Page 143 of Dangerous Contract: Part 1

“Your ex-husband sent me,” he admitted, his voice strained.

“I thought you said this wasn’t about him!”

“It’s not. Not really. Look, he wanted me to get a few things from your house. That’s it. But there’s another reason I came.”

Monique’s eyes widened in disbelief, and she couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

“You have got to be kidding me! Trevor sent you to get stuff frommyhouse? When he left, he told me there was nothing in this house that he wanted, including me. Now you’re saying he sent you here to get something. You need a better lie than that, dad.”

“Monique,” her father started, but she cut him off with a venomous glare.

“Enough!” she shouted, her hands balling into fists at her sides. “I told you, I am done with Trevor. There is nothing left for him here, and there’s nothing left for you, either. Don’t come here again. Now get out of my house! Oh, and tell mom... Wait!” Monique’s gaze narrowed. In her anger and confusion, she’d forgotten something important. “I got my locks changed after mom’s last visit. Her key should no longer work.”

What the hell!He’d really broken in. She clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms. Her father stared at her for a moment, his jaw working silently as if trying to find the right words. But there was no such thing as the right words, not anymore.

There was nothing this man could say to her. He’d already destroyed their father-daughter relationship. This incident was just what she needed to erase the guilt she’d felt over ignoring her parents’ phone calls.

Monique’s heart raced, and all she wanted was to escape this situation and get back to her friends waiting in the car outside.

“Listen, sweetie,” her father began, stepping closer to her.

Every instinct screamed at Monique to shrink away from him, but she stood her ground.

“Don’t call me sweetie.”

Her father chuckled bitterly. “Why are you like this?” he said, no longer pretending to be nice. “Why have you always been like this?” he yelled. “You’ve been a horrible daughter all these years. Instead of staying home to care for your mother and meand help in the church, you insisted on attending college. And for what? Ultimately, you did what we wanted and got married like you should’ve done right out of high school. I thought I’d finally gotten you on track, and then you upset Trevor. You couldn’t even keep your husband happy,” he roared. “Your job as a woman is to care for your man and procreate. You couldn’t do either of those things.”

“Excuse me?” Monique’s voice rose an octave as her mind tried to process the words he’d just vomited at her.

“You’ve gotten even worse since the divorce, girl,” her father insisted. “If I don’t do something to save you now, you’ll end up in hell.”

Ugh!He was about to get all holier than thou. What would he try to do, baptize her against her wishes? Force her to stay in a dark room without food or water until thespirittold him to let her out. Those were the things he’d done to her as a child.

He claimed he’d been trying to save her soul. At an early age, she’d realized her father wasn’t the believer he pretended to be. God would answer her prayers before he answered a hypocrite like her dad.

“If I don’t protect your soul,” he sneered those all too familiar words. “Who will?”

Her chest tightened with fear, her eyes flicking towards the door.

“Your divorce has embarrassed us in the church,” he continued, his tone biting. “Our family doesn’t believe in divorce. I preach against it. Yet, my own daughter has gotten one. You’ve shamed us. You should’ve just done whatever Trevor wanted you to do. It’s common for men to cheat. Men need change now and then. We need variety. And why shouldn’t we? We work hard to provide for our families. We help in the community. We are the backbone, no, the foundation in your lives. Why can’t we enjoy ourselves any way we see fit? And ifyou really wanted him to stay home and not cheat, you should’ve gotten rid of some of that weight. When I threatened to stop being intimate with your mother, it was a wake-up call for her. Afraid she’d lose me to someone else, she lost sixty pounds in four months. Trevor only asked you to lose forty. And...”

“Enough!” Monique cried out, tears springing to her eyes.

“That will be the last time you yell at me, girl. I’m your father. You will respect me.”

“Why should I respect you when you’ve never respected me?” She continued stepping back as anger surged through her veins. “Get out of my house! You’re not my father. I’m no longer your daughter. I don’t want you in my life!”

“If it was that easy, I would’ve...”

“Leave!” Her breaths came quick and shallow as she pointed towards the door, her hand trembling.

She couldn’t bear his presence any longer. He had her feeling trapped like a cornered animal. A noise in the kitchen yanked Monique’s attention away from her father. Her eyes widened.

Her father hadn’t come alone. Could it be...Trevor? A surge of adrenaline coursed through her, and she made a split-second decision to bolt for the front door. Monique sprinted forward.

She felt the cold metal of Raz’s car keys between her fingers. The comfort of clutching them made her feel like she had a lifeline to Raz.

“Monique, don’t!” her father warned, but she refused to listen.

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