Episode 17

It was already night...

"Do you want to know what I was thinking of doing now?"

Megan said as she entered the bathroom, her hands behind her back as if hiding something. Just seconds before, I had been admiring the lights of the other buildings through the glass window, while massaging my knee covered by the hot, foamy water of the bathtub.

After we got off the private jet, a black car with tinted windows took us to a building downtown. Megan ordered some men to be our guards. Mercier had to go somewhere and James went with him, but I didn't know anything about this place. They were serious when they exchanged silent words with Megan, it seemed to be a confidential matter.

We were in Spain, but Megan didn't say why we were there.

Before nightfall, I lay down to rest on the large bed in that room in that aparthotel, everything in pure luxury. All the walls there were of a woody color, but dark wood. Megan's taste for "Dark" was immense, her whole style was incredible, in fact.

I stared at Megan's posture, feeling curious to know what she did or didn't have in her hands. Her gaze was mysterious and it made me even more curious.

"What are you thinking, Megan?" I asked, placing one hand outside the bathtub.

"Well..." she said, pulling up her blouse sleeves, revealing to me that her hands were empty. My curiosity died in such a tragic and lamentable way. "I'm thinking of taking off my clothes and getting into this bathtub."

I continued to stare at her, hiding the surprise she caused me when she fell silent.

"I can't stop you," I affirmed and her eyes narrowed, suspicious. I didn't dare, I just said what I thought.

Megan walked into the bathroom, looking at me, and I felt strange, but in a good way. I never understood the meaning of this feeling.

She stopped...

"How long has it been since you cut your nails?" she asked. In the same second, I looked at my hand. It had been almost a month.

"I think a month," I responded and saw her kneeling next to the bathtub, where she sat down and leaned, completely turned towards me.

"You need a manicure, but since we're not in London and I don't want to put you at risk... I'll be your manicurist."

"What?" I asked with a surprised smile.

"That's right!" she said, showing tranquility in her gaze.

"It's not necessary... I don't intend to, um..." I stopped, remembering our almost night of love. Megan smiled at me and then grabbed my hand.

"We use our hands for many things, Stella," there was an unexpected innocence in her soft voice. "Things like... let's think..."

While she thought, I observed what she started to do on my hand with her thumb. It was a simple caress, but good.

"You're also thinking, aren't you?" she said when she realized I was looking at our hands. I couldn't hide the smile of being caught in the act. "Stella!" she got annoyed, furrowing her eyebrows, and the way she looked, she seemed cute.

"Sorry?"

"Okay... But when I said 'let's think,' it was for both of us to do the same!"

"Sorry, it's just that... well, forget it. Now let's think together."

"Uhmm," she looked at me suspiciously and I held back a smile, although inside, I failed. "Okay."

...

"We can light candles or open boxes of chocolate," I said and she smiled.

"Or massage our shoulders, as well as our feet or temples."

"That feels so good," I affirmed, intoxicated as if someone was massaging a part of my body.

"I don't want to brag, but... I'm good at massages, especially... with my hands."

"And especially with your hands, obviously."

"If I were good at massages, I would brag too," I said, forgetting the presumptuous manner in which some of her last words came out of her mouth.

"Do a massage on me and I'll tell you if you pass the test."

Megan didn't waste time using innuendos, but it would be easier to ignore.

"What do you say?"

"No... I just want to finish my bath," I pulled my hand away, but she held onto it.

"You don't need to rush your bath, Stella... I told you, I'll be your manicurist!"

"Megan, no..."

"Megan, yes!" she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a nail cutter.

Now I couldn't escape anymore, she was really going to do it.

"If you don't want to, just say no, Stella!"

"Since you're so eager to do it... go ahead."

Her smile widened.

"I promise that when I'm done, I'll leave you alone. In a few minutes, I'll take care of something, so I won't take long."

I became interested in knowing about this matter, so I got closer to Megan, who ended up looking at my bare breasts. She didn't stop staring and I didn't care to hide them.

"What matter, Megan?" I asked, giving her my other hand, which she took with a brief smile.

"An important matter, Stella."

It was clear that she wouldn't openly discuss this matter.

"And can I know what it's about?"

Megan looked at me without expression.

"Tell me, Megan."

"Stella... I have to punish someone."

The nightmare resurfaced, my father. Would it be my father who she would punish? We were in Spain and so was my father.

