Revenge of the Billionaire’s Ex-Lover

03. The Aftermath

FOR SOME REASON, AS I took a cab to go back home, I have been sensing this weird feeling inside me. At first, I thought it might be because I actually did it with someone I don’t know and I felt it. But the more I process what I just did and what just happened, suddenly, his touches became deeply felt.

It is weird knowing that I don’t even know who the person I have done it after many men have tried to get me to have s*x with them several times. What makes it even weirder is that I can’t even remember what he looks like because I didn’t even manage to get a proper glimpse of him. But, his soft touches across my whole body and his lingering kisses on my lips and my next is somehow hard to forget. It felt like I could still feel his presence completely!

After I arrived back home, I took a seat on my couch and stared into the thin air. For some reason, it actually felt weird that it happened. When I walked out of that room earlier, I expected to be fully embarrassed by the looks I am prepared to receive already. However, things turned the other way round as every single staff member in that bar treated me like I am such a big person they couldn’t afford to disobey or be left dissatisfied. In there, my presence felt so important that I couldn’t even understand why.

To keep my mind off of the events last night, I took a short shower and prepared my own food since I wasn’t able to get one after I left the bar. I am lucky enough because there is a provided hangover pill over the night stand earlier that I think was left by someone I hooked up with last night so I didn’t have to stop by the generic shop to buy some medicine. Just when I thought that my thoughts would drift away after such a good shower, I somehow still couldn't get it out of my head.

“So, you are telling me that you had s*x with a stranger that you can’t even remember how he looks like?” Kiana says over the video call as I eat my small breakfast I prepared earlier. I nodded my head, trying not to look her in the eyes in fear that she might scold me. “Can’t you atleast remember if he uses a condom?”

“He did! There is a condom in the trash when I take a look at it.” I immediately answered to push away any thoughts in her mind.

If I will be honest, there are several condoms in that trash can when I check it. Just by looking at those, I could tell already that the one I have done it with is a damn f**k boy who can’t keep his balls to himself. It is the only thought that came to my mind because he couldn’t use all of those condoms for me. If he did, I’m probably not capable of getting out of that bed by now.

“Then that’s good! Here I thought I will be a Godparent soon, though I don’t really mind.” She exclaimed in relief, sighing as if anxiety just left her body. “How about the staff in the restaurant? Have you tried asking them about the identity of that man?”

“I did, but they only said that they are not allowed to disclose any private information of their customers, though I find it odd that they suddenly became overly private. They even tried avoiding giving me an answer, you know?” I explained.

Before I actually left the bar, I indeed tried asking the staff regarding the man I was with but they didn’t say a single thing. However, considering the fact that he used a room located inside a bar that is highly restricted, I do think that the man can be the owner of the bar or someone close to the owner of the bar. Otherwise, how can he have such access to a private room that is not even available for anyone to just enter.

“But I wanna ask you something,” Kiana suddenly said, bringing me back to my senses. I raised a brow as I watched her struggle to not even smirk that wide. I already know what that kind of smirk means. “I’m pretty sure you can remember how big he is, right?”

“Kiana!”

My embarrassment is her happiness… just like every single damn time. She laughed so hard through the other side of the call that she actually dumped all of her work just to talk to me. I appreciate that effort, but to make me feel even more embarrassed is a different thing already. I should have expected that she would ask me that.

“I am just asking! Besides, if it's small, then it is not worth it, you know?” She exclaimed, unbothered, once again.

All I could do was shake my head as I let her keep talking more about the size of that man. It wasn’t like it was my first time to actually do it because I did lose my virginity when I was in college and it was even with the man that I didn’t expect I would lose it with. However, it is the first time after so long that I had actually done it because I usually don’t let men go that far. If only I knew that a man with glasses inside a bar is the one who will go that far with me, I shouldn’t have done so in the bar last night.

“You better stop now or I will drop this call and never talk to you again.” I said, looking at her over my iPad screen with a serious face this time.

“Okay! Okay! I will stop!” She says in between small laughter as she tries to recover herself from such happiness. She took a deep breath a couple of times before finally recovering completely. “Set that aside, have you talked to your father yet? I planned going to see you last night as well but I drifted off to sleep right after I took a shower.”

A deep sigh escaped my lips again as I thought of yesterday again with my Dad. “Jordan came so that’s enough. As for Dad, he wouldn’t budge. He even used the company against me again saying that we need Darryl’s wealth and investment for our company or else everything my great grandparents work hard for will disappear.” I explained with my brow furrowing a bit. “Mom said she would try to talk to him, but I doubt she can even change his mind. After all, she couldn’t even say a single word last night while I was talking to Dad.”

