All I wanted was for her to leave me alone but she refused to go. I tried every threat I had but she just sat there, her hand outstretched towards me.

I could have dragged her from the room but I didn’t. Instead I said, “I think you should leave.”

“I told you, I’m not going anywhere until you talk to me.”

“No, leave the house. Go home.”

“What?” she asked, looking confused. “But we’ve still got three more days together.”

“If you’re worried about the money, I’ll still pay you.”

“But why? I don’t understand.”

“Because I think you should leave.”

She folded her arms, her lips pouting. “Well I’m not going to.”

“What did you say?”

“I said I’m not going. I signed a contract to stay here a week and I’m going to stay for a week. That means three more days.”

“Don’t you get it? I don’t want you to stay any longer. I want you to leave.”

“Then you shouldn’t have made me sign the contract.”

“Go! Get out of here,” I snapped, pointing at the door.

“No. We had a deal. I last a week with you. I’ve got three days left.”

“The deal’s off.”

“I refuse to quit.” Her eyes narrowed. “Why the sudden change of heart? What’s going on Ethan? Have I done something wrong?”

“No, it’s not you. It’s just…this. This is wrong. It’s all wrong.”

“What is?”

“This, this contract, our agreement. I shouldn’t be making you do this. You should go before it’s too late.”

“Too late for what?”

“For you.”

She looked frightened, her expression changing as I turned away, looking out the window once more. “What do you mean?” she asked.

I heard her get up and walk round the desk. She knelt next to me, putting her hand on top of mine. “What were you going to do to me at the end of the week?”

I sighed, wanting to lie, wanting to gloss over the reality of just how fucked up I was. But I took one look in her eyes and the truth came pouring out of me. “I was going to break you, there, you happy? My plan was to take someone innocent and pure, someone who had never done anything wrong and deserved none of this. I was going to break you and then I was going to toss you aside.”

“But why? I still don’t get it. Why would you want to do that?”

“Because I’m a monster, okay? Is that what you want to hear? You want me to admit it. Fine, I’m a monster. I wanted to take an innocent woman and destroy her and the plan was going fine until…” His voice faded away.

“Until what?”

I looked down at her hand, sitting on top of mine as she waited patiently for me to answer. “Have you ever wondered what’s the point of life?”

“Sure I have, hasn’t everyone?”

“What’s the point of it all?”

“Of life? That’s a pretty big question. Why are you asking me that?”

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently. I don’t think there is a point. I think you need to decide what you want from life and get it. I thought I wanted money but that wasn’t enough. I wanted more. I’ve been a greedy man, Zoey. I’ve done so much damage to get where I am today. Every brick in this place is someone else’s pain and I caused it. I won’t cause any more. I don’t want to hurt you. I want you to go before I do.”

She squeezed my hand. “Leaving will hurt me far more than staying.”

I shook my head. “You don’t mean that. You should get out of here before you end up like me. You don’t want that, Zoey, trust me. I’m dead inside.”

“No, you’re not,” she said, smiling up at me. “I know you’re not. It’s never too late to change, Ethan. If you’re not happy with who you are then become someone else. Trust me on this, I know all about it.”

“It’s too late for that. I fucked things with my family, I fucked things with my life and now I’m fucking things with you. Get out of here, Zoey.”

“How did you fuck up with your family?”

“You’re not a therapist, I don’t have to tell you anything.”

“No, but it might help if you do.”

I’ll write you a cheque now if you go. Hell, I’ll make it two million.”

“I’m not going until the week is up.”

“Ten million then. Think what you could do with ten million.”

“I don’t want your money, Ethan. I want to spend the next three days with you.”

“But why?”

She shrugged. “Because I signed the contract.”

“I could make you leave. I could throw you out.”

“I’d come back.”

“I could have you arrested, say you broke in here.”

“You could, if you want to play it that way. Go ahead, Ethan. I won’t stop you.”

“Damn it, Zoey, why are you doing this? Why not just go before you get hurt?”

She stood up, looking down at me with a look on her face that I didn’t recognise. What was that? Was that warmth?

“The only thing that would hurt me is leaving you alone when you’re in pain. I can handle anything else you can throw at me.”

“Are you sure about that?”

She nodded. “If you want me, I shall be in my room, awaiting your next command.”

She walked out slowly, pausing in the doorway to add, “It’s never too late to change,” before leaving me alone.

I put my head in my hands, wanting to punch the thoughts out of my head. None of this was going the way it was supposed to. I was supposed to be breaking her and instead I was falling for her. It was ridiculous, a complete stranger who I barely knew and I was falling for her. It was madness.

It was ruining all my plans. But she wouldn’t leave. That left me with options and I needed to decide which to take.

I could throw her out and start again with someone else, get back on track, get the job done. Not let Emilia win.

I could run out the contract, see how hard I could push her in three days, see how much she would take before she broke.

Or, and this idea scared me more than anything else, maybe I could keep her for longer than three days.

Time to decide.