“I can see you have plenty of time on your hands to be meddling in people’s business,” Kyle glared at him.
“Key,” he requested, stretching his hand toward him.
“I’m sorry, sir,” he apologized, hiding the key behind him.
“The key.”
“Sir? I would drive us.”
“I’m not going to the office now, so hand over the key.”
“Oh,” he quickly handed it over. “May I know where you’re heading?”
“I need to visit my brother. He isn’t the type to fall sick, let alone tell me,” he said, taking the car. Worry was written all over his face, his mind unsettled as he had been for some time, worrying about his brother. His heart beat faster every time he thought of her.
“Thought you said you were coming today? It’s been a week since I last saw you!” Sharon complained, frowning deeply.
“Mum, we did a video call, didn’t we?”
“That doesn’t count. I want to see you. At least come for a visit.”
“I will, maybe after I leave my brother’s office.”
“Christian? You’re going to the workplace today?”
“Yep, I have some discussions to have with that man who never checks on his sibling.”
Sharon rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you’re being dramatic. I’d have loved for you to come over before going there so I could make some meals and cake for you to give him for me.”
“Ugh, Mum! I thought you’d stopped packing lunch boxes,” Gael teased her over the phone. “He’s no longer a kid, and now he has a wife.”
“Don’t mind Mum, she wants to annoy his wife,” Ashley shouted so Gael would hear, as she could hear his responses over the phone while sitting close to Sharon.
Gael laughed, but Sharon didn’t find it funny.
“Of course, I didn’t mean to annoy her. I just care for my baby, my son,” she said, pouting.
“Mum…” Gael groaned. “He’s a grown man, and if at all he’s being a baby, then it’s to another woman, his wife.”
“Regardless of his age, you’re all still my baby.”
“But that doesn’t mean you should keep packing lunch boxes,” Sharon hissed and pouted, looking away. Ashley gave her a ‘he’s right’ look, and she rolled her eyes.
“I know, I know. I just miss him,” she admitted.
“I’ll tell him that for you,” Gael said. “Okay, Mum, bye. Take good care of yourself. Love you.”
“Love you too,” she replied with a smile before hanging up.
She sighed as her children’s words replayed in her mind. “Time is fast, very fast,” she murmured, thinking back to the days when packing food for them had brought so much joy and enthusiasm. But now, they had entered a new stage, one where they were slowly drifting away. They no longer ate her food as eagerly, no longer rushed home to enjoy the meals she made with love. Even though they were wealthy, she still took the time to cook for her family, but now, the only person who would continue to eat her meals-until she could no longer make them-was her husband.
“He’s married now,” she thought to herself, her heart melting as a sigh escaped her lips. “How quickly he had to grow up.” She gazed at the table in the middle of the sitting room, the same table where he had once stood years ago, drenched from the rain. She vividly remembered the look on his face, the anger and frustration etched in his clenched fist. She had tried, unsuccessfully, to take that anger away. It was a pain she wished she could relieve him of, but it only seemed to consume him. The guilt, the darkness that overwhelmed him-it all weighed heavily on her heart.
The only thing she could do was manipulate his feelings. “Use it. Use it to create a name that will protect anyone who bears it. Gain the power so no one will dare touch what belongs to you,” she had told him. Ever since then, he had thrown himself into his studies, working harder than most people twice his age. He punished himself for any mistakes, especially when he took second place in a subject in high school. There were times when she wondered if she had made a mistake, if pushing him so hard had been the right thing to do. But he was determined, willing to go to any lengths to achieve his goals. He started hunting at a very young age, excelling not only in studies but also in sports. He pushed every limit he could, looking after his younger siblings, becoming cold and indifferent in the process.
She had watched him grow so quickly, diving into the business world far sooner than she had expected. But he was a genius, an intelligent boy who couldn’t be overlooked, and so she allowed him to go his own way, knowing that once he set his mind on something, there was no stopping him.
Now, after years of watching him grow and excel, becoming a powerful tycoon who couldn’t be ignored, she felt proud and fulfilled. A smile crept onto her face as her thoughts drifted through the moments of his journey.
“Now, who would ever think that the well-known, handsome billionaire, one of the most powerful tycoons in the business world, holds the darkest secret?” she thought, knowing that he was the reason they had avoided the media for so long-at least until recently.
“What’s going on in your mind?”
Ashley’s voice jolted her out of her thoughts.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing, you’ve been smiling all by yourself.”
“I have?”
“Yes, you have. Anything interesting you’re not telling me?” Ashley gave her a quirky look that made Sharon laugh.
