Moonlace : Brew of Alchemy and Love.

Betrayal

Jessica’s POV

Jessica jogged her way back to the camp area. She looked back at the dark forest she had just come from, afraid she was being followed by that mysterious man. She had participated in a rural training program organized by her hospital.

There were more than twenty doctors involved. The camp was set up in the village at the foot of a mountain. When she entered the camp, she saw that her colleagues were already asleep. She immediately washed herself, she kept splashing cold water on her body, trying to remove the stains of the past hour. She wanted to scrub all those humiliating memories.

But, apart from her skin turning red, the water did not affect anything at all. She returned to her tent and immediately took out some ointments from her backpack and applied it to the bruises on her body. There were many marks left by that beast on her shoulders, waist, and chest and there was also a big bite mark where he bit her for the last time.

It was the biggest mark. Unexpectedly, it wasn’t aching at all, though it was the biggest and deepest bite. She caressed it before applying her white rose ointment to it. As soon as her fingers made touch with the mark, a shiver ran down her body and all the memories she was trying to suppress spilled out. She shivered uncontrollably and started crying. What did she do? She was so ashamed of herself now.

She closed her eyes and clutched her night dress at her chest, curled herself in a ball, and rocked herself while sobbing. She tried and tried to stop thinking but those memories continued to haunt her.

Between those flashes, she suddenly saw James’s smiling face and she cried harder. “James….James, I am so sorry, I really didn’t mean this to happen…..James….” She kept whispering to herself. Some time passed and Jessica was still rocking herself, but her sobs had calmed down now, although tears still flowed down her eyes, she was calmer than before.

She had always wanted to lose her virginity to he long-time boyfriend James. But now she had done it with an unknown person and she was scared, she was furious. She had no one to blame other than her. It was her, that gave her first time to a stranger so willingly.

She regained her calm somehow and wiped away all her tears. Crying wasn’t going to solve any problems. She had to tell James everything that had happened. She wasn’t going to hide anything from him. She believed, no she knew that he would understand her.

This was an accident, and James was a gentle and considerate person who loved her deeply. “Yes, he will understand me….He is a good guy.” Jessica whispered to herself and tried to sleep. But then she remembered she didn’t saw her friend Bella.

She was supposed to be at her relative’s house in the nearby town and it was a very long walk from here. It seems she wouldn’t be returning tonight. Jessica hummed and slept. Her bruised and battered body finally couldn’t hold the exhaustion and she soon succumbed to tiredness and slept.

Bella’s POV

On the other side of the forest, at the same time, a figure stumbled and ran disheveled through the forest in the moonlight. After confirming no one followed her, she slowed down and wiped her face. "What a disgusting thing, not even looking at its own repulsive appearance," Bella felt nauseous in her stomach, thinking of the man who had a bulging belly and fat rolls all over his body.

He was really too disgusting and perverted. She had planned to have dinner at her relatives' house, but she didn't expect to encounter such an unfortunate incident. After she left the camp alone, it was already evening and the sun was setting. She had hurried out of the village only to be followed by that fat perverted man.

He had followed her and tried to have his way with her. She knew a few tricks of self-defense and luckily the fatty was extremely weak, with just one kick he had rolled down like a ball. Wasting no time, she had run away and had lost herself in the forest. After lots of walking and searching, she finally saw the familiar sight of their training grounds near the riverbed.

The same place where earlier the helicopter crash had happened. Holding up her mobile torch high she kept walking. Suddenly, she kicked something. With her phone in one hand, she immediately started searching for what she had kicked.

Bella was frightened and stunned when she saw the remains of the helicopter. She started investigating around when she heard a man’s voice. “Mrs. Collins? Is that you” She immediately turned on her heel to look at the man that spoke, only to be stunned by what he had just called her.

She held her phone high, flashing a light on him. “Well, Sir just left and he has asked me to help you with anything you need. As you are now Mrs. Eric Collins, it’s not good to be without protection.” Bella gulped, she felt herself going cold but there was also some excitement.

“Who are you??” She asked him. But he just gave a small smile “Madam, you can call me Robert. I am Mr. Collin’s assistant. He had some work to do, hence he left me in charge of taking care of you.”

