The Contract Said No Strings Attached (Charlotte) novel Chapter 115

Mrs. Austin grew even more agitated. “What do you mean ‘don’t interfere’? I’m doing this for his own good! Honestly, I think Garcia is perfect for him.”

Jacob straightened in his seat. “You can’t force love. If Dylan’s not interested, all the matchmaking in the world won’t change that.”

Mrs. Austin huffed, stubbornness etched across her face. “I don’t care. I’m determined to see Dylan and Garcia end up together.”

Their bickering grew more heated, the tension in the room rising with every exchanged word.

Suddenly, the lights throughout the house flickered and died, plunging the villa into darkness. In the utility room, Noah had just managed to shut off the main circuit.

Within seconds, every lamp and chandelier gave out. The entire house was swallowed by inky blackness.

“What’s going on? Why did the power go out?” Mrs. Austin shouted, panic in her voice. “Somebody! Come here!”

Moments later, a maid burst in, her voice trembling. “Ma’am, I… I’m not sure what happened. The whole house just lost power all of a sudden.”

Mrs. Austin’s frustration boiled over. “Well, don’t just stand there! Go find out what’s wrong!”

The maid nodded anxiously. “Yes, ma’am.”

Within moments, every servant in the house was scurrying about, trying to figure out the source of the outage.

There was one thing Mrs. Austin feared above all else: the dark. Within minutes, she began to shiver uncontrollably.

Jacob, who’d been quietly observing, got to his feet. “Stay calm. I’ll go check on the situation.”

Mrs. Austin nodded gratefully, though her voice quivered. “Please, hurry. I’ll just wait here in the room.”

Once Jacob left, the room was left with only Mrs. Austin—and Aiden, who was hiding beneath the bed.

Aiden hardly dared to breathe, silently praying he wouldn’t be discovered.

At this point, she didn’t care about her dignity—she just needed someone to cling to.

Aiden, still under the bed, listened as her footsteps faded away. Only then did he finally let out a long, relieved sigh and crawl out from his hiding spot. “Man, that was exhausting…”

Meanwhile, Ethan and Evan used the cover of darkness to quietly slip into Garcia’s guest room.

Inside, Garcia was finishing up a shower. Suddenly, the lights snapped off, plunging the bathroom into pitch-blackness.

Garcia’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly wrapped herself in a towel and stepped out, feeling her way into the bedroom.

She groped along the wall until she reached the bed, intending to grab her phone and find out what was going on. But just as she sat down, an eerie, childlike wailing echoed through the darkness.

A long, chilling cry—“Waaaaah… waaaaah…”

In the pitch-black room, the ghostly sobs sent shivers straight down her spine.