The Royal Contract

"Don't worry. You can do this. It is time to walk away from this misery." She kept convincing herself as she threw another luggage and placed some of her clothes on it.

Cassie just finished packing her things. She decided to move away from this place for a while. Take a long vacation away from her past and the things she had lost.

She looked at the mirror and saw the face of a woman who found herself lost while trying to find justice. But instead of doing it the right way, she took the path that led her to only sorrow.

"I lost the only man who loved me because I allowed my hatred to consume me." She imagined Troy standing just behind her, just like in the past. He was trying to persuade her to stop with her plans.

She could see his face staring at her, now with anger but with so much sympathy. He pitied her because she could not stop her madness.

Now, she had to accept the fact that he had left her. She could not blame him when it had been her fault all this time. He had done so much for her, even to the point of almost doing something against his principle.

But Troy was just too good a person to take advantage of the kindness of other people. She could guess that Dani got through to him. He might even be attracted to her.

"I am not mad at you." She told the image behind her. "But I am sad that I was too blind to see that I was losing you." She felt her tears come down her cheeks without control.

It had been a long time since she last cried. Years that she swore never to repeat in this lifetime. But as they said, be careful of promises because they could tend to get broken.

"I am so stupid for believing that revenge was all I need." She buried her face in the palms of her hands, too ashamed to look at herself in the mirror. She could not even look at the imaginary figure of him in the mirror. 

She quickly grabbed a tissue in front of her and wiped her face dry. She could not keep doing this to herself. She could not change what happened in the past, but she could still do something with her future.

She moved away from the mirror and continued with her packing. After finishing the last bag, she took them out one by one to the living room in preparation for her departure.

The bell buzzing reminded her of the delivery man she requested at the front desk. When she opened the door and recognized the man, she immediately took the package that she had prepared earlier and handed it to the man.

"Make sure that you will hand this to Mr. Alexander Princeton's hands. He is already expecting you to proceed directly to his office." She informed Alex a few minutes ago that she was sending him the evidence she possessed of Nick's plans. She was through being Nick's puppet. She would do it first before she allowed Nick to betray her and throw her to the dogs.

She guaranteed that if Nick needed a fall guy, she would be at his top of the list. But she would not let that happen. She would get out of this messy situation she got herself into before it was too late for her.

"Yes, Mam." She had used this man in many of her shipments. He assured her that her package was in safe hands. He would handle it with discretion and give it only to the intended receiver.

"Ok. Expect my full payment once I get the confirmation that Mr. Princeton had received the package." She usually gave a huge tip when he completed his task without any hitch. 

But the years that he had worked with her, he never once did disappoint her. She would miss this young man who had been loyal to her through the years.

"Then, I better go ahead, Mam. It has been nice working with you. I heard that you are leaving." He stated as he held the package in his hand but did not take a step to leave.

"Yes, but don't worry. I will still come back. I thought I like to have a long-needed vacation." Cassie kept telling herself that.

However, something was whispering another thing in her mind. It felt like she might not come back at all in this city for a while. But who knew, she could not predict what she might do with her future.

"I hope so. I will miss you, Mam. You are one of my biggest clients." The boy proclaimed as he saluted Cassie before turning around and going in the direction of the elevator.

Cassie could only smile at the young man. She wished him a prosperous future. Just like her, he had the misfortune of having a bad card from the start. 

But people who used their brains and were resilient to changes had a more likely chance to survive and thrive in this present world. The weak would be eaten alive with any way to defend themselves.

She closed the door and walked back into the living room, double-checking her items of luggage. She did not want to forget anything important, because as she said earlier, it might take some time before she returned.

A commotion at the door alerted her of another visitor. Instead of buzzing the bell, whoever was behind the door, knocked hard on the wooden frame.

"Wait. I am on my way." She shouted behind the door, not wanting her neighbors to feel scandalized by the noisy banging on her door.

She wondered if it was her most trusted delivery boy who might have forgotten something. But she believed he would not bang on her door as if he owned it.

She could only think of one person who could be standing behind the closed door. Now, she was anxious to answer it. But another set of knocks made her move closer to the door and unfastened the bolt.

She knew she had no choice but to face the big bad wolf in this story.