Page 74 of Castle

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.”

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