"He wants to enslave me, perhaps?" Carmilla wondered out loud when she finished reading the contract she had been given in the afternoon.

There was a confidentiality clause which prevented her from saying anything about the contract she held in her hands... should she sign it, naturally.

She thought about what was offered for her job as a secretary – five thousand dollars per month, lodging, food, bonuses for business travels – and thought it was really too much.

Sure, she had never worked as a secretary to a billionaire but surely that was not a regular contract... or was it?

The worst of it all was that Joshua had been interviewing persons for the job for a total of two weeks before coming to her. She was sure there was at least one or two who had been more than qualified for the job, but for some reason, he didn't choose them, and came to her.

She raised her head from the contract and looked longingly around the flat she wouldn't be able to afford next month.

But you could afford it if you took the job, a part of her reasoned.

Yeah, she could afford this flat and more, much more than she could now with her present job.

The only downside of the job offer was that it was required of her to work full-time for the man she abhorred. Working for someone she didn't appreciate, it wasn't something she was familiar with. But the inconvenience of working full-time was a definite no-no! She couldn't let her parents down and not fulfill their dream of seeing her a doctor... Yes, it was their dream. It had never been hers to become a surgeon.

Could she really take on the job? She didn't know, but she had a feeling the consequences of her choice could be dire.

Right as she was about to fall asleep and turn off her phone for the night, she received a call from her mother.

A quick glance to the clock told her it was too late for her to be calling for a simple hello, and thus, she hurried to take the call.

"Yes mom?"

"I'm so glad you're still awake, Carmilla," her mother said in haste.

"Something wrong?" Carmilla sat up in her bed, and already started looking for her clothes with her eyes. She didn't like her mom's distressed tone.

"Your father has been in a car accident. He's at the hospital," her usually strong mom sobbed openly.

She had not sobbed when they went bankrupt or when they were evicted from the house. But she was now... and that meant her dad was not in good shape.

"I'm coming, mom." She said right before hanging up.

**** **** **** **** **** ****

Her father was in a critic condition, Carmilla could almost feel it from the doctors' empathetic stares.

There was not much they could do, one of them said. And before long, they were telling them they had done their best but could not save him from his injuries.

“Il est parti!” Her mother sobbed against her. (He's gone!)

Carmilla knew why her mother sobbed. Celeste Lenoir didn't know how to fend for herself. Didn't know how to provide for herself, having always been sheltered, first by her family, then by her husband... she was as clumsy as they came, quick to cry, and easy to provoke.

Carmilla was the perfect replica of her mother. But she now had to grow a backbone.

She had to take on the job she had been offered, consequences be damned. She couldn't starve and let her mom starve to death.

Therefore, as she held her crying mom in her arms and sobbed with her, her decision had already been made for her. She could do nothing but abdicate to the devil’s proposal which already felt like a collar around her neck.