*
*
Sterling entered the dimly lit building. His eyes glimmered with purpose as he stood tall above the man who was cowering in fear.
A deep bruise covered the man's forehead, he tried to stand but his broken bones made him scream in agony.
Sterling tapped his chin with his index finger.
"Now, what am I going to do with you?" He murmured and watched the man's eyes dazzle with fear.
"P_please, let me go, I p_promise to stay away from your family, I'll leave, I s_swear!"
"I already gave you that chance, didn't I? But what did you do?" Unrestrained anger made Sterling's voice harsher.
For the sake of his wife, he'd informed Rex to provide this man enough money to get out of the city and start a new life, but the mother fucker was greedy, he made the mistake to think that Sterling was a pushover and was demanding more money.
"The biggest mistake in your entire life was that you ever knew my wife, You could've lived the rest of your life peacefully, anyone who comes close to her and even so much as touches the hair on her head must meet the same fate. I got rid of you before, but since you decided to show up again, you leave me no choice__"
Dan seemed to be lost in Sterling's words, his eyes cloudy with confusion, and finally understanding.
"I_It was you! I never u_understood __ how could you? I'll kill you son of a bitch!"
Sterling laughed at his pitiful attempts to escape, and the men with him delivered a strong kick to Dan's rib, the sound of bone cracking was accompanied by a painful sob.
Sterling didn't even flinch, not even when Dan crawled to touch his well-polished shoe, he only gave Dan a dirty glare.
"P_please just let me go. Are you going to k_kill me?"
It wasn't as though Sterling hadn't thought about it, it was the safest way to ensure that this man who dared to threaten his daughter received his punishment. At the same time, he couldn't. He'd already promised Faith that Dan was safe if she ever found out that he killed Dan__
She would never forgive him, still, he was going to protect her in his own way. Even when she didn't want him to.
Which was why he couldn't let the man go.
"Boss, What do you want us to do?" One of Sterling's men asked and Dan turned desperate. He didn't want to die just yet, he never thought devils existed, but here was Sterling who possessed that cold murderous look in his eyes.
No__Please!
No__Please!
"I can forgive you." Sterling smiled coldly at the look of hope that flickered in Dan's eyes.
Rex had come up with the perfect solution for him. Since Dan was wanted by the federal police, why not just allow them to find him? And this time, Sterling would ensure that he would never be granted the opportunity to escape again.
He made the call and some minutes later the sound of siren echoed the quiet environment.
"But since you blew up your first opportunity to live a free life elsewhere, I can only make sure that you return to where you came from."
Dan flinched at the sound of the police arriving.
"You can't do this! I'll tell t_them the truth! You framed me for something I never did! I'll tell the police e_everything!"
At this point, Sterling almost felt pity for Dan.
Almost.
All power was in his hands, poor Dan never stood a chance against him. There was no fairness in the world.
The police barged into the warehouse and Sterling walked to the superintendent even as the cops cuffed a struggling Dan and forced him into their car.
"Thank you for your cooperation Mr. Sterling Hunter, we need more upstanding citizens like you in this country."
"I only did my part, I only have a request. I don't want the news of catching the escaped convict to ever get out, just handle this very quietly."
"Yes sir! Have a good day sir."
It wasn't the superintendent's place to ask the reason Sterling wanted it to be so, his job was merely to obey the orders given.
Sterling walked out when his phone rang. It was from his office.
"Sir, your wife is here, she says she forgot something in your office and might even need to check the drawers." Stacy said.
"Well, Give her the keys." Sterling spoke, his eyes meeting Rex's who was behind him and seemed to have heard the conversation.
"Are you crazy! Isn't your drawer where you kept that__what if she finds it!" Rex yelled, staring at Sterling as though he had lost his senses.
If his wife wanted to find something, there was no way he was going to stop her.
*
*
Faith had wanted to do this discretely, she thought that she had been lucky when Stacy had told her that Sterling was away.
She would just sneak into his office and grab the documents. That was until Stacy called Sterling and informed him of her presence. Faith was surprised when Sterling allowed her to get the keys without questions.
She guessed this was her lucky day!
"What are you searching for? I'll help you." Stacy offered.
"There is no need, I'll be a quick. You can return to what you were doing, I don't wish to keep you."
Stacy nodded and left.
Faith opened the door to Sterling's office, her heart was throbbing too fast.
She had to be quick before Sterling returned.
Where was it?
The desk was empty!
Could it be that Stacy had already retrieved the files?
She walked to the other side of the huge desk and opened the drawer.
Her body quivered with relief when she spotted the stack of documents.
There was no time to waste!
She grabbed all the documents in the drawer and started to search.
"Shit!" The curse flew from her mouth when her shaky hands nearly gave way because she thought she heard footsteps.
She found what she was looking for! Faith couldn't resist a smile of triumph, that was until her eyes caught on to something and all sense of accomplishment vanished.
It wasn't signed!
"No!" Her voice was hoarse, her eyes rapidly scanning the papers repeatedly.
This couldn't be!
She had watched him sign these__Right?
Oh god!
Had he only pretended to?
"No! No! No!"
Sterling was aware of her scheme. He'd seen through her plan the other day.
Faith grew sick, a deep weight settling in the spot where her heart should be. She felt dizzy and nauseous.
She'd tried to deceive him, he surely wouldn't let something as huge as this go.
Anxiety made her muscles taut as tears threatened in her eyes.
She had failed! Why had she ever felt she could cheat him in this way?
She'd made a huge mistake and wondered how she would pay for it.
Her eyes shifted to the drawer, it was the white envelope below that drew her attention.
Why did it look familiar?
She had definitely seen that before, but where?
She should just leave.
But where would she go? Where could she hide?
Despite her uncertainties, Faith found herself reaching for the envelope, maybe because it looked strangely like the one___
Her eyes flew open, could it be?
She tore at the seal which easily gave way, indicating that the envelope had been opened before.
Her breath ceased, her whole world exploding right before her eyes.
The divorce agreement! It was the original copy.
Why was it in Sterling's possession? The place where his signature was meant to be was blank.
Her knees trembled.
Could it be that __
*
*