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I push the key into the lock and open the door. Looking around wouldn’t normally make my jaw drop, but now it does. The entire place is exactly how I left it, but now it’s spotless. There are new curtains, a new bed, and a whole array of potted flowers scattered around.
A wholesome warmth fills me to the brim as I walk around and touch the curtains and sit down on the bed, which is super soft and bouncy. I quite like it. But who did this? My landlord?
A pang of guilt hits me hard.
Maybe he did this because I’d vanished again, and he’s already rented it to a new owner.
Shit.
I quickly get off and make my way back to the front door before I’m caught in the act of trespassing. But as I rush out, I squeal. My landlord stands right there in the hallway, staring at me.
“Amelia, so nice to see you,” he says.
I frown, confused. “It … is?”
It’s almost as if he was expecting me?
“Yeah, I just wanted to thank you for paying off the rent,” he says, chuckling. “And then some.”
“Paying off?” I mutter. I didn’t think I could furrow my brows even harder, but apparently, I can. “But I have no money. Can I stay?”
He smiles. “Of course! You can stay for as long as you like. It’s yours now.” He throws me another key that I barely manage to catch. “Plus some storage on the house.”
“On the house?” I repeat.
I don’t know what to say. It feels like I’m stuck in a dream.
What’s happening?
“But I …” I stammer. “I didn’t do anything.”
Why do I always have to ruin the moment with honesty? Can’t I accept stuff given to me for once without trying to make things fair and truthful?
“Oh, I know,” he says. “An anonymous sponsor paid off your rent plus interest and bought the place under your name.”
My jaw physically drops, and I’m having a hard time breathing.
An anonymous sponsor?
Paid off … my apartment?
“Have a great day!” my landlord says, winking.
When he turns around, I clutch the door and yell, “Wait!”
He turns and looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“Who paid it off? Do you know?”
He shakes his head and shrugs. “Beats me, but you sure are blessed with a little angel looking out for you.”
Blessed with an angel …
Or maybe it was the devil trying to buy his way out of sin.
My landlord saunters back to his own little palace while I close the door behind me and stumble backward as the world seems to spin around me.
That’s when I notice the card stuck between the flowers standing on the kitchen counter. It’s a handwritten note. I pick it up and read it.
Amelia,
Nothing will ever make amends for the pain I have caused you.
But I still wanted to try to make the transition for you as easy as possible. Your apartment is yours. No questions asked. Your job at the library is waiting for you.
Please do not return to the strip club. You don’t need their money as all your debts are paid off.
You’ve grown into such an amazing woman, so full of spirit and devotion. It commands respect.
You were right. You deserved better. You deserve everything and more.
All that I cannot ever give you.
I am bound to my House as you are bound to freedom. And I understand that now.
I know I have no right to ask anything from you, but I still wanted to beg you to consider my last wish.
Live a happy, content, full life.
With all the love I could ever possibly give in my life,
Eli
Chapter 25
Eli
Days later
The halls are silent without her.
I miss her so badly that it hurts more than the fresh wounds on my back.
But I remind myself that the pain won’t last long, and soon, it will all disappear.
As I kneel in front of the fireplace in my study, I sigh as drops of sweat trickle down to the floor in front of me. I am nothing. I fear nothing. Not even—
“Eli!” Mary bursts into my room. “I mean, sir. I heard your screams from all the way down in the kitchen.”
I wave it off. “I’m fine.”
She takes one look at the vile marks on my back and instantly covers her mouth with her hand. “Oh my …”
I get up, biting through the pain so that I can face my own sins.
“Why …” she mutters, tears welling up in her eyes. “Why must you continue to do this?”
“You know why,” I bark back.
“But she’s gone. You don’t have to—”
“That is exactly why I must do it,” I interrupt.
The graveness in my voice does not go unnoticed.
“And I will not stop until …”
She shakes her head. “But I thought that when the sinner had completed their punishment, they would be released. That’s what happened, right?”
“No. I kept her like a pet, and now I must pay the price,” I retort, grabbing my bottle of water to take a much-needed sip. I pour the rest over my shoulders and hiss from the sharp pain. It doesn’t even take the edge off a little bit.
