Chapter nine

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.