Jessica’s POV

The next morning, Jessica woke up from a nightmare. She had dreamed of that man from last night. It was as if she had relived those same moments once again. She woke up gasping for air; her whole body was numb and cold but wet from sweat.

She was frightened to her core. She could still feel his fingers sliding over her body and her body had once again reacted to it. Those memories were beautiful and enchanting but with the wrong person, everything was wrong.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath trying to calm herself down. She had enjoyed last night too much. She was scared that she would become that girl who opens her legs to any boy who comes to her.

She was also afraid that James would definitely leave her. She didn’t want to believe in this possibility and was trying to find reasons to console herself. But she knew that she was the one who had betrayed him. She was regretting everything that happened last night.

Yet, she still couldn’t help but miss that mysterious man. It was as if a piece of her was missing. Realizing what she was thinking, she shook her head and tried to think about other things.

Due to fear, she did not even eat her breakfast and skipped going out of the tent. She started packing her luggage as today was the day they were going to return back home, back to work. After packing up her things she noticed that Bella’s things were still lying on her bed.

Jessica guessed that she must have not returned yet. Thinking about her friend, she decided to give her a call.

“Hey, Bella.”

“What is it, Jess?” Bella said in a hurry and in an arrogant tone too. She never had talked to her like that.

Ignoring that she spoke further, “Bella, your stuff is still lying around, we need to head home soon. When will you be back?.

“Oh, I am so sorry Jess, I lost track of time. Will you do me a favor and pack my things and manage things over there?” This time her voice was as sweet as honey.

She heard some shuffling on the other end and Bella squealing excitedly. Jessica tried to say “Ok….” But before she could say anything the call ended.

Jessica sighed and started packing Bella’s stuff. Bella had a lot of things and carried a large suitcase, while Jessica traveled with only a backpack and a medical kit. After packing her bags and Bella’s Jessica got all the luggage out of the tent and even helped her colleagues to remove all the tents and keep the bags in the bus.

She was actually trying to distract herself from her thoughts and kept herself busy. But she had always been kind and helpful, so no one doubted.

When it was time to leave, Bella still hadn’t returned. Their Chief, Dr. Watson was getting all riled up. Jessica tried to calm him down and tell him “Chief, she should be coming soon. She has….” When she noticed Bella entering the campsite.

“There she is..” Bella smiled at everyone and ignoring the angry chief, got on the bus. Seeing this, everyone soon started getting on the bus. Jessica rushed and sat beside Bella and whispered to her. “ Bella, you're late, shouldn't you apologize to the Chief?" “Apologize? And me?” Bella snorted in response while rolling her eyes.

“Is it a big deal to apologize to the chief? Isn’t he just a puppet of the hospital? Jess, watch this, my good days are coming soon. In fact, they have started now. I don’t care about a mere Chief!” Suddenly Jessica heard the nearby passengers whispering, “Look, Bella is wearing the latest Chanel summer white suit, which is so expensive."

"She's so rich? That's amazing..." While Bella was feeling proud of herself. She smirked and curled her lips in a proud and evil smile.

Jessica was puzzled. Bella's family was not poor, but they were not particularly wealthy. Even those who didn't care about luxury brands knew that Chanel was expensive, let alone the latest one... Jessica had a feeling that something had changed in Bella after dinner with her relatives.

What could have happened? Jessica wondered, but then she shook her head. It might be her new boyfriend too. She knew Bella had the habit of changing her boyfriends frequently. She changed them as she changed her clothes. This was nothing new to Jessica.

She was about to take her medical book to study some herbs again but suddenly Bella was touching her neck, to be precise, it was that copper necklace that the man had placed on her yesterday. She had forgotten to take it out in all the mess that had happened. “What’s this?” Bella asked, giving a look filled with disdain and disgust to Jessica.

Jessica immediately reached out and pulled the necklace without any thought. It was a round copper bangle-like neckband, with some carvings inside. It was the width of her pinky finger. It was actually quite beautiful but looked cheap. She stuffed it in her pants pocket and tried to suppress the panic that was rising in her body. Her face already looked pale.

"Did your boyfriend give this to you? You can buy something like this anywhere on the street," Bella continued but with each word that left her mouth, Jessica was trying to keep her tears at bay.

