CHAPTER 9
TWO MONTHS LATER…Berlin’s eyes itched and twitched. A sudden burst of brightness washed away the darkness that once flooded behind his lids and he struggled to open his eyes for a while.Finally, he opened them and the first thing he saw was a shiny white ceiling.He couldn't help but wonder where he was as he quickly looked around and didn't recognize a single thing in his view.He didn't know this room, he had never laid in the bed where he found himself and when he sat up with alertness and fear, he noticed he was clad in a pair of white shirt and trousers.“What the hell? Am I dead?” he asked himself as confusion set in and he pressed against his heart just to be sure that he wasn't seeing things or making them up in his head.The last thing he remembered was getting shot in the heart by the assassin Rhodes Walton hired and he could recall dying right on the spot. It was difficult to forget the feeling of having his heart stop right before everything went dark so he was certain about what he remembered.Also, seeing himself dressed in all white and inside a white room, he wondered if this was really the afterlife and if he was actually dead after all.He fisted his arms as anger enveloped him once again when he remembered all that he went through in jail for seven years all for the woman he loved only to get betrayed by her and then killed by her father.To say life was cruel would be an understatement because he deserved none of what had happened to him while he was alive. He never did anything to warrant such a cold and useless life for himself so why was he so unlucky?Why couldn't he get the revenge he wanted badly against the ones who had wronged him?With a sigh, he palmed his face in resignation and just then, there was a knock on the door to his room.Immediately, he snapped his head up to look at the door and there was another knock at that moment.He ignored the warning in his head and went ahead to open the door as he thought that since he was dead, what was the worst that could happen to a dead person?He opened the door and before him stood a woman who looked to be in her mid thirties and she was dressed in a sequined black ankle-length dress. Her hair was held up in a bun and her lips were boldly adorned with blazing red lipstick.She had a blank but fierce look in her eyes as she stared at him and he didn't know how but he immediately figured out she must be the boss as he stared back at her.“Who are you?” he asked and she cracked a smile.“The one who saved your life, Berlin Emerson” she replied and he became even more confused.“I'm not dead? Isn't this the afterlife?” he asked and she laughed while she made her way into his room, snapped her fingers, and made a chair appear before she sat down and faced him.Berlin couldn't believe his eyes and he thought he was probably seeing things when she conjured up a chair out of nowhere.“Of course not, Berlin. Why would you think you're dead?” she asked him and he was speechless for a moment as the whole situation felt like a huge dream with no end in sight.“Then if this isn't the afterlife, where am I and why are you the one who saved my life? How on earth did you save me when I was already dead and why did you save me when you don't know me? Also, how the heck did you make a chair appear out of nowhere?” he asked so many questions with more still running through his mind and the woman snapped her fingers again.He suddenly appeared seated on the edge of the bed in front of her and his eyes widened before he began to panic by inching away from her and scooting over to the other end of the bed.“What the… there is no way I'm coming close to you until you tell me what you are, how you saved me, and why” he yelled at her and she rolled her eyes.“My name is Linda Bareit and I've been watching you, Berlin.I watched you ever since you got out of jail, found your ex wife cheating on you, got divorced, was bribed by your ex-father-in-law, and then killed by him… I've been watching you throughout all of it because we both have one thing in common”“And what is that?” he asked her and she shrugged.“It's obviously revenge, Berlin. We both want to make people who wronged us pay” she replied like it was the obvious.“Who do you want revenge against?” he asked her and she shook her head.“This family killed my husband and it's been my goal to wipe them all out but then, that's none of your business. Let's focus on you now” she retorted and he moved onto the next question.“So how did you bring me back from the dead then?” he asked her after a moment of eyeing her suspiciously and she tipped her head to the side.“You saw what I just did, Berlin. I made a chair appear out of nowhere and made you sit on the bed without touching you. You should have figured it out by now” she told him and he sighed.“So you're a witch?” he asked and she pulled her phone out of her pocket.“Whatever you want to call it, Berlin darling” she replied and he frowned.“Don't call me that” he fired and that made her laugh to herself.“So uptight. Don't worry, with time, you'll loosen up” she told him and with that, she turned the screen of her phone toward him and he peered closely only to see a contract between him and her and his signature was on it already.He looked at her, confused about what he was seeing and she pulled her phone away.“What's that? Why is my signature there when I don't even remember signing it?” he asked.“It's an agreement between you and me. I saved your life and I'm going to make you filthy rich with enough Influence and power to get the revenge you want but you're going to die after six months” she answered blankly and his eyes bulged in shock and disbelief.“WHAT?” He yelled out in horror.CHAPTER 10It had been two weeks since Berlin’s encounter with Linda. To say it was a rollercoaster would be an understatement but with time, he got to accept his new fate and now, he was cool with it.What took some time to get used to was the fact that she was a witch with actual magical powers but he soon got acquainted with that too and just as she predicted, he soon loosened up around her.The knowledge that he was dying in the next six months weighed him down at first because he never agreed to such a deal with Linda in the first place.He was dead when she found him so it was impossible but she claimed that he gave his consent before she brought him back to life and there was nothing she could do because the contract had been made… it was irreversible.He died once so knowing he would die in the next six months was something he could learn to live with. As long as he could finally get the revenge he desperately yearned for… that was all he needed to know he had lived a fulfille