I pondered it and Megan started cutting my nails.

What kind of punishment would she use? Who would be her target?

Moments later...

"This is better, look!" she said, showing me my nails, which were short, just like hers.

"I like it."

"Thank you."

Megan stood there watching me as I dipped my hand into the bathtub.

"Who are you going to punish? What's the person's name?" I gathered the courage to ask. I remembered the long conversation we had about her changing, but with this new punishment, it would take her a while to fulfill what she said.

"His name is Posner."

Posner was the man she said would be the next to lose his head.

"And what did he do?"

"He dared to steal from me!" she answered, and her jaw clenched.

"Steal?" It was shocking, Posner didn't value his life.

"Yes. He was diverting money from the earnings and accumulations of my casino."

Stealing was different from owing money. For the first time, I understood her.

"And what will you do with him after punishing him?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" I emphasized, not believing it.

"Nothing... because his punishment will be death."

Death?

I shrunk in the bathtub...

"Stella," she called, and she knelt down again, her body raised and her face close to mine, an expressionless face that I avoided looking at. The beauty of the illuminated buildings outside the window was more formidable.

There was silence between us... But my thoughts didn't stop. She would kill a man.

I gathered courage and asked...

"How many have you killed for stealing from you?"

"Two."

Two deaths. Two lives she took.

"You killed them yourself?"

"Yes."

"And is there nothing you can do to change your decision?"

Another silence filled the space between us, these meager centimeters.

"It would be unfair if I did."

"It would be unfair... because you didn't make the right decision in the past."

"In the past, I made the right decision, Stella. They tried to steal the most precious thing I had," she said, her voice filled with sadness, and I looked at her, moved.

"And what happened in the past, Megan?"

"I can't talk about it... it hurts too much to remember."

"Megan... I need to understand you."

"But I don't want to reveal... it's a secret."

"Alright, Megan." I gave up.

There was another small silence...

"Stella?"

We looked at each other...

"I killed my dad."

"What?" Surprised, I swallowed hard and felt fear envelop me. She killed her own father.

"Don't judge me before you know, and above all... I ask you to keep it a secret because that's what it is... a secret."

"Megan, but... how?" I moved and the water stirred in the bathtub.

"Well... I killed him with the help of my bodyguard... Mercier."

"Yes?"

"Because my father tried... tried..." she stuttered, the words stuck in her throat.

"Megan, take your time," I spoke and caressed her face, where she gave a weak smile.

At the age of 19, I was almost abused by my father... the one who constantly belittled me.

"Abuse?" My heart tightened and I felt like I was about to cry, just thinking about the suffering Megan had almost endured.

"Abuse, but... Mercier, my best friend and bodyguard, appeared when my father was about to commit the act and stopped him... In the midst of it all, my father pulled out a gun and shot Mercier in the right chest, but he remained standing despite being injured. While he was distracted by Mercier, I managed to knock him down... I took the revolver and pulled the trigger, as if I was born to do it, to put an end to that man overflowing with evil and destruction. I lodged a bullet in the middle of his skull... My mother found us once all that adrenaline settled, and after we told her everything and Mercier recovered from the gunshot, she took the necessary measures and transferred all the titles, properties, and inheritance to my name. Not long after, my mother was targeted in an attack and they took her life."

I only listened, now everything made sense.

"I punished those responsible, but I made sure to torture and kill the mastermind in the worst way you can imagine. After using a knife to cut every piece of skin the wretched man had on his body and leaving him raw, like a piece of beef, I threw him into a well with acid and caustic soda."

Megan sought brutal revenge.

I had no arguments. The words that came out of her mouth didn't make any difference on her face, she showed no expression, no emotion.

"After I did that, Stella... I simply started punishing everyone with tortures and punishments. I felt pleasure every time I watched the tortures, I felt even more... when I did the job myself."

...

"Megan," I managed to say her name, after a moment of silence.

"And now, Stella... you already know why I'm like this, but I don't want you to be afraid of me... Posner had been stealing from me for years and never bothered to stop. After a secret audit of the casino and Posner's accounts, it was confirmed. Now he will face the consequences, he will pay for stealing from me like the others did... That wretched man stole my mother's life when he killed her, my father tried to steal my virtue and got what he deserved, and now it's Posner's turn..." Megan stood up and bowed, then kissed me on the forehead. "I will come back to you because I know that everything will change from now on."

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