Lied to get paid... but innocent?
What a strange thing to say in a single breath.
According to Hudson, Melissa hired him to ruin Lola. Even when Lola was already ruined, that woman wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything she could do to change her already hellish life. As if fate was "protecting" her, someone else mistakenly entered her supposed room, and Lola ended up in another.
Hudson only realized this mistake when he received the video recording of this so-called gig. He saw that the woman in the video was not Lola, but rather someone else, who was actually paid for a tryst that night. Of course, Hudson wouldn’t tell his client that he had made a mistake and failed.
Luckily for him, Melissa believed it, and he even got a bonus from her when news of Lola’s pregnancy reached Melissa. That was how Hudson kept the lie going and started blackmailing Melissa for money.
But even with that confession, there were so many more questions than answers clouding her mind. The confession clarified only one thing, but it left her with so many more questions. Questions such as:
What did Hudson mean that Lola got into the wrong room? As far as she remembered, she was in the right room. She remembered that, at least. And where in the world was Melissa getting all that money to fund Hudson’s lavish lifestyle? He wasn’t just living comfortably, but luxuriously.
Many other things filled her head, like, if it wasn’t Hudson and his goons, then... who got her pregnant?
Was Lola wrong? Did she conceive her child at a different time when she was back in Novera? Lola couldn’t remember doing anything crazy—like drinking excessively—after that incident. Instead, her routine centered on three things: school, work, and home.
So the possibility it was that night was high.
"Who...?" she whispered, only to snap out of her thoughts when she heard the door unlocking from the inside.
Slowly, she lifted her gaze and saw the door opening from the inside. Only then did she realize she had been standing outside the penthouse while deep in thought.
When the door opened wide, it revealed Atlas.
Atlas crossed his arms and leaned against the doorjamb, saying nothing as he just stared at her. Lola pursed her lips.
"Heh," she let out an awkward laugh. Why is he looking at me like a parent about to confront his rebellious daughter?
"It’s late," he said, and Lola gulped nervously, expecting an earful. "The kids are already sleeping. They couldn’t wait for you."
"Ah." Lola rocked her head. "Is that so?"
He blinked ever so slowly, tilting his head to the side. "And you’ve been standing outside for the past thirty minutes."
"Huh?" Her brows knitted. "No, I just arrived..." she trailed off, studying the knowing look on his face. "Really? I’ve been here for the past thirty minutes?"
"Mhm." He nodded. "I’ve been watching you through the door monitor."
Her face twitched. Whenever she was deep in thought or had too many things on her mind, she lost track of time. A bad habit.
Lola forced a smile and raised her brows briefly. "Well, will you let me in first?"
As always, Atlas didn’t answer with words and instead answered with his actions. Taking a step to the side, he made way for her. With that, Lola finally went home while he followed her from behind.
"Hah!" A deep, exhausted huff escaped her as she plopped her butt down on the couch. As she did so, she caught Atlas walking away as if he didn’t want to bother her.
Oh, well.
Lola shrugged indifferently and relaxed in the chair. A lot of things happened today. Considering she abducted Hudson, she would probably need more space. One of the reasons she didn’t go home immediately was that she didn’t want to pretend she hadn’t done something risky and smile in front of the twins.
It’s not like I murdered someone, she thought. But I’ll feel guilty to even touch the twins after wringing Hudson’s neck a hundred times in my head.
Amid her thoughts, Lola snapped out of it when a glass of water appeared before her. She traced the hand that had put it down, her brows rising as she looked at the glass on the coffee table.
Atlas was bent over and slowly straightened his back, casually taking the seat next to her.
"For you," he said flatly. "Rough day?"
Lola blinked and blinked. "What are you doing?" she asked, her mouth partially open.
"Selling myself."
"Oh." She closed her mouth and rocked her head. "I told you to think about some things first, right?"
"I did think about it."
"And?"
Atlas arched a brow. "And I concluded it changes nothing."
"..." For a second, Lola was rendered speechless. She and Atlas "agreed" to give him time to reconsider this setup. But it had only been several hours. After a second, she moved her face closer to him and asked with conflict. "Are you sure?"
"Do I look confused?"
She didn’t answer and studied his face. Her face soured as she shook her head.
"Nope. You look... alright."
"Go and drink some water," he jerked his chin, watching her huff faintly and shrug.
"Thanks."
For a second, Atlas studied her, who seemed a little too exhausted that she wasn’t reacting much. Usually, she would blush or say something reckless. But Lola just grabbed the glass of water and chugged it down until it was empty.
After emptying the glass, she hissed in satisfaction.
"Thanks for the water," she beamed at him, slapping her legs as she sat straight. "Anyway, I’m not going to keep you up for long. Let’s talk tomorrow. Goodnight!"
Having said that, Lola pushed herself up and walked away. But she only took three steps when she stopped at his question.
"Where are you going?"
"Huh?" Lola looked back at him, brows knitting. "Bathroom. Bedroom. To sleep."
"Where?"
She blinked once, twice, and then winced. "In my room, where else?" But her answer only made him arch a brow.
*****
Lola’s face twitched as she and Atlas stood by the door of her bedroom. Lying on the bed were the twins, their arms and legs spread as if claiming that they didn’t want anyone else to squeeze in bed with them. Then, on the lower side of the bed was Slater.
"There were plenty of other rooms in here," she whispered so as not to disturb the sleeping trio. She turned to Atlas and smiled. "Atlas, I know you’re crazy about me, but you see... I’m not easy. You can’t just drag me and share the bed with you whenever you like."
His answer to that? An amused smirk. "Is that so?"
"..." Lola pursed her lips, having a bad feeling at that smug look he was giving her. She leaned to his side and quietly begged, "Atlas, I’m... begging you. Please, I need sleep."