Chapter 61
Ariel
A splitting headache tore through the back of my head the moment my eyes fluttered open. Gradually, I pulled myself into a sitting position, forcing myself to remember how I got into this precarious state.
It was hard at first but as I continued to force my mind to remember, the memories from-I quickly glanced at the wall clock which read 4 o’clock- two hours ago flooded my mind in full force, further increasing the intensity of the ache.
A hurried scan at my fully-clothed body brought some level of peace to me. At least, I wasn’t molested sexually, all I had to do right now was go to Dmitri and explain what happened to him.
Slowly but willfully, I managed to get out of the bed and I picked up my bag, crossing it over my shoulder. I ran my fingers through my disheveled hair and headed for the door which was fortunately unlocked.
I’d barely opened it when a familiar musky scent permeated the room. I stretched my neck to find Dmitri standing in front of the door with nothing but a scowl that made me want to jump out of my skin.
“Dmitri, what are you doing here? Thank God you’re here, Margaret tricked me,” I babbled.
His eyes were impassive, bearing a stoic gaze that caused the hairs on my skin to rise and then I remembered what Margaret has said earlier about Dmitri coming here shortly.
“You aren’t saying anything,”
He ignored me and traipsed in while I shut the door after him. “Why? Are you surprised that I’m here?”
“Not really, Margaret mentioned that you’d be here soon. Did the both of you start talking to each other? Didn’t you promise never to see her again? Why did you lie to me?”
He banged his fist on the wall and I flinched, involuntarily taking backward steps. “Every lie I said was to protect you but what have you done to protect me?”
I squinted my eyes in confusion, surprised at his outburst. “Protect me? What are you talking about, Dmitri? I’m telling you that Margaret tricked me into coming here and then she drugged me. Luckily, I woke up to find my clothes on but it’s just strange that she’ll do something like that to me,”
“Stop talking!” He thundered.
“What?”
“Lies! Lies! Lies! That’s all you women know how to do,” He accused me without batting an eyelid.
“I didn’t lie, I can even show you proof,” I argued.
He raised his hand to stop me from talking and then he dipped his hand into his pocket and produced his phone. My heart hammered against my chest, but whatever it was, I was ready to prove myself with the text messages she had sent.
He flashed his phone screen at me. “Here, what can you say about this?”
I collected the phone from him and peered at the image. My knees buckled and I almost stumbled at a short video of my nude body laying under that of a mystery man.
“Shit!” I palmed my lips. “No, no, no, this isn’t true. I didn’t do this,” I tried to explain but his dry chuckle showed that he wouldn’t believe me no matter what I said.
“So I’m at my younger brother’s engagement party downstairs, pondering on how to sneak out without anyone’s notice so that I can come home to be with you. Then I get a notification from my phone thinking it’s a text from you, only to find my wife’s sex video trending on the net,”
My eyes broadened and his phone slipped from my hands, nearly falling to the floor, but thanks to his sharp reflexes it didn’t. I didn’t care about his phone, but my nude body which was making waves on the internet.
“I… No… I… didn’t,” My voice betrayed me at that point as my throat closed up on me. I gulped and tried to get a grip on my emotions even though my life was moving in a downward spiral. “I can prove that this is a set up,”
I dug into my bag and brought out my phone, my hands trembling vigorously while I scrolled through my inbox. A scared gasp exited my lips when I discovered that the messages had been deleted.
“I can’t… Can’t find them” I stammered. “But you have to believe that I didn’t do this. There’s no way I’d have hurt you like this,”
He nodded as if he believed me then approached me while I moved backward until my back hit the wall. “You know why this hurts?”
“No, I don’t,” I sniffed.
My eyes stung from the tears that brimmed in them and when I blinked, they cascaded down my cheeks, presenting me as weak and vulnerable. I didn’t want to look that way.
I was innocent of every allegations so why couldn’t he believe me?
“Because you’re the second woman who’s betraying me like this,”
I shook my head, trying to refute his claims. “It’s not true,”
“Your father knew about Anya. He told me how she was sent by her father to make me fall for her and reveal my business secrets to her. I couldn’t believe it but after a series of investigations, I confirmed that it was true. But all that didn’t matter to me anymore because I was beginning to fall for you-the woman who made me take off my mask,”
He was falling for me?
My heart melted at his confession with more tears pouring out in torrents as he bared himself to me. “No, Dmitri, you’re getting it all wrong. Margaret is behind this, can’t you see that she doesn’t want us to be together?” I held onto his arm.
He shoved me aside angrily and I stumbled onto the floor after losing my footing. “Your eyes showed how much you enjoyed yourself, Ariel and I’ll never forgive you for this,” His voice cracked.
I quickly rose to my feet but he had already stormed out of the room, slamming the door loudly.
Left alone in the room, I collapsed on the floor and bawled my eyes out.