Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
Devin smirked at my answer.
He leaned in and whispered into my ear, “You’ll beg for death.”
They forced me into a chair and slammed the papers on the table.
“Sign.” He commanded.
“I won’t. No matter what you threaten me with. I won’t sign it. You can kill me.”
“Very well, you’ve made your decision,” Devin said as a ghost of a smile spread across his lips. He raised his hand out towards the maid standing to his right. “The tool, please, Penelope.”
From the corner of my eye, I noticed a trolley with a stainless steel plate and torture tools laid out on it; it glimmered under the crystal chandelier lights. As if Penelope was an assistant surgeon in a critical surgery, she handed Devin a plier.
I stiffened.
Don’t let them see you’re scared, Millie. They will feed off your fear. They want you to grovel and beg for mercy.
Don’t give them the satisfaction!
I kept a straight face, numb to what was about to happen to me.
You’ve been through worse, you’ll get through this, too.
Horrified about what was about to happen, I watched Devin wedge the plier into the nail of my index finger.
“One last chance.” He said sweetly.
“The answer is still no,” I told him, trying my best to not showcase the fear crawling deep inside my bones.
I was doing this for Castle, for freedom that I wanted for the both of us. As I was someone who was first hired to care for him and to protect him, I would do my job until I drew my last breath.
A second later, a horrified wail filled the silence and pain so potent speared through me. I wished I’d signed the papers and been done with it, so I wouldn’t have to endure this torture.
My finger was soaking in blood, dripping, and devoid of a nail. The smudges stained the beautiful carpet below.
That was ironic. A beautiful home like this one held nothing but years of pain, sufferings, deceit and lies. There was no love found between these four walls, only a hunger for power and the title that came with it, and somehow I’d been part of all this madness.
He wedged the plier into my thumb. “Don’t make this hard on yourself.”
I kept a straight face, even though my insides were screaming hell-fire.
“Do it.” I challenged him. “Do your worst, you sick bastard, but I won’t sign the papers!”
Devin passed me the same charming smile from the first day I’d met him, “With pleasure, my love.”
I screamed loud enough to shatter the glass windows of the entire mansion.
The nail on my thumb was gone, too.
“The blood is staining the carpet.” Dayana pointed out, inspecting the expensive Turkish carpet. “I think we should stop, Devin. She won’t talk even if you pluck all her nails, and it’s not worth ruining a carpet worth three million dollars that was won in an auction. It’s vintage and handmade.”
Devin seemed to think Dayana had a point. The carpet was getting ruined after all.
Well, thanks to the expensive carpet, my torture came to an end.
“Penelope, clean Mrs. Montgomery’s wounds.”
Penelope had come equipped with a first-aid kit. How very convenient.
Why did I have a feeling these two devil incarnates did this casually to people and got away with it? The housekeeper, Winston, had lost an entire leg, for god’s sake! He seemed to do well with a replaced fake one.
The door had a loud knock on it. “Millie...is Millie there? I heard a scream.” Castle’s voice drifted from the other side.
I started calling him out, getting out of the chair, when Dayana scrunched up a ball of cloth and shoved it into my mouth to shut me up.
“She’s not here, Castle.” Devin said in his casual tone, “I heard her say she was going outside for a walk.”
“Okay. I’ll…I’ll check outside.”
Then I heard the sounds of the retreating footsteps. I slumped back into the chair.
Penelope cleaned my wounds with some alcohol and covered my fingers with a bandaid.
Dayana grabbed a pen and brought it to the table. She had brought the contract papers from when I was hired. The papers bore my signature.
Dayana forged my signature on the paper. Copied it with precision, and now the papers had my initials on them.
Millicent Montgomery.
“It’s done,” she said happily, looking proudly at the papers. “The writing is a little funny, but I don’t think anyone would notice.”
Devin looked at the paper, “You’re right. As long as it looks exactly like her signature. Well done, Daya.”
I didn’t know what more problems were going to befall over me, and I knew nothing would prepare me for what they had planned. I wasn’t sure why they were being so cruel.
Castle’s parents, especially his mother Aster, had taken in two unfortunate children and given them a roof over their heads, wealth, education, and everything else that kids born in the family would have gotten. They were biting the hand that fed them.
Their greed knew no bounds.
The door opened, and I climbed to my feet, spitting out the cloth from my mouth.
“Karma is going to come for you soon, Devin, and when it does, I’m going to be there to see it happen.”
He grinned, “Can’t wait.”
“Millie, my head hurts,” Castle complained when I went upstairs to our bedroom. He was holding his head between his hands, his face contorted with pain.
“What’s happening to you?”
“I...I don’t know.” He was breathing hard. He grabbed my hand. “I need my medication! It’s throbbing…the pain’s unbearable…”
“The meds are not good for your health.”
His eyes shifted to my fingers. “What’s wrong with your hand?”
