“Be careful,” Waylen and the bartender exchanged a glance, reaching out to support Maria.
“Let go.” Maria tried to struggle free from Waylen’s grip, but she felt her body growing weaker and couldn’t muster any strength.
Although her alcohol tolerance wasn’t great, it wasn’t enough for just two drinks to make her this drunk. She rubbed her temples with one hand as her vision began to blur.
What was happening?
Maria grew wary and tried pushing Waylen away, but she felt completely powerless.
Gradually, Maria’s head began to feel empty and the voices around her became muffled.
“Little beauty?”
Waylen held Maria in his arms and called out tentatively a few times. When he saw that she didn’t respond at all, he smirked satisfactorily. “Well done.”
He took out some bills from his pocket and threw them on the bar before leaving with Maria under the envious gaze of his friends who cheered him on.
“Why… why would you do this to me…” Unconsciousness overtook Maria as she murmured softly while patting Waylen’s arm with a small hand.
Seeing this, Waylen licked his lips greedily as he touched Maria’s cheek. “I will definitely treat you well.”
However, just as Waylen looked up again after speaking those words, a fist came flying towards him without warning causing him stumble backwards.
“Who is that bastard!” Spitting out some saliva, Waylan looked up only see a well-dressed man catching hold of Maris.
“You beast!” Kim Ragsdill glared at the unnatural-looking woman in his arms, his face darkening instantly. As a doctor, he could tell at first glance that someone had drugged Maria’s drink, and coupled with what he had seen between Waylan and bartender earlier, Kim hurriedly followed them outside.
“What are you doing here? Mind your own business,” growled an angry looking Waylen when Kim caught up with them.
Kim ignored Waylen and simply turned around with Maria in his arms, ready to leave. Waylen, however, was unwilling to let it go and started cursing, preparing to take action.
However, after all these years, Waylen had been drained by his indulgence in alcohol and women. His attempt at a fight was nothing more than empty threats. Kim turned around and swiftly kicked Waylen to the ground.
As Maria’s body temperature rose, she began to struggle uneasily in Kim’s arms. Seeing this, Kim, who had initially considered calling the police, could only take Maria away first.
Maria felt heavy all over. She struggled hard trying to open her eyes but feeling nauseous instead. A cold object pressed against her forehead easing discomfort somewhat.
After an unknown amount of time, Maria heard a faint sound and slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a completely unfamiliar environment. Panic set in as she tried to remember what had happened, but her mind was blank.
“Are you awake?” A deep voice interrupted her thoughts and Maria quickly turned her head to see Kim walking in with a glass of water.
Fear took over as she tried to sit up, but her heavy limbs restrained her movements. “Who are you? What did you do to me?” Maria regretted going out drinking and causing such trouble for herself.
Kim noticed the fear on Maria’s face and quickly explained, “Don’t be afraid. I’m not a bad person. My name is Kim and yesterday at the bar someone drugged you and almost took you away. I brought you back to my place.”
He pointed towards the medicine box on the bedside table and handed Maria a badge that had been placed there earlier. “You have some side effects from the drugs so now you have a slight fever which means that rest is necessary.” His voice was low with concern evident in his eyes.
Maria accepted the badge from Kim which displayed his name before looking down at her arm where she saw bandages wrapped around it. She looked up at him again; he didn’t seem like he was lying or hiding anything from her.
“You… saved me?” After calming down slightly, Maria rubbed her temples trying hard to recall what had happened last night at the bar when suddenly Waylen came into view.
“In fact, I’m your fan. I’ve watched several of your movies,” Kim picked up the fallen ice pack from the bed and smiled softly, his lips slightly pursed.
“I saw that man talking to the bartender at the bar yesterday. After that, he took you away. I was worried, so I followed them. It turns out that guy had ill intentions.”
As Maria listened to Kim’s account, she felt a chill run through her body. Memories slowly resurfaced, and she remembered what happened last night.
It must have been that despicable man, Waylen, who drugged her!
If she hadn’t encountered Kim yesterday, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Kim looked at Maria, her face filled with heaviness. He wanted to say something, but in the end, he swallowed his words. However, Maria noticed his gesture, and it struck her.
The two of them remained silent, facing each other. Finally, Maria lowered her eyelashes and said, “Thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, the consequences would have been truly unbearable.”
Kim handed the glass to Maria and whispered, “You need to be more careful in the future. Not only are you a public figure, but you’re also a girl. Going to bars alone is risky.”
Maria nodded and buried half of her face in the cup as she silently drank water. Suddenly, she remembered something and started searching herself.
Kim was startled by Maria’s actions and put down the thermometer he was holding. “What are you looking for?”
“Have you seen my phone?” Maria took a deep breath. If her agent found out that she didn’t come home last night, she wouldn’t let it slide.
She turned her head and saw her phone on the bedside table. She hurried over but found that it had already shut down automatically. In an instant, Maria felt like her future was bleak.
“What’s wrong?” Kim asked worriedly when he saw that Maria wasn’t responding at all.
Maria slowly turned around with a helpless expression on her face as she held onto her phone with both hands while looking up at Kim. “My savior, do you have a charger?”
…
“I didn’t ignore your call on purpose; my phone died.” Sitting on the edge of the bed, Maria accepted scolding from her agent with an unpleasant expression on her face.
She even considered pretending that it was still dead so she could hang up without listening anymore but ultimately gave up after being scared by what she said next.
“Maria, can’t you be more sensible? You’re a public figure! Do you know every move of yours is being monitored by media outlets!”
Quietly moving away from her earpiece while sniffing back tears, Maria replied impatiently, “I know I know! I’ll go back right now.”
“Where are you now? Shall I come pick you up?” Her agent’s side made sounds of opening doors which meant she was ready to leave soon.
“In…” Just as Maria wanted to answer her honestly about where she was staying last night, she suddenly thought better of it since this wasn’t exactly appropriate conversation for someone else’s house.
“It’s okay! I can go back myself! Don’t bother coming here!”
Her agent became suspicious after hearing how defensive and evasive Maria’s tone sounded, “Are.. areyou dating someone?”