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The funeral
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
The Bargain Dead
“What?” Steffan stared at her, his eyes widening. “What did you just say?”Racheal kept quiet. He heard her clearly the first time. She was not going to repeat herself.“Look at me.” He grabbed her chin, his voice hard and his eyes harsh. “You will never say that again.”“You will force me to stay with you?” She challenged, staring in his eyes.“You bet I will.” Steffan yelled.“You will have to lock me in some cage like your father did at that camp. You are no longer allowed rights to my body, and you no longer have my heart,” she said.Steffan let her face go, and stepped back. That was a lie. She knew that was a lie. He had her heart. He somehow had taken it and kept it for himself. Spoiled her for anyone else, even if his father gave her freedom to leave Yin today.She was just happy he could not see her eyes behind these sunglasses, or her shattering heart through this veil."You don’t mean this,” he said, shaking his head. “You are just angry.” He was staring at her in disbel
The Bargain The love of commoners
Racheal smiled sadly. She had always been in danger since she arrived here. Thalia, Danna, Spencer, and even Zuri.“How do you know Zuri?” She asked, looking up at Delbert, suddenly remembering they had come to Chloe’s ball together.“She is French like my grandfather. Herself and...” He stopped.“Malorie. I know Malorie," She said. So he knew about that too.“Is Steffan keeping anything else? You don’t have to tell me what it is.” She stared up into his eyes, trying to find the truth.“No. I don’t think he is.” Delbert said simply.Racheal nodded.“You both were friends. Did you know Zuri would attack me?’” She asked.“Of course I didn’t,” Delbert said, stepping back. “I don’t even think she planned to initially.” He added more calmly. “She was always angry, but she would never hurt an innocent person.”“Well she did.” Racheal said, remembering the horrible night she had to spend in that shed, facing the gun, trying to stay awake and not move too much, so the gun would not go off.“
The Bargain Racheal gathers evidence
Racheal and Jade walked into the vault building, very similar to the one she had visited with Steffan just last week. Although it was a Sunday, they were granted entrance. She first went in search for the box that held all the evidence. She went there alone, while Jade remained at the reception. She inhaled as she opened the box and saw the bulky envelope sitting in it.She pulled it out slowly, and opened it. There were several printed papers and a flash drive. She took out the flash drive, wondering what was there. She put it back in and went through the papers. She quickly realized it was a chat history between Danna Sherrod and her blackmailer. She scanned through it quickly, moving from page to page. She got to a different looking document she recognized as a call transcript between Danna Sherrod and her blackmailer.She tucked the papers back in the envelope, double-checked to see the flashdrive was still in there and closed the box.She looked around wildly. She did not
The Bargain You should have left with Delbert
Racheal watched the man as she sat in his apartment. He was Steffan’s friend, and Zuri’s friend too. That unfortunate day,On Zuri’s plea, he had gone to Steffan’s apartment to check up on Malorie, since Zuri could not go herself after being banned from the place for creating a scene, because she tried to pull her stubborn sister away.He had gone there, confirmed she was OK, then went to the kitchen for a glass of water before leaving when the murderer had barged in with his men to shoot Malorie. He had stood in shock, only remembering to pull out his phone and record when the murderer leaned over the young woman to confirm she was dead, and then walked out, the murder weapon dangling from his hand.This was what Zuri had written in her email.Racheal looked at him now, the coward that had not been bold enough to tell his friend, or even Zuri, till recently, when she found him again, but he was asking for a huge sum for the evidence.“When Zuri planned to pay for this video, she t
The Bargain Murder motive
“Do you remember Aston Azad?” Racheal asked. Steffan stared at her blankly.“From college,” she added. He continued to stare at her, and then his eyes lit up.“How do you know Aston?” “I went to see him today,” Racheal said.“What?” Steffan asked in shock, and then paused. “Is that where you went?”She nodded. “Aston was friends with Zuri and Malorie too. He was in their tax bracket, and from the same small town as them, so he was closer to them than he was to you. If not, he would have immediately told you he witnessed Malorie’s murder instead of waiting to tell Zuri just this year.”“What are you talking about?” Steffan asked.“Before Zuri kidnapped me, she sent Delbert a sort of suicide note. She never made that evil document I signed. Your father did. She was the only one who noticed it before I gave the document my signature.”“She was not sure if she would let me know or not, till I fired her. And when you, the man she believed till her death murdered her sister, sent your g
The Bargain We could be sister-in-laws
Steffan flew up, shaking his head. “That cannot be true.”“I know it’s difficult to believe, but her sister would not lie on a suicide note. It’s all here. The dates and other details.” Racheal said, stretching her phone out to him. He didn't even look at it. He went to a wall and leaned his head against it. Racheal felt relief now that he had got a private room in this lounge. She could not even imagine how he was feeling. The knowledge that he could have helped out his girlfriend, but couldn’t was too much for anyone to bear.She sat quietly and watched him lean against the wall with his back to her. She thought about Malorie. That beautiful smiling face. That could very well have been her if she was of no consequence.She was the daughter of a president, of an equally important country, and they somehow managed to treat her this way. If she had been from a poorer family, they would definitely have treated her worse.Steffan finally turned around.“What will you do now?” She
The Bargain Alvaro's mansion
“We’ll have to wait for the speed boat. It's a little late.” Jade said. Racheal looked around, impressed. She had never seen a mansion like this. She and Jade had taxied up a long driveway, after they had gone past the gate. The mansion reminded her of Spencer Sherrod’s resort.She brought her mind back to focus. Everything was oddly reminding her of Steffan. She turned to look at the body of water that separated them from the mansion at a not-so far distance.“Is this for some security reasons?” Racheal turned to Jade.Jade smiled.“You think Alvaro has a sniper up there to take out any intruder that tries to cross?”“Is that hard to imagine in a country like Yin?” Jade giggled this time. “No.” She shook her head. “Not after all I have learned since you arrived at my door last Friday.”Racheal smiled and said nothing. Jade turned to her, as they saw a speed-boat heading fast towards them.“Although I don’t know exactly why Alavaro chose to build his house this way. I would say
The Bargain At the dinner
Racheal heard a rap on the door as she applied her lipstick.“Jade.” She heard, as the lock turned.“Here.” Racheal called from the bedroom. She turned as she heard the wall to wall wooden bedroom door slide open. Jade inhaled and froze.“Caliente!” She exclaimed, looking at Racheal from head to toe. Racheal smiled.“Thank you.” When a woman calls you hot, you could bank on it that you actually are. They had no reason to lie.She turned back to the mirror to look at the soft peach-colored dress she had on. “It’s appropriate for dinner, right?”“Of course it is.” Jade drew close to admire her hair she had styled away from her face. “I was wondering how you would manage without your maids. You are managing just fine.Racheal laughed.“Ready?” She asked, looking at the beautiful black dress Jade had on.“Yes.” Jade responded, taking her hand. “You are stunning.”“Oh. Not as much as you.” Jade brushed the compliment aside in a good-humored way.Racheal shook her head. “You know that i
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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
