บททั้งหมดของ The Christmas Contract : บทที่ 51 - บทที่ 60

Melody was in the kitchen when the hunger hit her, her stomach growled like she didn't have breakfast already because she did. Ms. Penelope made French toast, but right now her tummy was surprisingly asking to be filled.She opened the fridge, stared inside for a few seconds, then smiled when she saw the pizza box.“Thank God, I was about to cry,” she muttered.She pulled it out, opened it, and saw two big slices still inside. She didn’t even bother with a plate. She took one slice, shoved the box back into the fridge, and dropped the pizza into the microwave. She could kiss Tara for this leftover pizza right now.While it was heating, she reached for the coffee maker and turned it on.She was dressed comfortably in an oversized basketball team T-shirt and shorts, her hair tied in a messy bun. No makeup. She wasn't really big on wearing makeup but since she's been with Logan, she always applied little concealer under her eyes and lip gloss, giving her lips shiny and inviting.The micr

The entrance to the restaurant was nothing like Melody had expected. She had followed the GPS exactly, but when she finally slowed down and pulled into the address, she almost thought she had the wrong place. From the outside, the building looked quiet and plain almost like nothing special was supposed to be there.Then she saw the sign directing cars downward.“Underground parking?” Tara said, leaning forward in her seat. “Okay… now I’m hooked.”They drove down a smooth, wide ramp into a spotless underground parking space. Everything was clean and sleek. This was the kind of restaurant drug lords in the movies she watched usually gathered. The kind of places where international discreet transactions take place.She found a spot easily and parked.They both got out of the car and stood there for a moment, looking around.“This is already some rich people spot, and it's kinda creepy,” Tara said, adjusting her coat. “Who hides a restaurant underground?”Melody laughed. “Logan said he wa

Melody had been ready for almost an hour.She sat on the edge of her bed, one leg crossed over the other, her phone resting in her palm. She’d checked the time more than five times already. Not because she was in a hurry, but because she didn’t want to look like she was in a hurry.She was dressed simply. Nothing dramatic, just a light blue dress and flat shoes. Her hair was pulled back neatly, she dressed like she was walking into an organization to be interviewed. She kept telling herself it was just a house viewing. After that, she'll come and relax a bit before making garlic bread. She’d still stood in front of the mirror for a while, adjusting small things that probably didn’t even matter.She and Tara had gotten home late the night before, too late to call Logan and ask if he got home safe. And honestly, she’d been tired in that good way, her body heavy, her heart still warm from laughter and food and the way he kept looking at her like she was something fragile and precious at

SnowBrook Valley Snowbrook was already sinking into the evening when Cynthia came back from the little flower market two streets away.The sky was a soft wash of pale orange and tired blue, the kind that made the whole town look gentler than it really was. The cold bit lightly at her arms as she balanced the small paper bag of flowers against her chest and hurried home, her steps quick and careful.She hadn’t planned to go out. But Melody had finally fallen asleep. Cynthia had stood in the doorway of the bedroom for a long moment, watching her daughter’s tiny chest rise and fall, then she’d looked around the living room and kitchen and thought…Let me do something nice.Jamie had been stressed. She had been stressed. The baby has changed everything, babies are sweet and cute but nobody prepares you for what it takes to raise a baby. Sometimes it was just exhaustion and nerves and snapping at each other over nothing.Still… he was a good man. A good father. And even when she was angry

Tara did not remember how she left the staff lunchroom. She only remembered the way the words had dropped into her lap like a slab of ice.The annoying patient who always got on her last nerve was Dr. Davy's father. How strange. She's never seen him go inside the room and the family members who brought Mr. Bernard here, they didn't act like they had a senior doctor who was a son of the patient.The Diet Coke had tipped over and spilled across the table. Someone had said her name, but she hadn’t heard it. Someone else had asked if she was okay, but her legs were already moving before her brain caught up.She pushed the door open and stepped into the corridor. The hospital smelled the same as it always did, antiseptic, detergent, something faintly metallic but suddenly it felt suffocating. The halls were closing in on her. Her ears were ringing.Mr. Bernard.She walked fast, by the time she reached the nurses’ station, her heart was hammering so hard she could hear it in her ears.“Have