All Chapters of LOVE, CONTRACT AND SECRETS: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

At the mention of that dinner tonight, the entire preparation was set in motion.Lydia was occupied with the cooking and the cleaning, not letting me help at all, Mr Stones was locked in his room as always, while I stood in my room, staring at the outfit he got me.It was already 6:30 and I had no idea what I was suppose to do. I'm a kind of girl who wears sandals and sneakers for a living….these heel weren't going to work out.I stared at the red, probably going to be above knee length dress with very thin hands…..this is so not me.“5 million dollars is on the line” I let out a sigh “might as well do what I'm asked”I sat in front of the surprisingly large dress table and mirror as I stared at my messed up hair.“Let's get to work”After minutes of deliberation, I finally decided to let my hair fall against my back. I applied a few hair clips to one side, giving the hair a side part—just something simple.I applied a little mascara and a bit of eyeliner, adding a little wing at both

My ears tingled at Duncan's statement, my eyes scanning him from his head to his toe and back up.“Excuse me?”“Anything you missed?” He questioned “Yeah, I missed the part where you said the contract could be altered” He raised a brow “everything doesn't go the way you want in life”“Do you understand my father is dying?” I questioned him, taking a step towards him, still in my bathroom robe and my hair still damp.“Relax, he won't die” he brushed the topic off with an eye roll as he attempted to walk away.“No no no, you won't do that” I rushed towards him, grabbing on to his arm.He stopped on his track, turning his head slightly to my hand holding on to him.“Get your hands off me” he instructed“Duncan, I don't think you understand what you're…..”“Now” he cut me off, his tone changing completely.I slowly took my hands off, taking a step back.He pulled his sleeves a bit before heading towards his bedroom.I felt my heart beat pick up pace as his statement kept replaying in my

“Here you are, Dad” I handed my father his pills and a glass of water. There I found myself again, in the same gloomy atmosphere I left my house, all because we were still in the same situation. I watched my father take his pills before resting his head back to rest. I immediately discharged my mom to get some rest as soon as I got home—the burden has just been too much on her this past week. “How do you feel?” I asked him softly, my words almost coming out as a whisper. “I feel okay, Tori, I'm more concerned about you” A faint smile formed on my face as I intertwined my fingers with his “I'm fine, Dad. You should be worrying about your health” He shifted on his bed a bit, letting out a little sigh “Tori, I really think you shouldn't bother about this anymore, it's taking up too much….” “Dad, Please” I cut in “I really don't want to talk about this. I'll do what I have to do, you don't have to stress about anything” “But, Tori..” “But nothing, Dad. Stop, please” H

I stared in silence, watching my landlord as he exited our store.I let out a sigh, taking a sit on the stool behind me. Even with that one month grace, I had no idea where I wanted to get the complete money from because Duncan wasn't paying until two months.I felt trapped, trapped in this never ending circle of sorrow and humiliation.“Don't let this get to you, Tori” Lucy walked up to me, her voice lowered as she gently placed her hand on my shoulder.“I need to find a way to talk to Duncan. This time frame of his can't work for me.”“Are you sure he'll do something?”I stood to my feet “I really have to try, Lucy. I have to put in some kind of effort.”I was keeping my end of the deal, it made no sense letting him change his out of nowhere.“Let's get back to work” I changed the topic “I'll work something out”~°~It was 5pm and I found myself in this hell hole called a house.I closed the living room door, my eyes roaming the living room but not landing on anyone—it was empty.I

‘Again, I was surrounded by nothing but darkness and fog, a form of darkness that was all too familiar.’‘Trying to find my way out again, i found myself in front of a bedroom door—his bedroom door.’‘I tilted my head as I stared at the door handle—why was I here again?’‘I felt my stomach fold in, my hands slowly reaching for the handle before opening it up.’‘I stepped in with all curiosity, eager to find out if what I saw the last time was a mistake.’‘The room was lite brightly, the room reflecting the orange colors of the inbuilt bulbs.’‘My eyes searched the room gently, but there was no one there. I turned by head to his drink table, different drinks in various types were on display.’‘Just then, a cool breeze pulled my attention to the door not too far from the table. The curtains were drawn but blew up slightly as a result of the wind.’‘i took slow hesitant steps towards it and I came to stop when I noticed something, his curtains were torn. I gently raised my hands to the t