All Chapters of Contract with the devil : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

After lunch, Scott told Laura to meet him in the living room because he had something important to tell her, but he wouldn’t say what it was over the phone when his assistant called her. So, she went downstairs wondering what was going on now, because everything felt like it was spinning out of control lately, with the woman who looked like her and the investigator coming tomorrow. When she got to the living room, Scott was already there, standing by the window and looking out at the gardens. He turned around when he heard her come in, so she walked over to the couch and sat down because she was tired from not sleeping well last night and from all the stress of the morning. “What did you want to talk about?” she asked him because he looked serious, and that made her nervous about what he was going to say. Scott didn’t sit down, though. Instead, he just stood there, looking at her with that cold expression on his face that he used when he was about to tell her something she wasn’t

Laura couldn't sleep. The clock said two in the morning. Her eyes were wide open, staring at the ceiling. She kept seeing her face, that girl who looked just like her. It scared her so bad. Her heart wouldn't slow down. She tossed and turned in the sheets. They felt too hot and sticky against her skin. She sat up and hugged her knees to her chest. She tried to breathe slow, but it didn't help. The room was dark, except for the little light from the hallway slipping under the door. She heard footsteps, soft on the carpet, then a knock. Scott's voice came through, low and worried. He said, "Laura, you awake?" She said, "Yes." He opened the door and came in. He was in his boxers, his hair was messy from sleep. He looked at her with those eyes that always made her feel safe, but tonight they looked dark and intense. He closed the door behind him. He walked over to the bed and sat down next to her. He put his hand on her shoulder and asked, "What's wrong?" She said, "I can't s

Detective Chen took out a paper from his folder and handed it to Scott, who looked at it for a second before passing it to Laura. She took it with trembling hands and tried to read the words.It was a copy of her birth certificate, but at the bottom, in tiny print, there was something she’d never noticed before.She rarely looked at her birth certificate closely, only when she needed it for school or her license."What's amended?" Laura asked, pointing to the word at the bottom because she didn’t get what it meant."It means your birth certificate was changed, altered after you were born," Detective Chen explained. He pulled out another paper. "This is from the Office of Vital Records, showing your birth certificate was officially amended when you were three months old."Laura stared at the paper, feeling like her brain couldn’t process the words. Why would her birth certificate need to be changed when she was only three months old? And why had her parents never told her?"What was ch

George thought for a minute. “She didn’t say much. Just asked how I was feeling and if the treatment was working. Normal sister stuff.”“Did she seem nervous or like she was pretending?” Scott asked.“Not really,” George said. “She just seemed like Laura. That’s why I thought it was her.”“Did she touch anything or look for something?” Scott asked.“No,” George said, confused why Scott was asking so much. “She just sat where Laura is now. We talked a bit, then she left. About ten minutes total.”Scott’s hand tightened on Laura’s shoulder like he was thinking hard but didn’t say what.“What did you talk about?” Laura asked George. She wanted to know exactly what this woman said while pretending to be her.“Just regular stuff,” George said. “She asked how my treatment was going and if I needed anything. She said sorry she couldn’t visit more ‘cause she was busy at work.”That made sense because Laura had been visiting less after moving into Scott’s mansion and the whole contract thing.

On the drive home, Laura sat in the back, staring out the window, trying to think about everything. Scott sat next to her but didn’t talk, which she appreciated because she had no idea what to say.When they got back, Laura went straight to her room, but Scott came in behind her and shut the door."You can’t do that again," about what happened."Promise me you won’t do that again," Scott said into her hair. "Promise you’ll let Marcus and James handle dangerous stuff.""I promise," Laura said, even though she wasn’t sure she could keep it because if she saw the woman again, she didn’t know if she could stop herself.They stayed like that for a few minutes with Scott holding her. Laura breathed in his scent, which always made her feel calmer. Then Scott pulled away and looked at her."Get some rest," Scott said. "I’m calling Detective Chen to tell him what happened. Maybe it’ll help find out who this woman is."Laura nodded. Scott kissed her forehead, which surprised her because he usua