I was about to cry. "Mr. Martinez, please help me. Is there no other way? Like forcibly breaking the..." I suddenly found myself unable to speak.
The temperature around me dropped sharply, and a cold wind blew in my face. I felt an unusual breath on my neck. My breath tightened, and a suffocating feeling surged from my chest.
He was still here!
My heart began to pound, my scalp tingled, and tears flowed uncontrollably down my fac
Aiden looked at me solemnly and shook his head. "Forcibly breaking the contract is possible, but it will harm your body. I advise you not to do it."
I quickly nodded.
I had previously thought he wasn't around, so I dared to ask Aiden for help. Now that I knew he was everywhere, I wouldn't dare to show any unwillingness.
Sure enough, after I agreed, the breath that had been lingering around my neck vanished, as if in approval of my wise decision, and a soft laugh echoed by my ear.
Aiden seemed to notice my discomfort and suggested I talk with Howard alone, taking Amelia with him.
"Grandpa," Amelia frowned at him.
Aiden shook his head at her. "Some things are beyond our control, as I taught you before."
Amelia gave me a worried look and reluctantly left the room.
The room was empty except for me, and the thought of the ghostly presence of Howard sent shivers through me. I quietly whispered his name, "Howard." My tone was as flattering as possible.
Then a deep, cold voice came from behind my ear, "Are you afraid of me?"
'Isn't that obvious? Think about it—a young person like me with a bright future, a carefree college student for so many years, and suddenly a demon shows up to haunt me. Of course I'm scared!' I thought, but hearing his displeased tone, I dared not tell the truth.
I turned around, trying to look calm. "You are so handsome, how could I be afraid of you?"
Knowing he liked to hear good things, I buttered him up like there was no tomorrow. Thinking about our long-term relationship, I naturally wanted to keep Howard happy.
Howard lazily glanced at me, a faint smile on his lips. "You like handsome men?"
Facing such a handsome face, even knowing he was a demon, the fear in my heart would lessen a bit.
"What if I return to my original form? Would you be afraid? Would you still like me" he asked tentatively.
'Do demons, like monsters, have an original form? Was he saying this because his original form was terrifying?' With this thought, images of blue-faced, fanged demons I had seen online immediately came to mind, and I couldn't help but shiver. "Can you just stay in this form when you're with me?"
Turning a blind eye was easier than facing the horror head-on. For a girl who couldn't even handle scary movies, I preferred to play deaf and dumb, clinging to the idealistic belief that if I couldn't see it, it didn't exist.
Howard sneered, "Karena, since you are the one I chose, I won't harm you. But we will be together for a long time, so you better get used to my presence."
I nodded repeatedly. "I will get used to it."
I just hoped that when Howard was happy, he would let me go and break the inexplicable contract.
He just looked at me indifferently, his blue eyes carrying a bit of coldness, as if seeing through my thoughts. "I'll wait for you to come to me willingly."
Leaving this inexplicable sentence, Howard disappeared.
I walked out of the room with a troubled expression, only to find that Aiden was gone and Amelia was waiting for me alone.
Seeing me come out, Amelia immediately asked, "How was it?"
I smiled bitterly at her. "I guess we temporarily signed a peace treaty."
"Sorry, I couldn't help you."
Seeing her guilty look, I smiled and pretended to be relaxed. "How could that be? Thanks to you, at least I know why I was inexplicably entangled. Let's go back to school."
In the following days, Howard didn't appear again, and I lived a relatively peaceful life.
But the accident happened during a class break when someone pushed me down the stairs.
Before I passed out, I saw a blurry figure standing on the stairs, almost thinking I was mistaken.
When I woke up again, I was already in the hospital.
After falling down the stairs, my counselor, Chase, and Amelia had taken me to the hospital.
"Karena, are you okay?" Seeing me wake up, Amelia looked at me nervously.
I sat up, the pain in my head making me dizzy, and tightly grabbed her hand."I saw Sophia. She was the one who pushed me down the stairs."
A person who had already died appeared again.
"Who did you say?" Chase's anxious voice came from the door. "Karena, don't talk nonsense. You fell down the stairs yourself. I specifically checked the surveillance footage."
Seeing Chase eager to clear things up, I quickly calmed down. I pretended to be dizzy and said, "Sorry, I just woke up and was somewhat disoriented. I was talking nonsense."
Chase sighed in relief, "I understand. You should stay in the hospital for a few days. I've notified your parents. You can return to class after you recover."
After sending Chase away, I looked at Amelia seriously. "I'm sure; although it happened suddenly, in the last second before I fainted, I saw that the person who pushed me down the stairs was Sophia."
"Do you have a grudge against her?" Amelia clearly couldn't understand. She was surprised when she heard about Sophia bullying me before. After all, besides being in the same class, I had no other interaction with Sophia.
I shook my head, feeling dizzy. "Even though she did accuse me of snitching to the teacher when she used to bully me, her death has nothing to do with me, right? So why would she come after me?"
And it seemed like Sophia wanted to take me to hell. But I was the victim. If she hadn't tattooed me, I wouldn't have gotten involved with Howard.
Thinking of Howard, I suddenly remembered what he said before he disappeared that day—I'll wait for you to come to me willingly.
I slapped my thigh, excitedly saying, "No wonder he said that. He knew Sophia would come after me."
Although I didn't know the connection between Howard and Sophia, the key to breaking the contract might be with Sophia.
I excitedly grabbed Amelia's hand, as if I had seen the first light of dawn. "Amelia, can you ask your grandpa for help to handle an ordinary ghost like Sophia?"
"Of course, wait a moment. I'll call my grandpa." Amelia immediately agreed.