“But isn’t the hotel doing well based on the monthly report? You told me that last time.” She pointed out which I could sigh once again.

If I am being honest, a part of me knows well that Dad is just using the company to make me do what he wants me to do again even if what he said is a lie. I knew that he would use everything he can just to make me obey and the company is just the right fit to it. However, even though I have that feeling already, I still couldn’t resist because it is my job to keep the company going.

“How about Darryl? Did he try contacting you already?” She asked once again.

“He did try to contact me last night, but I wasn’t able to answer. Dad said we are going for dinner by next week.” I only said.

Thinking about it, it is better that I don’t talk to him for now with the whole engagement being in conversation. I don’t even have any idea what he thinks about it because I ran away last night before he could even start a conversation with him. Just imagining how our life and relationship will be like now already stresses me out. My childhood friend that I feel so comfortable with suddenly turned to be my future fiance, how in the world is that even possible?

Maybe I am partly lucky now with the whole arranged marriage thing because it is with Darryl, with someone I know well. It makes it less hassle for me because I only need to adjust instead of getting to know a stranger completely. But what makes me not accept this whole arranged marriage except for the fact that it is forced is how I had to change my whole relationship with someone I cherish as a friend the most and force myself to learn to love him beyond what we have already just because I was told to.

As a kid, I did imagine how it feels like to be in an arranged marriage and how they ended up loving each other for some cases who ended up sticking with one another until the end. It made me think of how it started and when their feelings changed. However, not that I am in such a position, it made me realize how much I just wanted to run away from it and keep it as my imagination alone. I don’t want to risk such a friendship over a damn marriage that I wasn’t sure if both of us wanted it in the first place.

“What is your plan now though? I am sure Uncle Salvador wouldn’t just give up with the idea. You know him more than we do. Unless you give him a greater deal than a partnership with the Oak Valley Group of Hospitals, he wouldn’t back off.” she pointed out.

“I know. That is why I will try to check in the company if there is a business that Dad is eyeing for this time. He badly wants to expand the company further so I am sure he is trying to acquire new investors that I could handle.” I said, placing my elbow on top of the table now and used my hand to massage my forehead.

Just as planned, I went to the hotel the next day after fully recovering and my mind was already set to breaking that engagement with every strength I have. I reached the top floor where my father’s office is located but saw no one around the whole floor, not until the elevator opened, revealing my evidently frustrated father who has his brows furrowed and eyes as deadly as it is. He didn’t even give me any attention when he passed by me.

“Randy, what happened to Dad?” I asked my father’s secretary who seemed bothered and worried as well.

“Mr. Moreno attended an appointment with the CEO of DTC Group. He wants to create a partnership with them, but they rejected the proposal right away without even any thought. I even heard from the CEO of DTC Group that he doesn’t want to be affiliated with someone who can’t treat his employees right.” He explained as he let out a long sigh at the end, making me slightly worried for him.

I didn’t know up until now that the talks about my father being too strict and somehow rude to other employees have reached the other businesses now. If I am not wrong, Randy and I tried our best to keep it as private as possible in order not to ruin Dad’s reputation, but it still managed to come out. What makes it even worse is that DTC Group knows about it.

Among all the companies in the country, it is probably DTC Group that everyone wanted to have business with or work in. It is a global company which actually rose into the top just two years after it was formed with their globally expanded business expenditures. Though there are some rumors that the current CEO is not the actual CEO of that company, no evidence was shown since that company is such a private one and they never dare to disclose any private information about their executives and their employees unlike ours which Dad almost wanted everything to be public.

“Do you think it is a good idea to talk to him right now, Randy?” I asked him, worried for myself.

“Unless he called for you himself, then I don’t think it is not a bad idea at all.” He said with a clear point. Suddenly, the sounds of the phone ringing echoed throughout the entire floor, making me silent as Randy answered the telephone. When the call ended, he suddenly looked at me, gulping down and worried. “He wants to talk to you.”

“Me?” I shockingly asked as he only nodded.

For some reason, I made my way into my father’s office with heavy footsteps. I slowly entered with a fast beating heart that only quickened more the moment I saw him facing the glass wall with his arms crossed to his chest. I swallowed hard before approaching his desk with my hands politely placed in front of me, as if I am one of his employees who fears him the most.

