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A visit from the first lady
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
The Bargain It will be safer with me
Racheal froze in Danna Sherrod’s arms, unsure how to react.Mother? When she first got here, the woman had warned her severely never to call her that.Danna Sherrod released her, still smiling. Racheal watched the intimidatingly beautiful First Lady. Could she really call this woman mother after all the horrible things she had done to her?She had not treated her like a daughter-in-law at all.“I got you something.” Danna Sherrod said, picking a paper bag from a nearby couch. Racheal watched the bag suspiciously even as the woman stretched it out for her to take. She hesitated a little, but accepted the bag so she would not appear impolite.She bowed to the woman. She could not possibly come kill her in her own home with Steffan a few rooms away, could she?“Take a look at it.” Racheal opened the bag, and peeped in. She saw a beautifully designed cosmetic product inside. Curiously, she pulled the box out, to take a better look at it.“I had it specially made for you. It is a tr
The Bargain There will be consequences
“What’s that?” Steffan asked, gesturing to the bag in Racheal's hand. She looked down, remembering the bag in her hand. She locked eyes with Steffan, and handed it to him. Danna Sherrod was all smiles.“It’s a healing cream for her scars.” Danna Sherrod said. Racheal watched her. The woman was far from the confident authoritative woman she was used to seeing. Her voice, posture and whole attitude was patronising, and it was almost ugly to look at, especially if you knew her before as the strong tough woman she was.Danna Sherrod was watching Steffan like he was God’s gift to man. It was again clear that he was the favourite child.She was ready to soothe, and even embarrass herself to gain his affection, especially now that she knew he was no longer eating out her palms.Racheal almost pitied her. She turned her attention back to Steffan who was staring at the cosmetic product with a frown. ‘Where is this from?’ He frowned at his mother.A scientist in the UK.” Danna Sherrod r
The Bargain You are getting too comfortable
Against her better judgement, Racheal left the villa without telling Steffan. She knew he believed that she was simply going to take her father’s call, and was even now arranging for her meal. But she feared he would stop her or insist on going with her if she told him. She also did not want to pull him into any of this till she was sure about her next course of action.At least she went with her guards. And she was sure Isaac who was sitting in front, would tell him she had headed out.The butler at the Dalloz mansion welcomed her warmly and directed her to the informal living room she had been in the last time she visited.“Hello.” Racheal bowed to the old lady who sat peering into her tablet, in a solid set of reading glasses. Madame Dalloz set the tablet aside, and smiled up brightly at her,“My dear.” She said, standing up. “This is such a pleasant surprise.” She said, and hugged her close.Racheal hugged the woman, and smiled at her when she finally let go.“You look well.”
The Bargain The person at the stadium
Racheal walked into the dimly lit room, careful not to misstep or hit her legs anywhere.Even in the faint light, she could see the outline of a person on the big bed in the middle of the room. She squinted to get a better look without moving any closer. So there was truly someone here like she had vaguely suspected. Then the light came on, it was so bright she was forced to shut her eyes for a minute.Then she opened them again. At first, the light made her eyes water, causing her vision to blur. But as her eyes adjusted to the room, she saw the person on the bed clearly.She gasped.“I saw him at the stadium, what happened to him.” She asked, turning to madame Dalloz. And why did the man look so much thinner?“You’re sure you saw him?” Madame Dalloz asked with a casual smile. “I did. That was the first time I saw your husband, he was with Delbert too at the President’s resort later that day for the meeting with my father.” Racheal explained, looking from the frail looking fram
The Bargain Prove it!
Racheal bowed to Madame Dalloz, that was enough for one day.She glanced one last time at the frame of the man on the bed, memorising his features. Features that when she looked at them now, she could see the familiarities between him and Steffan.She shook the thoughts out of her mind, and turned away to walk out.She felt her whole body shaking as she walked out. Outside, she saw Isaac waiting beside her car door anxiously. He opened the door as soon as he saw her.She pressed her lips tightly. She would not cry. And she would not let herself think of all she just learned. She was close to the car when she saw broad shoulders appear before her line of vision. She stopped, then looked up, and found herself staring up at Delbert.“Racheal. You visited. I have been trying to reach you.”She said nothing, just continued looking at him.“I am sorry about the ball. Not sorry about what I said, but how I said it.” He apologised, looking worriedly into his eyes.She saw Isaac watching t
The Bargain Thank you for your hospitality
Everyone outside the Dalloz mansion froze for a second, then the Dalloz security guards began to move forward to protect their heir.“I have warned you to back off.” Steffan said angrily, aiming his gun at Delbert’s head.“You think you will get out of here alive if you shoot me?” Delbert asked with a bitter laugh. Racheal found herself running towards Steffan, and stood in front of him, facing Delbert. His security guards stood around, their guns pointed at Steffan.“Nobody is killing anybody.” She said looking at Delbert. She could hear Steffan’s heavy breathing behind her. “We’ll be leaving now.”“That’s for the best.” Madame Dalloz said, walking with her cane to stand beside Delbert.Racheal turned, shocked to see the woman.“Thank you for your hospitality.” Racheal said sarcastically, looking from grandson to grandmother, as she placed her hand on Steffan’s. He lowered his gun. She turned and looked at his eyes briefly. They were red like old blood. She looked away quickly,
The Bargain You are breaking my heart
Racheal felt like her heart was about to burst. This was too much.The secrets, plotting, scheming. She just wanted peace. She wanted to go back to the resort when everything was great and easy. Or her house at the hilltop, or back to the time she was a little five years old girl. She was happy, and at peace.She soon felt Steffan lowering himself beside her on the floor, and wraping her in his arms. She struggled against him, pushing him away. She could not stop sobbing. But he held her tight, and slowly she let her head rest against his chest.He smoothed her back, and shushed her.But she could not stop the tears.“You are breaking my heart.” He said, and that seemd to intensify her tears.“I’m sorry.” he said, tightening his arms around her.“I’m sorry too.” She said finally, looking up at him. “I thought it would be quick. I needed Madame Dalloz’s advice.” She said.“It’s ok. You don’t have to talk about it if you do not want to.” He said, gently brushing her hair away from h
The Bargain Get the key
“You may find all I am about to tell you deeply upsetting.” Racheal said. Steffan looked up at her. He must have seen the serious look on her face because he closed the laptop, and placed it to his side.“Please promise to conrol your fury?” She asked. She saw a shift in his eyes, but they went back to normal, and he nodded.“Ok.” “When I was taken as a suspect for the vault robbery, the investigators said they found my hair samples at the crime scene, and since nobody had seen me for the whole of that night, because I locked myself in my room, I had no real alibi.”Steffan was watching her, and she could see that this was painful for him to digest.“Delbert saved me. He used his influence to get me out, and began to chase down the culprit. He found a member of the robbery gang that was willing to talk.”“Why?” Racheal shrugged, “I guess Ben liked me.” When she saw the look on his face she added, “No, no, no. Not that way. Ben is an old man.” “What did he say?”“Thalia runs an
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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
