Elijah sighed inwardly. He thought that she must have been angry and was blaming him for being gone for five days! He was indeed very busy! His legs first entered from the bottom part of the quilt that was loose and then his arms went in to embrace her waist. He used some force and pulled the body that was struggling to go out back into his arms.
Esther froze and was struggling, trying to get out of his embrace.
“Sleep! Babe, I haven’t slept well for days!”
“You’re very tired?” she asked with hidden meanings in her words.
“Yes! I’m a little busy! So, I’m quite tired also!”
Busy hooking up with Kattie, right? Esther snorted in her mind. He surprisingly acted as if nothing had happened. Esther was annoyed and she felt like she was going to suffocate. She sat up violently while holding the quilt.
“Babe, what’s wrong?” Elijah was taken aback.
Esther stared at him in a daze and asked again, “Elijah, you don’t have anything to tell me?”
“What exactly do you want to say?” Seeing her like this, he knew that there must be something she wanted to say.
“Let me ask you one more time, did you go on the business trip yourself?”
“Yes!” He nodded and then added, “But, Kattie also went afterward!”
When he mentioned Kattie, the unpleasant scene in that video made her almost suffocate for a while! “You guys were together?”
“She was the one who went to me!” he said, “But, Kattie will never come back! She has gone to France and she said that she will never come back! She specifically went to say goodbye to me!”
“Never come back? You want to say the reason she went to the US to look for you was just to say goodbye, right? Because you guys were separating soon, so you guys couldn’t help but do it, right? You want to say that you were seduced, right?” All of Esther’s emotions turned to grief and anger at once.
“Babe…” Elijah was stunned, “How do you know that Kattie and I were together?”
“Elijah! You bastard!” Kattie violently threw the flash drive in her pocket onto the bed as hard as she could, “Look at what is this!”
“What?” Elijah was stunned for a while. Then, he picked up the flash drive, went to the study, and turned on the computer. After the flash drive was inserted, he was entirely dumbfounded. His mind quickly recalled the day in New York in which he suddenly received a call from Kattie…
“Elijah, I’m at the lobby of your hotel!” Kattie said on the phone.
“How come you come here?” Elijah was a bit shocked but he still said, “Come up!”
Kattie went upstairs and hugged him as soon as she saw him.
Elijah quickly released her but she said while smiling, “Don’t worry, I won’t eat you up! Elijah, I’m going to France. I know you don’t like me and don’t love me either. I can only leave you in gloom and doom!”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll no longer be your secretary and will no longer see you. We’ll not meet each other from now on!” she said, “Start a new life!”
Elijah froze for a long time. Kattie came forward again with a smile, “One last hug! You won’t be so stingy, right?”
As she said, she then wrapped her arms around Elijah’s neck once again. Elijah thought that they had known each other for many years and were considered close friends. Now, since she said that she was leaving and she wanted a hug, he should not be stingy so he hugged her also, “Kattie, take care!”
However, later, his neck felt a moment of pain, and then, he heard Kattie whispering, “Elijah, for the last time, I’ll give you a gift! I hope you like it! I’m sorry, I love you so much!”
His head was instantly dizzy. Elijah knew it was a special-made drug. He shook his head and then blacked out without knowing what happened at all!
When he regained his consciousness, he found himself all naked and was lying on the sofa. His private part, as if it had been spoiled, was stained with what looked like a woman’s secretions. He did not know what had happened but Kattie was gone! And now, when he saw this video, a chill went down his spine. The person in there was indeed him! It was not fake!
Could it be that he was raped by Kattie? He was startled. The shock he had was not less than Esther’s.
At the door of the study, Esther leaned on the door and was helplessly looking at his dismayed look, “What else do you want to say?”
“I…” Elijah was dumbfounded, “This…”
“Are you trying to tell me that it isn’t you?”
“No! This is me!” he said.
Her eyes darkened. Her chest was rising and falling irregularly as she was gasping.
“Babe, it was a mistake, I didn’t take the initiative to do it!” He said quickly and did not know how to explain, “In fact, I don’t know what happened! I didn’t expect this!”
Esther snorted and looked at him with a gloomy gaze, “It has happened anyway!”
“Babe, it isn’t what you think!” Elijah could not deny it.
“Then how is it like? You also said that the man inside is you, right? Since it’s you, what else you want to say? I’m going to bed, goodnight!” She did not want to say anything more. She just felt exhausted.
However, afterward, Elijah was sleepless all night. In the study, he smoked for the whole night.
He did not sleep at all.
The two of them were staying in different rooms. Esther had a sleepless night and the same thing happened to Elijah. After waking up in the early morning, the two of them met each other in the living room. They glanced at each other, but Esther rapidly turned her face away, not wanting to meet his eyes. Looking at Esther’s eyes which showed that she wanted to keep a distance from him, Elijah was heartbroken, and he clenched his fists even more tightly.