“Says the one who refuses to tell me exactly what happened at your birthday party.”
“I’m not telling because you didn’t show up.”
“But I told you why.”
“Which is why I decided to tell you that it was interesting, amazing, and funny.”
Sharon gave her a sideways glance, twitching her mouth to the side, but Ashley just smiled and looked away.
“Are you even my daughter?”
“That’s for you to figure out,” Ashley replied, bursting into laughter. Sharon immediately threw a pillow at her.
(Cell phone dings)
The frequent dings of the cell phone ringing woke Alice up. She groaned inaudibly, stirring in her sleep, but the phone wouldn’t stop ringing, forcing her to wake up. Her senses were immediately assaulted by the acrid stench of stale alcohol and the nauseating odor of semen. Her head throbbed mercilessly, a dull, relentless pounding that seemed to echo with every beat of her heart. She groaned loudly, forcing herself to sit up while clutching her head, trying to ease the banging headache. The taste of the previous night’s liquor still clung to her tongue-metallic and bitter-mingling with the dryness in her parched throat.
She winced in pain as her stomach churned with a queasy unease, and every muscle in her body ached with deep, weary exhaustion. She forced her eyelids open, only to be greeted by the tangled sheets and discarded clothes. Her face furrowed into a deep frown.
“Where am I?” she asked, looking around the small, old, and dirty room. Her eyes fell on her clothes scattered across the floor. Looking at her body, she realized she was stark naked. She immediately covered herself with her palms, her heart racing like a horse, accompanied by the anguish of her headache.
Memories of the previous night flitted through her mind in disjointed fragments-her sitting in a bar, ordering more alcohol, the burn of liquor sliding down her throat, hands that weren’t her own, a strange voice, the voice that had brought her in, the sex. She covered her mouth with her hand in shame and humiliation, unable to believe she had slept with a stranger.
She looked around the room again, nearly choking on the disgust.
The air was thick with the remnants of sweat and dried semen, making it hard to breathe without feeling a surge of revulsion.
“What have I done?” she cried, hurriedly beginning to gather her clothes. She wanted to put on her panties, but when she saw they were torn, she bit her lips in anger and pain. Her head felt like it was trapped in a vice, each heartbeat a fresh wave of agony. She felt so dirty as she slipped on her gown and heels, then ran out of the room. Looking left and right to check if anyone was watching, she saw no one and quickly took off.
Her body was a battlefield of sensations, each one more unpleasant than the last-the relentless headache, the dry mouth, the sour taste, the churning stomach, and the pervasive, foul odors that clung to her skin and hair like an unwelcome embrace.
Ignoring her hangover, which she was less concerned about than making sure she wasn’t seen in her current state, Alice covered her face with her hair, noticing the taxi driver who kept glancing at her through the mirror and covering his nose. She had never felt worse in her life. The anger of another man taking advantage of her made her blood boil. The humiliation she had suffered, the pain, and the anguish she felt caused her to clench her fists so tightly that tears threatened to fall. Ignoring the calls from her mother that wouldn’t stop coming in, she whispered to herself,
“This is all her fault. This is all that bitch’s fault, and I’m going to make her pay. She’ll face the same humiliation I faced, triple of it,” she vowed in her mind.
“We’re here,” the taxi driver announced.
She hurriedly paid him and rushed inside. The sudden slam of the door startled Patricia, who had been panicking and dialing Alice’s number nonstop. She had called Alice’s friends, but they said she wasn’t with them. She believed that if the plan had gone well, Alice should have reached out. Even if it was the other way around, Alice should have called or texted. Not hearing anything from her since she left was worrisome.
“Alice?” Patricia called in relief at the sight of her, but Alice rushed past her.
Patricia was taken aback by the strong odor she perceived. “Where are you coming from, Alice? What happened?” she shouted, running after her.
“Alice, are you okay?”
“Do I look okay?” Alice yelled at her mother before barging into her room and slamming the door hard. She locked it and immediately ran into the bathroom. She couldn’t resist the urge to puke and finally let it out. After flushing, she tore the dress off her body and rushed into the shower, using her sponge to scrub every part of her body in agony. She let out a scream as the memories wouldn’t disappear.
“Nothing happened, nothing happened,” Alice repeatedly told herself.
Patricia was worried and clueless. She kept thinking of different scenarios. What could have happened? If the seduction had been successful, Alice should have come home. Why did she have such an awful smell lingering on her? Why did she look homeless with her untidy hair?
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.