Ariel woke up worried. She had two problems on her mind.

The disturbing news Rain had shared, and the fact she no longer had a job.

“I'm cooked.” She sighed and threw herself back on her bed. She was still deep in thought when it dawned on her she had not called Jaques. She was unsure about the whereabouts of his business card. She had been so mad at Axel that she may have likely lost it. Brushing off negative thoughts, she reached for her purse and searched. She was right, it was gone! She sighed in disappointment and was about to toss it aside when she saw a familiar business card. She had gotten it from the man at the club, the late Blue Rail 's CEO's son. She looked at the numbers on the card, this could probably be the answer to her plight. She quickly reached for her cellphone and thumbed the digits.

Ariel watched it ring, she was a ball of nerves. Shortly after, she could hear a curt male voice from the other end.

“Hello?.” Kyle answered the phone curiously. The sound of his voice spurred words from Ariel's lips.

“Hi, I don't know if you remember me, but you gave me your business card at a club some time ago.”

“Of course I do, I've been expecting your call.” There was a flirty edge to his voice, which made Ariel skeptical about him, and nervous as well.

“You said you had an offer for me, is it still on?.” She asked.

“It's more of a job, let's talk about it if you're interested.”

Ariel managed to suppress her excitement.

A satisfied grin tugged her lips

“Alright.”

“Cool , I'll see you at 3pm, Cherry's hub.”

“Okay.” She replied and stayed on the line until he hung up. Jumping off the bed, she ran to her closet to look for what to wear. She dialed Joan's number and tossed her phone on the bed as she rummaged through her closet.

Her three attempts to reach Joan were unsuccessful. She gave up, she was going to try again later.

The splice font on her display screen flashed what time of the day it was. The day was still early, it was 10:00 AM. She had four hours to spare before her meeting with the handsome stranger.

Ariel had a shower and ate some fruits. At first, throwing her out of Axel's space had seemed like a big deal, but she had grown to enjoy her own company. In this place, she could be crazy with no judgements. She went to her private karaoke room to celebrate her intending job offer, she played with a stray cat Marie had kept in her West mansion the previous day. She was having a blast.

The day was unusually slow, but on the bright side, she could lay in bed until it was time for her meeting. But she didn't.

She engaged in other activities to distract her from the fact a sloth was faster than her day.

Ariel had repeated every single activity she engaged in since 10 Am, yet the time had only moved by an hour. It was not close to 3pm yet. Seeing she had enough time on her hands, she decided to take a nap. Ariel had no idea how long she slept, but when she woke up, she was scared it'd be dark.

Much to her dismay, the time was 2pm, she had an hour left before the meeting.

Quickly, she slides into her dress and heels. She grabbed the nearest purse she could find and headed out.

The sky was crystal clear, birds of the air chirped on the trees in the garden.

Ariel was happy to see it.

But just like a nightmare, the skies were covered with a dark blanket of clouds almost immediately. The chirping of the birds were replaced by nocturnal noises. Constellations aligned in the sky, it was night.

Ariel dropped her purse in shock.

She looked at the time displayed on her phone. It was 10:pm.

The day had been moving all along.

Ariel was furious, this trick had Axel written all over it.

He had tricked her into believing it was day time so she'd miss her interview meeting.

Grunting in frustration, she picked her bag and went back in. Axel had not come home for days, there was no way she could confront him. And the man she was supposed to meet, was going to be furious she ghosted with no explanation. Whatever offer he had for her was as good as gone.

She quickly dialed Kyle's number. She waited anxiously, fumbling for words to say without sounding stupid. Who was going to believe her story?

‘Hey, a god held the day and time went by, that's why I could not make it to our meeting.’

She shuddered. He'd be looking for the nearest asylum if she said that.

Before she could think further, Kyle answered the phone.

“Hello?.” He said impatiently. He was clearly pissed, his tone gave him away.

“Hi, it's Ariel. I'm sorry I didn't show up for the meeting. My cat…. she sobbed.

“He…he…he passed away.” Ariel cried in pretense. Losing an imaginary cat was better than losing her chance to probably work with Blue Rail.

“It's fine, we can reschedule. Sorry about your cat.”

Ariel sniffed. “Thank you.”

“I'll see you tomorrow, same time.”

“Alright, thanks. I'm sorry I didn't communicate about my cat.”

“It's fine.” He replied and hung up.

Ariel was excited. This time, she was not going to let Axel make a fool out of her.

Ariel left home very early the next morning. But her day was terrible.

Worse than the previous day.

Every taxi she entered broke down. She hired a bicycle, but it also had a flat tire.

Even her attempt to walk to her destination was blocked. She kept walking in circles and ending up in the same alley.

Ariel was mad, she decided she had had enough. She was going to confront him.

Much to her surprise, her ride to his office was smooth, which angered her all the more.

All his secretary’s attempt to stop her was futile. She barged in with the scared girl on her heels.

“It's fine, let her in.” Axel instructed the worried secretary.

Seeing the furious Ariel , gladdened his heart.

“It's you!.” She laid her accusation. But she got no response. Instead, he looked at her like she was mad.

“You pulled a trick on me and tried to ruin my day.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about.”

Ariel puffed out the anger in her chest, trying to control her breathing.

He was trying to trigger her on purpose. Divorcing him flashed in her head for a split second.

“Don't even think about it.” He snapped.

“If you end our marriage before the year runs out you'll give me a compensation— five hundred million dollars.”

Ariel gasped in shock. The figure had slightly increased her blood pressure.

She realized the deep mess she had gotten into.

She had stupidly signed the marriage clause without a lawyer.

“But if I, on the other hand, end the marriage before the year runs out, I'll compensate you instead.”

“What do I stand to gain?.” She finally found her voice.

"I'll keep you safe. So far, I've upheld a part of our bargain, but I can't help the second part.

“You turned down my money."

Ariel was silent. The contract clauses were ten, she wondered the remaining nine clauses she had signed. It dawned on her, she had sold herself to the devil.

Her eyes followed his movement.

She shivered as he stood up and took slow and calculated steps towards her.