Andrew groaned a little in his sleep as he started to awaken, the haze of sleep and alcohol finally wearing off from his mind and eyes.
The man took a deep breath as he opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling, straightening his body.
Something felt different, fresh.
A soft, sad smile appeared on his face when he remembered the dream he had had. In that dream, Elara had returned to the house and even asked him why he looked so tired and if he wanted to eat something.
Then she helped him to his room before he made love to her to tell her how much he loved her.
But the thought that it was just a dream made his heart clench painfully. He shook his head and placed his hand to the side, freezing when, rather than the empty bed, his hand met with something soft.
Andrew quickly looked to his right side, his eyes widening when he saw the back of another human, a woman, curled up in a cocoon shape.
What the—
He quickly sat straight in shock. The duvet that slid down his body exposed his naked chest, and he looked down, only to realize he wasn’t wearing anything, just like the woman.
The woman’s body began to turn, and Andrew’s pupils dilated even further, if possible, when he saw who it was.
As the girl turned. Her chest was exposed slightly, and her pink nipples came into his vision.
But apart from repulsion, he felt nothing else.
He quickly covered her with the duvet before rapidly getting out of the bed, trying his best to sort out his thoughts.
From what he was seeing, things didn’t look optimistic.
Without wasting a second, he got dressed up. Hearing the commotion, Beatrice’s eyes fluttered open, and she looked straight at him, her eyes moist.
"Andrew—" Beatrice opened her mouth, stopping herself when she saw the plain disgust on the man’s face.
"Beatrice, what is going on? How did you end up on my bed? I was drinking in my study. How did I fucking end up with you in this state?!" Andrew raised his voice, heat rising to his head as he couldn’t understand what was going on.
No. This wasn’t right. Just last night, he realized he was falling in love with Elara.
What he needed to do was devise plans to get her back, not sleep with his best friend!!
Andrew grabbed his hair, ruffling it frustratingly before he threw the vase on the ground, shattering it into hundreds of pieces.
Beatrice flinched in her place, hurt by the pain on his face as he realized he had slept with her.
"You tell me what’s going on, Andrew? How could you do this to me? After the doctor left, I came to ask you if you wanted to eat something because I was hungry and was ordering something. But what did you do? You pulled me into your room!" Beatrice wiped her tears that started to roll down her cheeks.
She looked at him with a wronged expression.
"You mean I pulled you into the room and did all that? Why didn’t you stop me?!" Andrew raised his voice at her, and Beatrice shook her head.
"You are unbelievable, Andrew. Have you forgotten about your condition? You were drunk! My foot was wounded. How much could I resist you? Then I just lay there because I loved you once! It’s better to take that action as your love towards me than consider it rape!" Beatrice shook her head before she wrapped the bedsheet around her body.
"Rather than apologizing to me for what you did, you are calling this my fault? I didn’t know you could stoop so low, Andrew. I always loved you with all my heart, supported you, stuck to you like glue even when people badmouthed me, and this is how you repay me?" Beatrice asked before taking a step forward, then pretended to fall to the ground.
Andrew quickly held her in his arms to save her from falling, his heart drumming against his chest as he thought about everything she said.
Was he really so depraved and malicious that he ended up forcing his best friend onto the bed?
It was true he had once loved Beatrice and wanted to marry her, and there were times when her body made his heart flutter, but he never thought of sleeping with her, not when Elara still had his heart.
How could he make such a grave mistake?
Andrew helped Beatrice onto the bed before he knelt, placing his hand on her knee.
"There is no apology in the world that can make right what I did with you, Bea. If you want to press charges against me, I’ll understand and cooperate. I am so sorry for what I did," Andrew said, and Beatrice’s eyes brimmed with tears.
His words hurt her. It was true that she wanted him to take responsibility for his actions, but not by asking her to seek legal help and press charges against him.
Was there really no feeling in his heart for her?
Her family abandoned her, and her uncle was surely forcing her to trick Lloyd’s, and she was using Andrew, but even after that, she thought maybe the man at least had some feelings for her.
But she guessed she was wrong.
"If it makes you feel better, you thought I was Elara," Beatrice whispered.
Andrew bobbed his head up and down at the words.
He had drowned himself in alcohol last night because of that photo. Maybe that was the root cause.
Everything he thought was a dream happened in real life, just with a different woman.
"I don’t know what to say anymore," Andrew said, sitting on the ground with his legs pulled closer to his chest.
Beatrice placed her hand on his shoulders.
"I would never press charges against you, Andrew, if that’s what you are worried about. I love you too much to think anything against it. Even though you were intoxicated and calling out for a different woman, just know, it was the best night of my life," Beatrice whispered.
Andrew looked up, tears brimming in his eyes.
He knew what he did was wrong. And naturally, he should take responsibility for it, even marry her after ruining her dignity like that, but for some reason, he just couldn’t bring himself to say it.
His heart had fallen for Elara too deeply.
"I..." Andrew opened his mouth to apologize again when Beatrice shook her head.
"It’s okay. It happens. We’ll get past it." Beatrice wiped her tears, and though she was putting up a strong front, Andrew could see how broken she was on the inside.
And it shattered his heart even more.
He messed up everything, as he always does. But this time, he did something he wouldn’t be able to come back from.
His heart felt jeopardized, and he wanted nothing more than to see Elara.
Even if it was the most selfish thing to do, he just wanted to see her and repent for his mistakes.
But then again, he has made so many mistakes that it seems impossible to repent in this lifetime.
"I should go. The presentation is in one hour," Beatrice’s words reminded the man that they had to go to the government conference meeting for the Paradise project.
Andrew remained seated on the floor even after Beatrice left.
"Aaaa!" Andrew shouted in pain, throwing the pillows around, trying everything to ease the anger in his heart that he felt at himself for doing something that he would despise himself for for the rest of his life.
Beatrice, who was walking to her room and heard the man’s scream of frustration, sighed.
"I know what I did was wrong. But this was the only way, Andrew. Please forgive me if you can. I’ll have to make you mine if I want to live," Beatrice said before she closed the door and stood before the mirror, dropping the bedsheet that she had used to cover herself.
She looked at the deep, expressive love bites on her neck, on her chest, waist, abdomen, thighs, back, and even near her womanhood.
She trailed the beautiful marks with the tips of her fingers, the marks meant for Elara. A smile appeared on her face when she remembered how passionate Andrew was last night, how deeply he had loved her, and how full of desire he was for her body.
He might’ve mistaken her for Elara, but there was no doubt he wanted this body, no?
All she needed to do was keep pressing and guilt-tripping him from now on to make him hers.
Beatrice smiled to herself.
As she was about to enter the bathroom to take a quick bath and freshen up, her phone vibrated with an incoming message.
She tapped the screen to see what it was, and her blood boiled a little when she saw the image.
"I hope your plan comes through, or you know what’s going to happen, right?"
It was a message from her uncle.
Beatrice clenched her fists before placing the phone down.
She looked back at the mirror and then at the hickeys that she would ensure her uncle sees today so he would know their plan was coming along. She sighed before entering the bathroom.