CHAPTER 1Berlin thought it was just going to be his wedding anniversary with his wife, Genevieve, that fateful day.He had picked a restaurant, wore the best suit he had to look his best for his wife, and fought back jitters as he waited for her to show up… only for her to walk in with his father-in-law and whenever the old man showed up, it was never something good. Especially for Berlin.They wanted him to do a favor for them, for Genevieve especially. She did something horrible and he was asked to take the blame for her and Berlin, who loved Genevieve a lot, didn't give it a second thought before he agreed to their request because he was willing to do anything for the woman he loved.Then two weeks later, Berlin was in handcuffs, dressed in a prisoner's uniform, and struggling to fight back tears that stung behind his eyelids as he waited for his sentence to be passed to him.The judge gave him a disapproving look as she read through his case again and when he looked back at the p
CHAPTER 2“Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on?” he asked in disbelief as his voice shook and Genevieve, who was shocked to see him at first, gave him a look before she got down from the bed and took her time to wear a robe while he waited silently for her to say something.“Why? Did seven years in jail ruin your eyesight and now you can’t see things clearly?” his wife finally asked him, her voice cold and distant and Berlin stared at her in shock. She was completely different from the Genevieve he knew and it hurt to know that she wasn’t planning to apologize for cheating on him.“How could you do this to me? I went to jail for you for seven years and you cheated on me with my best friend? For how long has this been going on?” he asked a series of questions and Genevieve smirked before she walked closer to him and looked him blankly in the eyes.“First, what do you mean by doing this to you? You really didn’t think I would stay celibate for seven years and wait for you righ
CHAPTER 3Just as Berlin made his way out of the apartment and stood by the sidewalk, a car stopped right before him and honked loudly.Then the window slid down to reveal his father-in-law’s secretary, a man in his late twenties who acted like he owned the world and was better than everyone else just because he was the secretary to the third most successful automobile company owner in the world.“What do you want?” Berlin snapped at him as he was still angry and the secretary looked him over from head to toe with distaste in his eyes.“Get in the car 'cause you're coming with me. Mr. Rhodes wants to see you”“I'm not coming with you so you can leave” Berlin retorted still angry and the secretary huffed in annoyance before he honked at Berlin who was now walking away.Then he drove to meet up with Berlin who was still walking hastily and he honked even louder when he wouldn't stop walking. That gained Berlin’s attention and he stopped walking to glare at the secretary who smiled at hi
CHAPTER 4A suspenseful silence filled the air again and Berlin was so close to losing his temper as he stared at the man who was once his father-in-law with so much sizzling hatred.Mr. Rhodes snapped his finger for his secretary to come closer and the young man obeyed immediately. Berlin watched his former father-in-law whisper something in the secretary’s ear and immediately, the secretary scampered off to the second floor.More silence followed as Mr. Rhodes lit another cigarette and began to smoke and Berlin felt like he was on the last thread of his patience. It felt like the old man was teasing his patience because he knew he could do nothing and at a point, he considered punching him right in the face just to make himself feel better.The secretary finally came down the stairs and returned to the living room with a huge black bag in hand this time and when he dropped it with a loud thump on the table that stood between Berlin and his former father-in-law, it was obvious that i
CHAPTER 5Heading out to get a coffee to clear his head and then to think about what came next, Berlin walked out of his Father-in-law's mansion and he couldn't help but notice the many stares that he received from the workers as he made his way out.He was sure they already heard something about him while he was inside and whatever it was they heard, he was sure they were all certainly looking at him like he was dumb for rejecting such life-changing money.But he knew their opinions didn't matter to him because they weren't the ones who went to jail for seven years for nothing so they could never understand him and why he did that.Ignoring them all, he walked out of the mansion’s surroundings, then ordered for an Uber and his Uber came almost immediately.“Where are we going, sir?” The driver let out immediately Berlin got into the car but Berlin didn't put a drop-off location while he ordered his ride because he had no idea where the nearest cafe could be to get himself the coffee
CHAPTER 6Berlin was walking on the street now, he just had his coffee and he decided to walk a little to get to a cheap motel where he could rest until morning.The caffeine was kicking in, and his chest felt lighter. Although he was aware that there was not a thing in this world that could take away all his pain and suffering from the last seven years and today especially, he was glad that at least the pain did not take a toll on him that much and he could still feel his head.The street was busy and many people walked to and fro with their heads bent and their eyes glued to their phones. Berlin always knew the streets of New York to be busy, so that was not a new thing to him.He held his head up high as he walked amongst them while clutching onto his phone which was basically the only thing he owned now, along with a couple of dollars that wouldn't help him for too long because it was not enough.He did not own any clothing at all and he could tell that it would be a great problem
CHAPTER 7After taking thirty minutes to do nothing but admire the motel’s interior and designs, Berlin finally retired to his room for the night and the motel room looked decent.It had brown walls and a green ceiling. The motel was really the definition of a vintage and classy-looking place because it ticked all the boxes for an old-class description. The interior looked old but was obviously maintained which made everything look put together.“That is a nice bed,” Berlin said out loud as he was talking to no one but himself while he observed the bed.He could not wait to throw himself on it and go to sleep but he decided that he had to shower first before doing anything else. No matter how tired he was, he still had to wash away the many years of memories and stink from prison that remained on him.He also desperately wanted to wash everything about today off his body and he wished he could wash his mind clean too and forget about a lot of the hurtful things he went through with Ge