“Dad, y-you called for me.” I tried not to stutter but completely failed by my second word.

He turned around as his deadly gaze immediately locked with mine, almost making me want to back out and just run away from here. “What do you know about DTC Group?” He suddenly asked.

“Well, except for the fact that they are a global company, they have expanded their business already with resort hotels, fashion brands, telecommunications, as well as real estate. They have been successful in all areas since then.” I explained.

“How about their CEO?” He asked once again.

“Well, the CEO is Mateo Concepcion, but there has been rumors going around that he isn’t the actual CEO of the company since he is also working as a lawyer. There is no proof about it yet. May I ask, why are you asking me about this, Dad?” I questioned back, carefully not to piss him off further.

“Because I want you to do something for me.” He exclaimed without any hesitation. “I’m pretty sure you are aware that the Board of Directors has been pushing me to take the risk and take the hotel globally now. However, it is a big risk to do that alone so I wanted to create a partnership with someone who has a successful background with global expansion, and that is when DTC Group is coming into the picture. If I want to expand the hotel globally, I need them to be my partner to make the expansion a success. Is this information enough for you to know what I wanted you to do?”

“You want me to handle the DTC Group on your behalf?” He only nodded once with a serious face on.

“I want you to set up another appointment with the CEO and propose the deal with him again after a few alterations. That damn CEO really tested my patience and pushed my limit. So you better make that partnership happen, get it? Make it possible and make yourself useful this time, Kaylie.” He exclaimed, which I wasn’t sure to be happy about completely.

A part of me is glad because Dad trusted me with this one, but a part of me wasn’t because of the burden it carries. If my father wants something, then he should get it no matter how things turned out to be. So if I won’t be able to make this appointment work, then I might and will forever be tainted in my father’s mind as useless daughter indeed with no chance to show him that I can do better.

For the next few days, I did my best to fully engage with the whole planning and revising of proposals by the employees who handled the supposed project. I completely invested my time in it to the point that I had to skip several lunches and dinners just so we could polish everything and make sure that we would leave a good impression. The mistake my father probably made was not projecting a good impression from the beginning as he is somehow an aggressive businessman, and I want to make a difference.

I dress up in a white jumpsuit and let my hair fall down with a light make up on to make myself presentable enough. On my way to DTC Group’s company building, I tried to think about possible scenarios or questions to be thrown to us later on just so I will be ready for any of it. However, the closer I get to that building, the more I feel nervous. I became more worried about the outcome after seeing my father’s name on the caller ID after I stopped my car in front of the building.

“Hello, Dad?” I politely answered the call.

“I just called to remind you of your goal. Make the partnership possible by today and I will give you everything you want without any doubt. Catching the DTC Group CEO’s attention is our main target, so do you work properly and don’t mess this one up, Kaylie.”

It is the only words he says before hanging up without even letting me answer. I didn’t even get a single encouragement from him, which is not really new at this point since he had always been like that. But hearing him say that he will give me everything I want as long as this partnership happens, then it only means I have to make it work even more. It is my only chance of escaping such a marriage and I need this company for now to make that happen.

I look inside the massive lobby space from the outside before taking a deep breath and swallowing hard. “Let’s get this done, Kaylie!” I told myself.

As I walked inside, a particular symbol caught my attention, making me stop from walking. It is a diamond shape but with a sun like design inside of it with the word A new tomorrow. I stood in front of it and wondered where I have seen such a familiar symbol because I am so sure I have seen it before.

“It looks like you are much interested with that symbol than our appointment, Ms. Moreno?”

A voice suddenly said from behind me, making me turn, only to see the CEO of DTC Group whom I only see through television. He gave me a big smile when I almost panicked and fixed myself up.

“I’m sorry. I was just looking at it since it looks familiar.” I exclaimed.

“It is no worry. Almost everyone finds that symbol interesting too as well anyway.” He pointed out, unbothered, before sticking his hand out for a hand shake. “We haven’t formally met, but I’m Mateo Arial Concepcion, the CEO of this company. You can call me Mateo if you want to. I don’t really like to keep things too formal here.”

I shake his hand with a friendly smile. “Kaylie Amber Moreno, the General Manager of Grand Moreno Hotel. If I can call you Mateo, then you can call me Kaylie as well.” I said in a friendly manner.

He whispered something that made him smirk and shake his head a little before taking a deep breath. “Well then, let’s not waste any more time, shall we?”