I'm so sorry. I was cornered, they questioned me harshly.” Leah said. “They threatened to take me too if I did not say all I knew.”Racheal hugged the girl closer, hoping her heat and stench was not unbearable from not having had a proper bath in days. “It's fine. You told the truth.” She consoled her. She could not blame her, if she was this helpless in the face of
The Bargain A powerful hostess
It was already dusk when Racheal stepped out, all dressed up and ready. The presidential villa was bathed in purple light as she stood waiting for her chauffeur to bring the car around. “Ma'am.” She heard someone beside her. She turned, she did not recognise him, but he was dressed in the white presidential security uniform. Yes? Her eyes questioned. “You know you cannot go out unsupervised.” The man said.“Who are you?” “The commander of your personal guards.” He bowed. It was funny how she had never met him since she arrived. Perhaps it was because she never had a reason to. All the time she had left these walls, it had been in Steffan’s company. “Well, supervise me then.” She said sarcastically. The car was here.“May I ask where we are headed?” He said a little agitated, as he opened the car door for her to climb in.“The Dalloz mansion.” She replied. The man stiffened. She placed her hand on her knees, waiting. The guard seemed to recover, bow and close the car door.Sh
The Bargain An announcement
“Peace.” Racheal said. Peace was perhaps what she truly wanted, what she had always wanted. All those years under her step-mother’s torture, she had craved peace. She was excited to leave with Maxwell so she could finally find peace. Here in Yin, she wanted Thalia off her back, she wanted all the insults and trouble from Danna Sherrod to stop. She just wanted to be left alone. “You cannot get that.” Madame Dalloz said. Racheal’s head snapped up. “At least not for a while. To get peace you need war. And you need a safe place to fight from. You need allies.” Madame Dalloz said.Racheal looked at her with uncertainty. She had recently realised she needed allies. From the day Danna Sherrod had accused her of trying to gain allies, she saw through the accusation that it might be the Sherrods biggest fear.She wanted allies, that was why she had taken the bold steps to come here. But fight? She had no will to fight, no strength to. She just wanted peace, to run off to a place wher
The Bargain An arranged marriage
Racheal sat, stunned. She watched in horror, as Skylar seemed to be reliving her own horrible event from a few weeks ago. “What? You can't be serious.” Skylar said.“Do we look like clowns to you?” Danna Sherrod responded angrily. “Dad. I told you, I don't like men.” Skylar looked shattered. “How can you do this?”“That is exactly why we are doing this. You need fixing.” Danna Sherrod said in disgust. Steffan sat quietly through it all. For the first time Racheal looked up at him. Would he not say anything to defend his sister? She had always gotten the impression that he loved her dearly. “Look at the bright side Skylar. You'll finally get mom and dad off your back.” He finally spoke up. Everyone around the table turned to look at him in surprise. “What sort of statement is that? Whose side are you on?” Danna Sherrod gave him an angry look.“You too, Steffan?” Skylar said, sounding hurt. “You will let them do this to me?”“Enough!” The president finally spoke up slamming the ta
The Bargain You're safe
A few hours later, Racheal arrived at a completely different police building. She noticed how different this place was from the building she had been held in. It was open, and the hallways were busy. Cops and other people in plain clothes milled around, speaking in polite voices. Delbert led her upstairs in an elevator, and a cop joined them, as soon as they stepped out of the elevator. “Hello Mr Dalloz.” She greeted. “Ma'am.” She politely bowed to Racheal. Both of them nodded in acknowledgment to her greeting. “This way please.” She said and began to lead them down a glass-walled hallway.They walked for a few minutes, and were soon ushered into a room that was as small as the one she had been held in. It was dark, with a lone electric lamp hanging low over a table in the middle.Racheal felt uneasy being here, and she had a strong urge to run away. But she felt a calming hand over hers. “I am here.” Delbert said soothingly.She nodded and they moved further into the room. A
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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
