Bought by the Devil’s Mercy

Chapter4

The Price Of Survival

By the time evening came, the sky had turned a deep, dark ominous shade like it was about to rain.

I headed home first to change.

Our poor apartment looked smaller than usual. The wallpaper was peeling near the window. The sink dripped. The fridge made that broken humming sound again.

I stood in the middle of the room and stared at the medicine bottles lined beside the kettle.

Everything in this place had one purpose.

Survival.

Nothing more.

I changed into the cleanest clothes I had. Black jeans. A plain long-sleeved top. No makeup. No jewelry.

There was nothing to decorate anyway.

At six forty-five, my phone buzzed with a message.”

“Car outside. Make sure to come alone.”

I stared at the message for a few seconds.

Then I picked up my coat and left.

The black car was waiting under the streetlight.

One of his men opened the back door for me and too weak to say a word, I got in

The car moved through the city. The deeper we went, the cleaner everything looked. Bigger buildings. Brighter lights and people dressed like they had never worried about rent in their lives.

I looked out the window and hated all of it.

Money had its own smell.

Cold, clean and untouchable.

After some time, the car drove into a private underground garage.

My heart started beating harder.

We stepped out, and Michael led me to a private elevator.

When the doors opened, I walked into a luxurious penthouse.

The place was huge and luxurious,more for that owned by a man who never heard taken no for an answer

I stopped near the entrance.

“Where is he?” I asked.

Michael looked ahead. “He’s coming.”

And that's when I saw him.

He walked out of a side hallway wearing a black shirt with the sleeves folded once. He was tall and calm in a way that made my stomach tighten.

This was Charles Rinaldi.

The man Tessa had called the devil.

He stopped in front of me and looked at me like he was studying me.

“You’re Henry Sweden’s daughter.” he said, his hoarse voice making my heart skip.

I lifted my chin, trying so hard to hide my fear.

“And you’re the man threatening my sick mother.”

“Be Careful.” Michael retorted.

Charles raised one hand and Michael went quiet.

Then Charles looked at me again.

“Do you always speak like this?”

“I think I love “

“Only when I’m standing in front of the devil.”

A small smile touched his mouth.

That smile was worse than his silence and then he sat on the sofa like this was business and not my life falling apart.

Michael stood beside him.

I stayed where I was.

“Sit,” Charles said.

“No.” I insisted.

His face did not change. “That wasn’t a request.”

“And even if it was”

I still did not move.

Michael took a step forward towards me, but Charles stopped him with one look.

Then he said to me, “If you want to waste time fighting over a chair, then this will be a long night.”

I sat down.

Not because he told me to but because my legs suddenly felt weak.

I sat on the edge of the chair opposite him and kept my back straight.

Charles watched me in a way that made me feel exposed. Like he noticed everything. My hands. My breathing and the way I kept glancing at the elevator.

“I’ll keep this simple,” he said. “Henry Sweden owes me one hundred million dollars.”

“He owes you, I don't owe you.”

“Can I leave now?” I said.

“He used your mother as a guarantor and that makes it your problem.”

I leaned forward. “My mother is dying in a hospital bed. If your problem is with a man who ran away, then go find him.”

Charles cleared his throat and rested one arm on the sofa.

“When a man disappears, the things he leaves behind answers for him.”

“We are not things,” I snapped.

“We are people, human beings for crying out loud”

His eyes stayed on mine.

“In your world, maybe.”

The answer made my chest burn.

“Your mother’s hospital bills,” he said. “Your rent,your wages. Your rejected loans. Your school records. The scholarship exam you passed at sixteen.”

My whole body went still.

He knew that too.

“Medical school.”

That dream I buried years ago.

The life I never got to have.

“You investigated me.” I said,my barely loud.

“I verify people before they speak in my house.”

A short silence filled the room

And then I cleared my throat.

“Let me make this easy for us. I don’t have a father. My mother and I don’t owe you anything. And don't you dare you touch my mother, or I will—”

“You will what?” he cut me short.

The question was soft, but it hit hard.

I stopped and the truth dawned on me.

I had no answer.

He leaned forward a little.

“Every actions have consequences, Abigail and even when the culprit can't pay, their descendants do.”

I stared at him for a while, clearly studying his features.

The way he gritted his teeth made me hate him the more.

“What do you want?” I stuttered.

“Payment.” he replied.

“I don’t have it and you know.”

“So, why am I here?”

Charles glanced at Michael once. Then he looked at me again.

“Because money isn’t the only thing with value.”

It suddenly clicked in my head.

He wanted more abd that's was me.

My stomach dropped.

I stood up so fast the chair scraped the floor.

I looked at Charles, my face filled with disgust.

“That’s why I’m here? Because I’m poor, you think I am desperate and will just sell myself for some stupid loans I know nothing about?”