The memory and wound were very fresh and it was difficult for Jessica to cope with it. She clenched her fist in her pocket, clutching the necklace, and did not say a word to Bella. Seeing that Jessica was quiet and did not say a word, Bella assumed that Jessica agreed with her and she sneered, "Your cheap boyfriend should be dumped as soon as possible. He can't even spend money on his girlfriend. What kind of true love is that?"

Hearing Bella badmouthing James, she retorted with, “I earn my own money, why should I spend my boyfriend's money?" Bella sneered but remained silent. Jessica felt that Bella had truly changed. She seemed too egoistic now.

After returning to the city at noon, Bella contacted her family to come pick her up. She was feeling excited as if she had encountered something great, she was so happy that the only thing remaining was for her to start jumping in excitement. It was James’s birthday, and Jessica was going to celebrate his birthday with him that night, but after what happened last night, she couldn’t wait until the evening.

She hurried up to the City hospital, which was in the heart of New York City. He was also a doctor like her. She wanted to talk to someone about what happened last night, she wanted to vent out her feelings. But besides her boyfriend, she didn’t know who else to turn to.

She returned to her own workplace and kept all her stuff in the dormitory, grabbed her small handbag and hurried up, and took a bus to the hospital, without changing her clothes. She wanted to see him as soon as possible, she missed him, and she wanted to hug him and feel his warmth to feel safe again.

Thinking about him brought a smile to her face. He was the ray of hope in her dark world. It was a Tuesday, a week off for most of the doctors in that hospital and she remembered that James had told her he would be on duty today as he had a very important patient to attend to.

It was lunchtime, so she especially brought some sandwiches and a large pizza takeaway, so that they could have a nice lunch together. She was excited as she neared his cabin. She was about to knock on the cabin door but stopped as soon she heard the moaning sounds coming out of the cabin.

It was clearly the sounds of a woman moaning in pleasure and the sound of flesh slapping against flesh. It was unbearable to hear and Jessica couldn’t take it any longer. She pushed open the door and the scene that greeted her was of James screwing a girl. She was bent over his desk while he was f*****g her from behind.

Before opening the door, Jessica already knew what was happening inside but hearing and seeing were two different things. Nonetheless, Jessica was shocked, hurt, and angry all at once. Her hands started trembling and the food takeaway boxes in her hands fell to the ground. She gasped and tears started rolling down her cheeks as reality hit her.

The boyfriend she loved dearly, the man she was worrying about all the time, the man she wanted to marry, the man she had dreamt to spend her whole life was here in front of her screwing someone else with no shame or guilt. How could she not feel anything?

She was totally broken but instead of showing it on her face, she did the opposite. She was so angry that her eyes were red. Hearing the door open, the cheating couple had already noticed Jessica. "Jessica..." "James?!" She never imagined that James would betray her and do something so shameless.

James was caught red-handed, "You go outside first, and I'll talk to you later. "James had the audacity to say such words which riled up Jessica further on. "You have no face to meet people; why should I leave? Say it here and now!" J

Jessica stood still, with anger boiling in her chest. "Little girl, don't be so angry. Have you looked at yourself? Do you look like a woman?" The woman leaning on the desk sneered and took a leisurely glance at Jessica as she fixed her skirt and appearance.

As soon as she finished speaking, a slap was thrown in her face. Smack! Jessica rushed forward and gave her a crisp slap, her eyes turning red with anger. "Shut up, you wild chicken!" James immediately pushed Jessica away and hugged the woman.

James instinctively protected the woman in his arms and glared at Jessica, "What's wrong with you? How dare you hit her? Do you know who she is?" Jessica watched as James, looked at the woman in his arms with concern in his eyes and asked her, “Grace, are you okay?"

After hearing this, Jessica was thunderstruck. Grace is the name of the niece of the hospital's vice president, Grace! James had mentioned her a few times before, and she had been helpful to him. Also, Jessica noticed the way they quickly gathered themselves up, and from what Grace said, this wasn't the first time they must have done this.

At this point, Jessica understood that James had betrayed her long ago. She sneered and raised her hand once again. James immediately pushed Grace behind him but the slap landed straight on his face. James was caught off guard and was hit, causing his face to twist to one side. "I'm not just hitting her, I want to hit you too!"