“It’s nothing. I cut myself on the chopping board.” I lied to him. “I’ll see if I can find some Advil for your pain, okay?”
I found some pills in the drawer and handed it to him. Then, I changed into my nightgown, aware of his watchful eyes following me.
“You’re lying.” He said.
“What?”
“You’re lying about your hand.” He pointed out, “What...what happened to you, Millie? Who did this to you? Don’t lie to me.”
I couldn’t control myself. If he wanted the truth, he would get it. “Your family is evil. Your brother and sister are monsters! And they plan to do vile things to us.”
He was on the edge now. I had his attention. “What vile things?”
I made sure the door was locked. “I think they want to kill you and frame me for it.”
“No.” He said almost as if his denial would be enough to prove me wrong.
“It’s true! They are making me out to be a gold-digger who laundered money from your company when I have done no such thing. They are creating this bizarre scenario so that it would be easier for them to kill you and make me a scapegoat.”
“Devin is my…brother. He wouldn’t do that,” Castle whispered. “I...I handed over the company to him after my accident because I couldn’t remember my past…much less how to run a corporation. It was voluntarily…so why would he kill me?”
“Because they are afraid you would remember!” I whisper-screamed at him. I walked closer to him, and brought my hand up to touch his face, “They are afraid you would remember each and everything about the accident and whatever happened before that. Devin and Dayana want you out of the picture.”
“They are...they are going to kill me?”
“Baby, I won’t let them touch a hair on your head. You have my word.” I said, hugging his head to my chest, “But you have to remember…”
His light brown eyes filled with confused tears, his face contorted with betrayal. “It’s all hazy and unclear. I can’t remember anything…after the day I turned up at the funeral.”
I wiped his tear with the pad of my thumb, “You have to try harder, baby. That’s the only way we can stop them.”
“Or what happens?”
I knew hiding the truth from him was of no use. We didn’t have the liberty to keep information from him that could only cause him harm.
“If they succeed, you’ll be dead and I’ll be in jail, convicted of your murder.”
Time was running out.
I had to read the journal to find out the truth before things went down. I skipped to the next set of marked pages.
Aster Montgomery’s Journal
12th September
I am not usually a suspicious person. I don’t doubt anyone unless I have a reason to. Sometimes I wonder if Dad is secretly still doing those devil-worshipping rituals and I’ve been wrong with my assumptions so far. I am happyto be wrong about this.
But then Christopheris acting strange. He would come home late at night, sometimes he would be out for days for business.
I suspect him. My fatherisn’tthe type who would give upon what he startedand itis likely possible that he somehow influenced Chris into being part of the rituals.
I hope that’s not the case.
This time, I’ve been late to enter the diary because I am not in the right state of mind.Last night I was gone for a charity function and told Chris that I would return late at night, but luckily the eventgot wrapped up early andso I got home earlier than usual.
Iplanned to surprise Chris because he complained I wasn’t giving him enough time. With four kids, it was sometimes impossible to spend time with him. I bought him a set of cuff links because I knew how much he lovescollecting them.
When I climbed the stairs to our bedroom, I sawthe door was slightly open and the sounds of someone speaking in hushed whispersdrifted from the gap.
My heart was beating out of my chest. I stopped dead in my tracks and listened.
‘What if the kids see us together?’ The female voice asked.
‘They won’t. Castle, Devin, and Dayana are out for some friend’s party. They won’t be here until midnight. Theo is asleep and as for Aster, she won’t be home until mid-nightas well. It’s just you and me until then.’ That was Chris’s voice.
My Christopher.
There were sounds of kissing, followed by a moan. ‘Stop it.’ She giggled.
Lorna. The house help. Devin and Dayana’s biological mother.
‘Will our kids ever know?’ She asked him silently.
At that moment,I wonderedwhat they were talking about. I was tearful and I couldn’t believe my ears. I wanted this to be a nightmare.
‘They are better off not knowing.’ Chris had said. ‘With this baby on our way, wehave to act fast. You know we can’t let Aster find out. The kids adore her.’
‘But I’m their mother.’
‘Hush.’
‘I’m scared, Chris. Sometimes I think you love her more.’
‘No. Never. I’ve always loved you, Lorna. Aster was only a means for us to get all this wealth. You’re my real wife. Just a few more days and then it’s all ours.’
I should have known. I’m crying…NO…I’m sobbing while writing this. There are smudges on these pages, but I don’t care. I need to pour everything out.
Christopher Gates is a swindler, a fucking thief! Dad was always right, but my love blinded me from the truth. Chris had known Lorna before he knew me, and he’d been having two families secretly. He had children with two women.
How hadn’t I noticed?
Devin and Dayana had Chris’s features. They had Lorna’s green eyes, so I hadn’t realized…I was a fool.
Nobody gets away fucking with a Montgomery.
I going to ruin him.