“You must be delusional.” I snapped.

Charles’s face hardened.

“If I wanted your body, Abigail, you would not be standing here bargaining with me.”

Droplets of heat rushed to my face.

I felt a sudden mix of anger and shame.

“Then what?” I asked.

He got up and walked to the window before turning back.

“Your father left behind something useful,” he said.

“And that’s you.”

I gave a short, bitter laugh. “Useful for what?”

“You can work in place of the debt.”

I blinked. “What?”

Michael answered this time. “You will live where we tell you. Learn what you are told. Follow orders and work until the debt is settled.”

I stared at both of them, my stomach boiling with rage.

“This is slavery.”

“It is survival,”

“You have no choice either, Abigail.” Charles said.

People always had a wear of masking hard truths but this man said them unfiltered.

I hated him for that.

“I won’t do it.” the words left my mouth even before I could stop it.

His eyes did not soften. “Then your mother dies under a debt she never made.”

Without thinking, my hand left it's place and a heavy slap landed on his face.

The sound cut through the room.

Michael swerved towards me immediately but Charles was too quick to stop him.

The whole room went silent immediately.

A red mark had appeared on Charles’s cheek, but he still looked calm.

That was enough to make me shiver but I immediately hid my fear under a defiant look.

“Leave us,” Charles turbed to Michael.

Michael hesitated, then walked out.

Now it was only me and Charles.

My throat tightened.

“What kind of work?” I asked, looking downwards.

There was no need of fighting him, he had my mother’s fragile life at the edge of his fingers.

Any stupid movement from me may cause him to squeeze it.

His eyes sharpened.

“You’ll be trained first.”

“For what?”

“To be useful.”

“That is not the answer to my question” I said sharply.

“It is the only one you need tonight.”

I swallowed hard.

“Then I need guarantees.”

His brow lifted slightly. “About what?”

“My mother.”

“I need assurance that she will get the best treatment, best doctors and full care.”

“You would also promise me that no one threatens or touches her.”

He was silent for a moment.

Then he muttered.

“Agreed.”

I stared at him. “Just like that?”

“I keep my word.” he said.

“And if I say yes,” I asked quietly

“what happens to me?”

His gaze held mine.

“You stop belonging to your old life.”

A chill ran through me.

“And start belonging to what?”

His gaze was fixated on mine.

“To me.” he said, loudly

The word stayed in the room long after he said it.

I looked at the city through the glass behind him. Cars moved over the bright city.

People were going about their normal lives.

And here I was, standing inside a stranger’s penthouse while my whole world was being priced.

Michael took few strides towards me and placed a contract on the table.

I stared at it and picked it up.

My eyes scammed it's contents. The payment for my stay here included my mother's bills, housing and whatever training Charles had for me.

I kept reading until I saw the part about punishment for betrayal.

I looked up. “Punishment?”

“If you betray me,” Charles said,

“I deal with you”

I pushed the paper back a little. “I need changes.”

Charles looked interested.

“What changes?” he asked.

“No one touches my mother without my permission.”

“No one lies to her and tells her I abandoned her.”

“I get to call the hospital whenever I want.” I stated, my eyes scannig his face for any slight changes in his expression.

“Done.”

I hesitated, then forced the last part out.

“And if I do this, you do not own my body.”

Charles’s went still.

He let out a deep breath, leaned forward towards me and lifted up my chin.

The smell of cologne hit me first.

It was heavenly and rich, that scent curated for only men like him.

“I do not force women into my bed.”

“And never you think highly of yourself again.” He spat

His grip tightened deep into my face thigh not enough to hit me.

“Relief hit me first, then followed by a mix of shame and anger.

Michael slid a pen toward me.

“Do it.”

I remained still.

“I need time.” I said slowly.

Charles looked at the clock. “You have until midnight.”

I followed his gaze. The time waa 11:12 p.m.

Of course.

Even my surrender had a deadline.

I closed my eyes.

The images of my mother in that hospital bed, her pale face, her weak smile clouded my mind.

I saw Tessa sharing food with me when she barely had enough herself.

I saw the scholarship letter I had hidden away because dreams were too expensive.

No one was coming to save me.

Not my run-away father.

Not luck.

Not mercy.

I just had me.

I opened my eyes and took the pen.

“This doesn’t mean you’ve won,” I said.

A faint smile touched Charles’s mouth.

“No,” he said.

“It means you understand what it means to be left at the mercy of no one”

I took a quick glance at him and then signed the papers.

Michael picked up the contract at once.

“It’s done,” he said.

Done.

A whole life could change in one word.

“From tonight, you move into one of my secured residences. A trainer will be assigned to you. You will learn, follow rules, and do exactly as you’re told.”

I stared at him.

“What am I to you now?”

His eyes held mine.

“Mine.”

.