At six in the morning, a ray of sunlight filtered through the gap in the curtains, illuminating the large bed.
Areli’s eyelids fluttered slightly as the sunlight hit her eyes, waking her from sleep. She felt a throbbing headache, like a severe hangover, and it took her a while to fully regain her senses.
As she slowly opened her eyes, she quickly realized something was wrong. The room was hers, but the red shirt, shorts, and pants hanging on the balcony were not.
Areli frowned as her thoughts slowly began to clear. Then, her beautiful face showed a strange expression when she realized she wasn’t wearing any clothes. Moreover, there was a man lying next to her. Areli instantly realized it.
“Ah!”
Her scream shook the entire bedroom.
Darnell was awakened by the noise. Seeing Areli glaring at him with murderous intent, he screamed too, “Ah!”
They screamed back and forth for a while before looking at each other and simultaneously screaming again.
Areli kicked Darnell off the bed. He rolled away swiftly.
“Bastard!”
Areli shouted again and started throwing things at him.
Darnell instinctively dodged and narrowly avoided the flying objects. Just as he was about to retaliate, he saw Areli’s furious yet embarrassed face.
He shivered and quickly realized he wasn’t on a battlefield but in Areli’s home.
Darnell’s vigilance and killing intent disappeared instantly. He caught a flying pillow and shouted at the angry Areli,
“Miss Fanshaw, what’s wrong? What happened?”
“Bastard! Pervert!”
Hearing Darnell’s words, Areli wrapped herself in a blanket and stood up, grabbing a water cup from the bedside table to throw at him.
It seemed she really wanted to kill him.
Darnell quickly caught the cup and asked, “Miss Fanshaw, calm down. Why are you so angry?”
“You can hit me all you want, but I’m worried about hurting innocent plants and flowers. And the cup too…”
“Shut up!”
Areli fumed. “You took advantage of me when I was drunk!”
“Tsk!”
Darnell dodged her attacks as he replied, “Miss Fanshaw, you’re wrong. You forced yourself on me last night.”
He pointed to his back and thighs and continued, “Look how many scratches you left on me last night.”
“If I hadn’t reacted quickly, my handsome face would have been ruined.”
Indeed, Darnell’s back and thighs bore numerous scratch marks, some even bleeding, clearly nail marks.
Areli was initially stunned but then became even angrier. “Scoundrel!”
She picked up a chair to smash Darnell with. “Darnell, I’ll have you torn to pieces by wild dogs!”
She charged at Darnell but tripped over her blanket mid-run and fell forward.
Originally dodging, Darnell swiftly moved forward and caught Areli. “Miss Fanshaw, be careful.”
The chair clattered to the floor.
“I hate you!”
Areli had just breathed a sigh of relief when she realized Darnell was holding her waist, which only fueled her anger. “I’ll kill you.”
“Miss Fanshaw!”
As Areli swung her fists at him, Darnell grabbed her arms. “Let me explain.”
“Your car was vandalized last night. When I went out to check, someone spiked your drink and took you away through the back door.”
“Fortunately, I noticed something was wrong in time and chased after you for eight blocks before rescuing you.”
“You can check the bar’s surveillance tape as well as the car’s dashcam footage and ask the security guards at the bar. If you still don’t believe me, you can call the police.”
“If you’re not grateful, that’s fine, but you can’t pin any blame on me. Don’t make me regret being a hero.”
Hearing Darnell’s serious explanation, Areli hesitated for a moment and bit her lip as she recalled what had happened last night. After Darnell left, she felt dizzy after drinking a few sips of cocktails.
Then an earring-wearing young man took her away. Although she instinctively resisted at the time, she was still dragged out by him.
She remembered that lecherous smile on his face. Could it be that she had wronged Darnell?
“Remember everything now?”
Darnell flashed a bright smile. “Do you remember my heroic rescue?”
He didn’t seriously explain or say anything about taking responsibility, not because he wanted to avoid it out of guilt, but because he didn’t want to give Areli any trauma.
Besides, even if he wanted to take responsibility, Areli wouldn’t let him.
“Bastard!”
Areli still looked furious. “You saved me by sleeping with me?”
“Miss Fanshaw, you’re falsely accusing me again.”
Darnell looked innocent. “You were drugged. I worried you’d die. It’s strong and has no antidote, leaving me no choice but to sacrifice my virginity.”
Areli laughed angrily, “You? Virginity?”
“Of course, I mean this month’s.”
