The bodies with pompous dresses and colorful clothes went from one side to the other in both houses. It was almost impossible to walk on the piece of land that connected both housed without someone colliding with you. An annoying kind of human trafficking that put everyone in a bad mood, including me.

Inside the Morgan house, the women had divided to organize the waiters and banquet people they had hired, while the men were in charge of the furniture and decoration. The main room had been chosen as a party room, so the front access was almost inaccessible.

The party would be until the afternoon, so I was still at home. I had been forced to get ready because, according to my family, there would not be time later.

My mother was talking to my grandmother making gestures in the kitchen while laughing, but I was not aware of what they were saying. They were just a distant murmur that coexisted with me in the same space.

I looked at my hands resting on my lap on the soft fabric of the sky blue dress that I had been forced to buy for the occasion. They looked static, but inside they were trembling enough to shake a milkshake. My heart was beating at a torturous pace, and in a moment, it was necessary to close my eyes to relax.

It was the day.

The Morgan family already had knowledge of Mr. Morgan's will. The day of my visit to Jimmy they had seen the notary going out and the old man himself had confirmed everything, but nobody knew the name of the heir. The enigma had put the tension at unimaginable levels. Everyone looked so desperate to please him that they had even organized the party without his approval.

For days no one had intimate contact with him and everyone felt the urgent need to please him in some way to have him back. It was as if his touch was a vital cord they had cut. Exactly what he wanted: dependence.

He had thought a lot about the particular dynamics of that house. Children 12 and under were excluded for "respect," but there was a certain age at which their parents or guardians talked to them about sex and began to dabble in the game. Most of them were orphans due to the mass death of some adults, which I considered as a reduction of competition. At a certain age, they were expelled from the game and many left the house. None touched Mr. Morgan, he was the one who set the rules and limits on contact. Only Jimmy could pierce them, for some strange reason that I still couldn't understand at all.

Jimmy, Danielle and I had decided to make the event the perfect opportunity to carry out our plan. If we poisoned a cup or one of the dishes, it would be difficult to track us because of the huge number of people inside. They would never know it was us, we just had to be extremely meticulous. Each step, each movement, each look.

A voice in my head laughed upsetting me. I was aware of my cowardice and insecurity about the whole thing, but I couldn't stop myself. The agreement I had signed in exchange for the money forced me to get to the end.

I walked to the front door in search of air. The four walls where I was were starting to suffocate me and the laughter in my head didn't let the migraine diminish.

I turned my head to the Morgan house. I couldn't stop. It was not just about money, it was about a complete life. We would be able to escape from that stupid chain that the elders had put in us since before we were born, we would have the opportunity to travel far and be who we would like to be. It would not be about the family, but about us.

I smiled sideways. The idea of ​​freedom was worth it, even if the payment was my sanity.

***
The party was about to begin. Some of the guests were already crossing the door into the main room. The sound of the music was heard slightly throbbing against the walls.

The atmosphere that had been present a few hours ago had almost vanished. It seemed obvious they needed to destroy the tension before the guests arrived, and before Mr. Morgan appeared as if they were immersed together in a virtual happiness that could make the man change his opinion about inheritance.

I saw Jimmy come out of the front door with a blue jacket and red bowtie while Danielle approached from the lonely side of the house in a pink dress with frills similar to the one I had seen in 3 of her cousins. Both had painted on their faces the same tint of nervousness and fear that I had in me. My breathing stirred as I recognized how close we were to begin. Not even the idea of ​​our reward could make my heart return to its usual rhythm.

We were going to kill a man.

We transmitted the necessary information through looks, we knew that the poison was in Jimmy's pocket now and that Danielle had managed to get into the kitchen without problems, with the banquet staff. I still didn't know where Mr. Morgan was located, but I knew the right and upside down the location of the guests, food and drinks, and the regularity with which the women or someone from the banquet approached them.

The sun was beginning to set, giving a warm atmosphere to the scene. I turned my eyes towards the path, going through the forest, trying to get a better view of the sky to calm my nerves. My gaze stopped before reaching its destination.

I frowned. Mr. Morgan was sitting on a log with a lost expression I had never seen in him. He looked fed up with life.

I saw a weapon in his hand and a chill ran down my back. I started to walk towards him without taking my eyes off of him. He was close, on the edge of the forest, but the ground became damp as I approached and it was difficult to cross in heels after a few meters.

I watched him let out a sigh and lift the gun to his temple. Panic seized me. I couldn't do that. I couldn't let him do it.

I started running without caring much about the trips or if I fell down midway. Adrenaline burned in my veins. Fear consumed me more than I could bear. I wanted to scream, but I was temporarily silent.

I saw how he put the gun barrel on his skin. He was about 4 meters away.

I heard screams in the middle of my haze, but I couldn't stop running. I couldn't get to him in time. I couldn't stop it.

He removed the safety of the weapon and turned to run in the opposite direction to protect me. A bullet resounded, and for the first time, a sepulchral silence reigned.