“Still can’t remember anything?” Zachary asked. “Even what happened at Sultry Night?”
“What happened at Sultry Night?” Charlotte’s head was aching, trying to recall what happened. “I remember you coming to pick me up, my colleagues coaxing me, asking for you to treat them. And then we went to Sultry Night for drinks…”
She briefly paused. “They came to give toasts, I drank two glasses full and got drunk. Then, I was in the bathroom, Yolanda gave me some water and… Nothing. I can’t remember anything after that.”
At this point, Charlotte suddenly realized something. “You bastard! You took advantage of me when I was drunk!”
“Look at it again…” Zachary tapped on the screen. “Who’s actually the one being taken advantage of here?”
On the screen, Charlotte teared open his shirt and kissed him non-stop.
“Shut it off.” Charlotte covered her eyes. “This really isn’t me. Why would I do this?”
“You were drugged, you idiot.”
Zachary turned off the recorder and deleted the footage.
“Drugged?”
Charlotte gave it some thought, and noticed that things in fact, did not add up. Even though she was not good at drinking, two glasses should not have been able to almost knock her out like that.
Wait. I was already quite feverish in the afternoon. The liquor at night only made it worse. And it felt just like how it was four years ago…
“Figured it out?” Zachary continued to remind her. “Your condition last night was way worse than four years ago. That’s because you took double the dosage.”
“No way! Who would do something like this?” Zachary’s words sent shivers down Charlotte’s spine. “I don’t think I did anything to anyone.”
“Just listen.”
Zachary played the recording that Ben sent him on his phone. It was the conversation between Yolanda and the three men.
“I’ll pay you guys a hundred thousand to defile someone for me.”
“You’re asking us to do that for a mere hundred thousand? What if we get caught? The punishment is really heavy for crimes like these.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll handle everything. You guys just have to gang up on her when I send her over.”
“Hehehe… That woman must be ugly. That’s why you actually need to pay money for her to get laid.”
“Au contraire, she’s actually more beautiful than you can imagine. You’ll see.”
Charlotte was gob smacked. “Oh God! Is this Yolanda?”
Yolanda had a unique voice that was soft and slow. Even when talking about such sinister deeds, her tone remained the same.
“You understand now?” Zachary shook his head in exasperation. “The juice you drank yesterday afternoon was spiked. Same goes for the water she gave you last night. She was out to get you, but you treated her like your best friend. If it weren’t for me…”
Zachary did not finish his sentence. If those men even touched Charlotte, he would have blamed himself the most.
I should never have let Chris impersonate me!
All he wanted was to clear Charlotte’s suspicions; who would have known Chris was that playful?
Thank god I got there in time.
“This is horrifying.” Charlotte got goosebumps from the thought of last night. “T-the men, did… d-did they…”
“Of course not.” Zachary pulled her into his arms. “I would never let anyone hurt you.”
She could feel the beating of his powerful heart, and it gave her a firm sense of security, just like a guardian angel looking after her.
Wait!
Another question suddenly popped into her head. She instantly pushed him Zachary away, and snapped, “You stupid gigolo! Tell me, did you use a condom last night?”
Zachary went silent. He was stumped, and it dawned on him that he put his mask on last night when he got in the car.
At the moment, he was Gigolo In Debt.