There was no blame and no questioning! As if nothing had happened.
Esther carried her bag, intending to go and attend classes. When she was leaving, Elijah wanted to say something but eventually, he still did not say anything after opening his mouth.
In the president’s office of Ball Group, through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the newspapers were lying quietly on the desk. A tall, sturdy figure was leaning against a large black leather chair. There were dominance and arrogance in between the eyebrows as if he was the king that was overlooking everything. However, nobody could see the complexity in his eyes. His slender fingers were pressing his nasal bridge and he was pondering…
After ten minutes, noise intruded out of the blue.
“Hudson!” Christ barged into the president’s office with a pale face, “What, what the hell are you going to do?”
The face of the person behind the desk was slightly darkened. He said unhurriedly, “Destroy Ball Group!”
“Why?” Christ’s eyes widened in shock. It was real. He wanted to destroy Ball Group.
“I think you know better than I do!” Hudson raised his eyes slightly and gazed at his father. There was no hint of guilt in his eyes, “You forced me to do it! Now, Ball Group is just an empty shell. All the capital has been transferred away by me. The remaining real estate is no longer able to run the company! Dad, you’ve ruined my life and I’ve ruined your painstaking effort. We don’t owe each other anything!”
“But, I’m doing this for your good, Hudson!” said Christ.
“For my good, you plotted to break up Esther and me, didn’t you?” He coldly snorted. He had heard such a reason for a hundred times.
“Where did you transfer those capitals to?” Christ ignored Hudson’s question and asked about the capitals that he had transferred away instead.
“Charity!” This amount of money should be able to save many people if it’s used for charity purposes!” Hudson said indifferently.
“You…” Christ staggered backward, “Hudson, is there no way back?”
“When you decided to do that in the past, you didn’t leave any way back for me!”
“Good! You’re indeed my son!” Christ sneered, “Like me, you’re able to do anything just for a woman! You’re indeed my son!”
Hudson stood up and ignored his words. After all, he was going to leave. After Ball Group declared bankruptcy, he would leave with Winnie! He got up, took his suit, and walked out!
“Hudson…” Christ pulled him, “You can’t ruin Ball Group founded by me!” “It’s too late!” Hudson strode away after uttering these words.
After walking out of Ball Group, he looked up at the azure sky in the distance. He was finally leaving. He would never see Esther again. Inexplicably, Hudson was overcome by melancholy, making his cold face look extremely disconsolate.
Finally, Ball Group declared bankruptcy!
When Esther saw this news from the bus’s TV, she was stunned.
When she saw Hudson saying to the media reporters that Ball Group was bankrupt in a manner as if a great burden had been taking off his shoulder. She deeply felt his love for her, Hudson! In this world, no man would love me as much as you did! However, I fell in love with Elijah. So, all this was God’s punishment for me for betraying my love! That was why I was so miserable at this moment!
After taking a deep breath, she got off the bus. Facing the large campus, she could no longer smile. There was no class today but she had no place to go and the lesson only started in the evening. But, she still came to the school early.
When she was about to enter the school, she received a call from Hudson. Hearing the low and familiar voice on the other end of the phone, Esther was on the verge of tears, “Hudson…”
“Esther, are you free?” Hudson asked.
Stunned, she nodded her head, “Yes!”
“Let’s have a meal together!” he said.
“Okay!”
Therefore, he drove to school and drove her to have a meal.
Hudson chose a quiet and comfortable restaurant and the dishes he chose were all Esther’s favorite. When the food was served, Esther lowered her head and was contemplating about what to say.
“Esther, I’m leaving!” Hudson said softly, “This is the last dinner we will have together!”
From now on, he would not appear in front of her again, he was afraid he would not be able to let go of her if he continued to stay here.
“Hudson!” Esther’s heart sank, “You’re leaving? Where are you going?”
“Yes! I’ll bring Winnie and go to live in Switzerland!” he said, “To start a new life!”
“Good! You guys must be happy!” She suddenly looked up and curled into a radiant smile. But in an instant, her tears uncontrollably trickled down her eyes and her tone was unclear as she choked. She abruptly lowered her head again, “I’ll pray for you, I’ll pray for you to be healthy and happy forever!”
“You’re crying?” His hand trembled slightly when he saw ripples in the soup in front of Esther.
“No!” She shook her head to deny it.
“Esther, you’ve grown up! You should know what you want. Be happy with Elijah, or else, I won’t feel at ease!”
“I’ll be happy!” Esther said solemnly, “The meal today is the farewell banquet, isn’t it? I want to eat lots of food, let’s start eating!”