Dangerous Games

LOVING THE PAST THAT FORGOT YOU

Flora looked up at the house, trembling with anxiety and incredibly confused. The man who drove her to the home was as silent as a graveyard with a hard and unassuming stare. He didn't even say a word when she turned her panicked eyes on him. He only indicated that she continued up the stairs.

She had asked before what Claudius wanted to meet her, but the man had only grumbled, so she decided to follow his lead and walk into the house. He handed her over to a maid, who took her purse and jacket. She took Flora to a brightly lit room.

"Mr. Devon?" The maid called, closing the door softly.

He coughed, struggling to get comfortable on the bed. She rushed to help him. She adjusted his pillows and made him as comfortable as possible.

"Please sit." He wheezed, pointing to a chair in front of the bed.

Flora carefully sat down, looking at the mass of machines connected to him. "Thank you. I am sorry. I had no idea you were this ill sir."

"Would you have come to visit if you knew?" He joked, grinning as he asked the maid to leave.

"I have no ties to do so, but I hope you get well soon."

"I am dying, dear. It's why I called you here. I want nothing more than to settle some affairs before I finally rest."

"And I am one of your affairs?"

"Yes."

"What have I done."

"I know about my daughter's threats to your freedom. I am sorry for what you have had to go through the past year. I just learned. If I had known, I would never have allowed it to happen."

Flora blinked, flustered. "There was nothing you could have done."

"There was. And I have already done it."

"What do you mean?"

He pointed to the folder on the chair beside her, but she didn't touch it. "The woman who donated her organs to your father. I have reached out and taken care of her. She will not contact you again. If she does, Ben, whom you have already met, will handle it. You are to have no further contact with her."

"I am sorry."

"Don't worry. She is not going to be hurt. She is fine, and even she knows the benefits of my deal. But so you aren't worried and convinced to check on her, I will tell you. I have paid her for what she did for your father and added an extra incentive in the form of caring for her daughter and two nieces. She can't extort any more money from you."

Flora was frozen in shock, unable to process everything he was saying. Samuel didn't tell her his grandfather had found out. She didn't know if he told his grandfather himself or why Claudius had even moved to help her. Did Samuel ask him to?

"You don't have to do anything for me, sir. I don't want to owe your family anything."

"You owe us nothing, but we owe you so much. I owe you so much."

"What do you mean?"

"Forgive me if I don't explain it to you. Just know that you are now free."

"Because you paid someone off? I still committed the crime. If your daughter wishes, she could turn me in to the police anytime."

"Never. Our mutual friend has agreed to say that she gave her organs out of kindness because she saw your suffering. No one can prove otherwise now. You will be safe now."

"Why?" She muttered. "Why are you trying to help me? I deserve to know the truth."

"We never got the chance to meet, but I knew someone in your family. Someone important to me. Your grandmother. She was...she means a lot to me. I couldn't help but be horrified at how my daughter treated you."