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Chapter 5

Lily, while she scampered away from the Bamak villa, suddenly brought herself to a halt.

"I'm so screwed" she said to herself, leaning down to catch her breath from running so fast, away from the horrible Harold Bamak.

On second thoughts, while she was making her escape, she realized that she would come off as a cheat. She offered herself to pay for this loan. No one forced her into it, and then the resounding echo of Mr Drew's voice that "Mr Harold was a man of his words and will still offer her parents the much-needed help" haunted her a lot.

"If he's still going to keep his own side of the deal, why should I act any differently than promised?" she asked herself. She dared not return home to her parents, telling them that she was not going to continue with the deal anymore. They would be upset. It didn't matter if Harold still helped them, they would be mad at Lily. They owed a lot of money in the millions. If Harold happened to help them, regardless of Lily falling short on her side of the deal, they would still be in debt, and Harold Bamak was a powerful man. He could afford to destroy her family with the click of his finger in the future. All he had to do was be angry enough to take action, and that would be the end of her family.

Lily heaved a deep breath and turned back, headed towards the Bamak villa. She was already falling ill because of the unending negativity that had been trailing her over the past twenty-four hours.

Her guts failed her again when she arrived at the villa. She couldn't bring herself to knock, and so she sat outside the entrance until she eventually fell asleep. It was at this point that Mr Drew opened the door and found Lily on the floor the following morning with a nasty fever.

"She came back sir, I found her outside this morning" Drew told Harold after he had brought Lily in and kept her in a safe place, pending further instruction from his boss, Harold.

"Is she out of her mind?" Harold asked in shock. Mr Drew shrugged.

"I wouldn't know sir, I just found her outside, asleep in the cold and danger of the place" he responded. Harold shook his head and scoffed.

"Take her to the room inside the study" he ordered Mr Drew.

"That, that's your room sir" Drew responded. Harold didn't say anything back to Drew, he expected the man to do as he had ordered, without asking flimsy questions. Mr Drew carried Lily inside the room that Harold had spoken of, and allowed her there to rest. The entire day had passed, and Lily was still fast asleep until late in the evening. She stretched tiredly, fluttering her eyes open while she tried to get acquainted with where she was. It struck her suddenly.

"Damn" she whispered, looking up in a hurry to check if she still had her clothes on, and fortunately, they were intact. She heaved a sigh of relief, and then heard the sound of his voice. It rang like a grandfather clock, vibrating on the highest decibels, with a deep undertone to it.

"I thought you were afraid? why did you come back?" Harold asked her. Lily turned to look towards where the sound of the distinct voice was coming from. There he was. Harold. Sitting at a far end of the room with his back against her. He had a diary in his hands which he held in front of his face. That face, that horrible face again, Lily had come back to look at it. She made a silent cry when she caught a view of it from behind, it showed through his right side, ugly as ever.

"If you insist on fulfilling your end of the bargain then I have to keep to mine as well. It doesn't matter if I'm afraid or not, what matters is that I stick to my end of the bargain, although..." Lily was saying, and then stopped to catch her breath. She was nervous, she had never been that nervous all her life.

"...although, I have to plead with you, I can't get married to you now. I'm still too young for that, however, I am willing to keep the course until I'm old enough. Hopefully by then I would have been used to you enough, not to be afraid anymore" Lily blurted the words out in a hurry. No matter how hard she tried to be calm, her voice just could not stop shaking. She trembled regardless of how stiff she positioned herself while saying these words.

"Indeed" Harold whispered, getting up from where he was sitting, and approaching Lily. She had piqued his interest. The closer he got to her, the more the fear engulfed her, but she tried to keep her cool. When he was close enough, she couldn't help but back away from him. Harold stopped on his tracks and looked at her carefully, making Lily realize that she was making a mistake backing away from him like that, so against her will, she came close to him.

Harold caressed her face with his big hands. His palm was cold, and gave a sharp contrast against her warm skin.

She almost passed out in fear, but she had to gather some courage because that man was going to be her husband, and they would live together for a long time, so the earlier she got used to him, the better.

"Are you afraid of this?" Harold asked.

"N..no" Lily replied. Harold chuckled. His smile was handsome to Lily's surprise, and made up for the ugliness that stuck to his face. Giving Harold a closer look, Lily realized that if not for the nasty scar on his face, he would have come off as a very handsome man. Indeed.

"Liar" Harold blurted at Lily's claim that she was not afraid. "As young as you are, you are such a skilled liar" he told her. He allowed his hands to go further down her dress, cupping her breast with his heavy hand.

"Does this not scare you?" he asked her. Harold just wanted to tease Lily enough, to see how long she could hold on to her fear. His eyes were blank and unwelcoming.

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