Danielle woke the next morning quite early considering the stress she passed through the previous day. Her muscles still ached as she had not fully recovered from the marathon day which took place the previous day. She wore a white short and a T-shirt before clicking on her key-card. Upon doing so, the door to the gym slid open. Inside the Gym, she lost counts of the exercise apparatus and other machines which were available at the gym.

By the treadmill was a tall gentle man, with broad shoulders, chest and well-built arms. His name was Marcus and He was rotating his looks between his tablet and then at Danielle.

“It is good that you are up early,” Marcus said.

“I have to get used to it” Danielle replied, trying not to sound apprehensive, “ Anyway, my First session is today”

He nodded and said : “Mr. Langford expects results from the session as soon as possible. My name is Marcus and i am here to guide you.”

Danielle stretched out her right hand for a handshake as she said “Danielle Harper is my name.”

He barely shook the hand when he said “Let me see what you can do.” Immediately, He pointed at a nearby treadmill. “Start with a fast walk on the mill for five minutes. Then, you use two minutes for running.”

Danielle climbed on the tread mill and tapped on the speed.

Marcus then checked his stopwatch and said “Walk for Fifteen seconds at that pace.” Thereafter he screamed, “Speed up.”

She had no choice than to obey by clicking the speed button. Her Heart was pounding heaving as she jogged. After one minute, she felt like her lungs were burning.

“Increase the speed, make it faster.” Marcus said. He did not look at her face, he was just busy barking orders.

She tried her best to push harder in order to impress her trainer, but The treadmill shook her steps and her body was soaked with sweat.

When the two minutes were up, she pressed the stop button and rested. Marcus then pointed at the nearby bench.

“ You will now do Bench presses with the frequency of Ten reps at thirty pounds.”

She lay on the bench and lifted the bar which was very heavy and Her arms were trembling. Then she began counting loudly while lifting the bar

“One.. Two.. Three. Four…” When she got to the seventh rep, her arms were shaking so ferociously and she nearly dropped the bar. However, she had to endure till she got to ten and set it down.

Marcus tapped his tablet as he said to her “ That is not a bad attempt for the first day. You will now do twenty reps of squats”

Danielle gripped the squat bar and she began pushing up and down, counting out each rep. When she got to fifteenth rep, her thighs were on fire but she endured till she finished twenty reps, though she was seriously gasping for breath.

Marcus looked up to her as he said “You will feel the impact on your thighs by tomorrow.”

Danielle wiped her brow with her towel as she told him that she is already used to hard work.

He raised his eyebrow as he said in a mocking tone “Hard work at a dinner bar is not the same as this.”

She shrugged her shoulder as she replied him: “Well, your points are taken and duly noted.”

They then proceeded to do other forms of aerobic exercises and Marcus corrected her whenever she made mistakes.

When the session was finally over, Danielle though exhausted felt very proud. She lay on the mat.

“Good one,” Marcus said while tapping his tablet. “Day one is done and dusted. We will go harder by tomorrow.”

She sat up, her heart was still pounding from exhaustion, but she managed to say: “Thank you.”

He nodded in response, turned and walked away. Danielle finally stood up, and grabbed her water bottle and drank from it as though her life depended on it.

Outside the gym, Thomas Reed waiting by the elevator with a red folder. When Danielle came out from the gym hall, he raised his head and the following conversation ensued

“Ms. Harper, good afternoon. Please this is your afternoon update, he said, while handing over the red folder to her.

She replied :“Thank you, Thomas.”

Then he continued “The folder also contains Household boundaries and clauses. Endeavour to read before dinner.”

Danielle nodded and she put the folder into her gym bag. She tapped the elevator button as she returned to her suite.

In her suite, Danielle emptied the contents of her bag on the bed. She picked up the red folder and tore open the top. She was curious to know the contents of the folder. Inside the folder, she saw fine piece of neatly arranged papers which listed rules that she had not taken prior notice of.

She glanced through the paper down to “Clause 7C” which read thus: “Communication with family members outside the household is suspended till further notice. All calls, texts, emails and visits must be approved in writing by the management of the household. Failure to adhere would attract dire consequences”

Danielle sat on the bed as she reached out for her phone. She searched though her contact list searching for Mia Harper’s contact. When she saw it, She tapped it. Upon dialing the contact, The phone screen flashed, then it showed: “Permission Required.”

She tried calling again but it persisted. She scrolled through her recent call list and discovered that all her contacts were blocked.

Her eyes became teary as She pressed the phone to her chest and sobbed quietly. She could not fathom the sudden disconnection from her family

Danielle raced down the hall and Her heart pounded like a wounded lioness. She had been blocked from talking to her sister. She could not comprehend such rules that intended to create a wedge between her and the sister.

She finally found the door to Reed’s office and banged on it very hard.

“Enter,” his voice called from the interior.

She pushed it open and entered inside. He was calmly seated and looking at her.

“Ms. Harper, What is it? “he enquired.

She clenched her fists towards him as she asked angrily “Why can’t I call my sister, Mia? She really needs me.”

He folded his arms and drew her attention to Clause 7C which was embedded in the contract that she had signed.

Her anger intensified as she replied “ Oh Gush ! I didn’t see that. I never saw such clause.”.

He shook his head as he said to her. “All clauses were in the folder. You read the folder and voluntarily signed. There was no duress and you signed the contract out of your freewill.”

Danielle felt her adrenaline pumping out of shock, and anger. “The clause says I cannot talk to Mia without permission. I am sure that you know She just had surgery and I really need to hear her voice. I need to know if the surgery was successful or perhaps there were complications”

Reed’s tone was nonchalant “This is a contract which You agreed to . I do not want us to complicate things here.”

Those words sounded unbelievable and hit her really bad. “You treat me like i am here just for the money.”

He interrupted her almost immediately and said “Oh Yes, You are here for money. I made an offer of a deal to you with a clear intension to create legal relations , which you accepted. You do not have any right to complain.”

Danielle felt very hurt “You promised to help her and save her life. Right now , it is so sad that you are eating your words and reneging on your promise”

Reed turned his back as he responded “My grandmother insisted on insertion of that clause as She is the one running the family’s business. I have little or no say on those issues”

“Then it is obvious that i do not have a say at all” Danielle whispered in an emotionally laden voice. “So what am I supposed to do now? Am I expected to Sit right here and pretend everything is fine when it is clearly not?”,

He did not provide any answer to that question as there was silence between them for a few seconds. She was motionless and all she could do was to stare at him

Finally he found his voice and managed to say “This is business and not a personal affair.”

Danielle cried very bitterly. She turned and ran away , slamming the door so hard behind her.

As soon as she returned to her suite, Danielle fell onto the couch. She watched Her phone lay on the table, in a dark and silent mode. She pulled out the contract’s folder and opened to Clause 7C and the reality of that clause dawned on her. She thought of Mia , who was alone, probably expecting in vain a call that would never come.

Danielle felt so trapped. Out of desperation, it was clear that She had signed her life away. A deal she made in an attempt to save her sister’s life was a cage in disguise.

She pulled out the folder and read the clause again, hoping that Clause 7c would miraculously disappear but to no avail.

It was still clearly written there that Communication with family members outside is suspended.

She tore out the page and threw it up and it floated across the room and finally landed on the floor. She stared at it with so much pains in her eyes.