Darnell answered proudly. Seeing Areli about to explode again, he released her and dashed into the living room.
He returned with a laptop and opened a video for Areli. “Fortunately, your house has plenty of surveillance cameras.”
“I don’t even dare take off my pants recklessly.”
“But thanks to them, I can prove my innocence.”
He handed the laptop to Areli with a sly grin. “Check it out and see for yourself. It was you who took advantage of me.”
Areli frowned as she bit her lip and glanced at the video, where she clung to Darnell and threw herself at him.
She felt both ashamed and angry as she kicked Darnell. “If I was drugged, why didn’t you avoid me?”
She still blamed Darnell.
“Tsk! I’m kind-hearted. How could I watch you suffer?”
Darnell suddenly became solemn. “We’re both adults. You should know it’s not easy for a man to control himself either.”
“I hate you!”
Areli cursed again. Though she knew deep down that she couldn’t blame Darnell. In fact, she should thank him for saving her from the earring-wearing thug.
Otherwise, it might not have been just one man sleeping with her last night. It could have been several men torturing her and taking compromising photos of her for blackmail.
Those bastards were capable of anything. Even though she knew Darnell was not at fault, thinking about losing her virginity made her furious.
She always fantasized about giving her body to her future husband but ended up losing her chastity to this bastard in front of her.
How could Areli not be angry?
“I’ll strangle you!”
She grabbed Darnell’s neck with tears in her eyes, her eyes filled with sadness and helplessness.
Darnell allowed her to grip him without resistance, hesitating for a moment with an unusual seriousness before saying, “The drug is called Fantasy Potion.”
“If you’re drugged by it, there’s no other way but to relieve it with a man, and the more red marks you have on your body, the higher your body temperature rises until you bleed from the seven orifices and bleed out.”
Areli’s gaze wandered, and the strength in her hand on his neck lightened.
Darnell continued, “If you don’t believe me, you can ask around to see if I’m lying to you.”
Finally, he said gently, “But if there were any other options last night, I definitely wouldn’t have touched you.”
Areli remained defiant. “You’re just a liar, a shameless liar.”
Darnell replied seriously, “I’m not the kind of person who takes advantage of others in their time of need.”
“Alright.” Darnell sighed, picked up his phone from the table, pressed speakerphone, and dialed three numbers.
Areli asked subconsciously, “What are you doing?”
“Calling the police. If you insist I assaulted you, I’m turning myself in and pleading guilty.”
A trace of sadness appeared on Darnell’s face. “I hope you’ll feel better.”
At that moment, a solemn voice came from the phone. “Hello, this is 911…”
Areli rushed up in one swift movement and hung up the phone, exclaiming, “Calling the police? Darnell, are you crazy?”
She was at her wit’s end.
“What else?” Darnell stared intently at Areli. “If the police don’t have me arrested, how can you vent your hatred?”
“How about you take advantage of me once?” His gaze didn’t waver.
The police needed evidence to have someone arrested. If they saw the video from last night, judging by her reaction, it would be hard to determine who assaulted whom.
Areli screamed in her heart and saw Darnell stare at her with a lecherous look. She looked down and screamed.
She had gotten up in a hurry from the sofa to hang up the phone, not realizing the blanket had fallen off. Her bare body was seen by Darnell again.
“Darnell, you’re such a rogue.”
“I’ve seen it before. What’s there to be shy about?”
Darnell rushed into the bathroom to avoid the situation and muttered while freshening up. “If necessary, I’ll show you back.”
“Get out!”
Areli shouted, “I don’t want to see your face now.”
Darnell meekly said, “What about last night…”
Areli snapped, “Get out!”
Darnell put on his clothes and rushed out of the room. When Areli heard the door slam, she felt a bit relieved.
But soon, the door slammed open again, and Darnell’s head poked in, his expression indecisive.
“Uh… Miss Fanshaw, I don’t usually have ulterior motives and keep condoms on hand, so last night…”
Areli’s body shivered, and the next second, she was furious, yelling, “Darnell!”
Darnell slammed the door and left. By the time Areli, who was naked, rushed to the living room, he had already rushed out of the apartment.
On the surveillance monitor screen, he was seen fleeing, as if being chased by monsters.
“Damn it!”
Areli kicked the sofa in a mix of laughter and anger, then ran back to the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, reaching out her fair fingers to touch a light red stain on the sheet.
Two tears slid down her pretty face, a mix of sadness and unwillingness, but for some reason, there was no resentment.
This man was a jerk, yet a jerk one couldn’t hate.