Revenge of the Billionaire’s Ex-Lover

05. Behind Every Curtain

“SHOULD I BE GLAD TO know that you still remember?”

He exclaimed, obviously playing around at the moment. He is having fun with this whole thing, leaving me the only one nervous and slightly scared of my own life. I know he can be harmless, but considering what happened in the past, I don’t think I am even an ounce safe around him now. If it was in the past, he might even just let me go, but things are different now.

“I said, what are you doing here?” I repeated my question, trying to sound brave and showing that I was not even a bit scared of his presence right now.

He hummed, showing off a mocking face. “Let me think,” He slowly walked away from me, making me sigh in relief, as he walked towards a single couch just next to the sliding glass window. “I can enter this room without even anyone stopping me. I managed to let you take a rest and sleep here after seeing you all wasted outside. On top of that,” He puts on a smirk as he gazes up at me, nodding towards the bed. “I f****d you up in that bed the other night without any worry that the staff might suddenly come in. With all that, what do you think I am doing here?”

If I patch all the things he just said, there is only one answer to it, but it is impossible! Donovan Tobias Casis disappeared a decade ago with no one having a single idea where he had been after graduation. But, he couldn’t be standing here right in front of me without any worry if he wasn’t the one.

“Don’t tell me that you…” He raised a brow, waiting for my next words. “You are the owner of this bar?”

He remained stoic for a few minutes before a big smile formed on his lips. His legs crossed as he placed both of his arms on the armrest of the chair he was sitting on. “I am deeply glad that you made my first visit of the year here at my bar such an exciting one, Kaylie Amber Moreno.” My eyes squinted with what he meant, which only made him smirk. “I surely doubt you already forgot what happened in this room last time. I did make sure to leave a note for you.”

I’m sorry I had to leave early, but don’t worry, we will meet again. Thanks for the great night, Kaylie.

That note! The familiar handwriting. It was his all along! How could I not even recognize it?

“You!” I looked at him in disgust as I remember the events the other night. “You took advantage of me?!”

“I bet you can’t say that to me, Ms. Moreno. You were the one asking for more. I only granted what you wished for.” He bravely answered without even flinching, unlike how he was before. “If I am being honest with you, I didn’t expect that the famous female casanova of The Vonod Inferno would be the one who would ask me to f**k her when all this time I thought she is uptight.”

My eyes widened upon realization. He knew it all. He knew about my whereabouts. He knew what had been happening to my life. But how? How is that even possible? Not even a single of us batchmates from any department has a single idea where he has been at and what he has been doing now. However, now, he is right in front of me, telling me that he owns this elite bar I have been regularly visiting for years already.

“You fucker!” I ran towards him, attacking him with punches, but only to be pulled into his lap. He wrapped his arms around my waist, making me keep still, as I tried my best to escape from his hold, but he just kept on tightening his hold. “Let me go! You asshole! You f*****g p*****t!”

“I already told you, Kaye. I just granted your wish. How can you only blame me for what happened?” He defended himself while letting out short chuckles, like he was even taking my anger like a joke.

I turned my face to see his face before pointing at him again. “You knew I was drunk. You could have just—”

Without even letting me speak anymore, I felt his soft lips on top of mine, moving at their own pace after a few seconds. I was too stunned to even move an inch and push him away as I processed what was happening as of the moment. I was only hit by reality when he broke the kiss and looked at me with those same eyes he used to watch me back then in daily life. However, it is mixed with some kind of mockery now.

“I would really appreciate it if you stayed still on my lap if you don’t want me to f**k you in that bed once again tonight.” He bluntly says, making me freeze to my spot. I wasn’t sure why, but it suddenly felt like I needed to follow each of his words right now. After all, I am in his territory and many things could happen the moment I step out of this room. He placed a hand on top of my head, gently patting me there like I am his little dog. “Good girl.”

I glared at him with my piercing gaze as my hands formed into fists. “What do you want from me, Don?” I asked him, firmly.

“Don,” He repeated my words as he exhaled in satisfaction before a smile formed his lips. “I thought you would be formal upon seeing me again after a decade, but it looks like you are still comfortable with me.”

“Just answer my damn question. What do you want from me?” I repeated my words, matching his intense gaze on me now.

“You really want me to answer that?” He provoked, like he had something in mind that made my heart skip a bit in anxiety. Suddenly, his sneaky hand finds its way to my legs while the other wraps around my waist as he lifts up, almost making me squeal. His eyes darkened as I looked at him in shock while he made his way to the bed, putting me down there and going on top of me, caging me in his arms. “You know what I've wanted since then, Kaye.”

“W-What are you trying to do?! Stop playing with me or else, I will kick your damn balls right now!” I threatened.

I was about to position my legs but he was quick to put his leg on top of them to prevent me from doing something that could hurt him. I tried to push him away but he was quick to hold my wrists as well and pin them to the mattress, preventing me from moving now. Whatever it is he is planning to do, I am definitely getting pissed now!

“I am not like you who like to play games, Kaylie Amber.” He says in such a cold tone that almost sends shivers down to my spine. He leaned down to my side, blowing air into my ear and neck, making me gasp before he left a peck on the sensitive spot of my neck, making me flinch. “Since then, you know what I wanted already. Don’t act foolish.”

As soon as I whispered those to my ear, all I could think of was the events of before. What he wanted the most back then before everything was messed up was… me. He has told me many times before that he likes me so much and how he was so happy when he had the chance to spend some time with me… but I ruined it all for him.

I ruined it all for both of us.

I swallowed hard and tried to contain myself from any emotion from the past. “May it be before or now, you won’t get what you want from me, Donovan. Like I said before, stop dreaming.” I told him as firmly as possible.

Suddenly, after a short silence from him, I heard him let out a loud laugh before pulling himself up and away from me. I immediately took the chance to stand up and create a gap between us, standing on the opposite side of the room. He crossed his arms as he watched me create distance between us in amusement.

“We might have had s*x last time, but I won’t do anything to you that you don’t want now. I don’t do s*x without people asking me to do it.” He proudly says while looking at me with a smirk plastered on his lips.

“You do know that you are a f*****g asshole, right?” I pointed out that he only smiled innocently.

I watch him as he turns on his back and walks towards a cabinet. He took out some clean clothes for sleeping and for casual ones to wear outside, as well as a pair of new underwear and new slippers before placing them all on top of the bed.

“I get that a lot, don’t worry. But for now, you should take a shower and get change if you want to stay here. I don’t just let anyone sleep here, especially if they are drunk.” He exclaimed without even a single hint of joking around.

“Take that with you. I won’t stay here anymore. It is enough that I get enough sleep and get played by you. I can’t stay here anymore.” I told him without even bothering to consider his offer.

I tried not to mind his presence and just gathered my things in silence. When I was rechecking my things, my phone was not inside my bag, so I had to look around, only to see it on the nightstand, near where Don was standing. A deep sigh escaped my lips as I gathered my courage to get close to him again even if I didn’t want to.

As I pass by him, he uses his long arm to reach for my phone, making me glare at him, threatening. “Give me the phone.” I firmly said.

“If you insist on going home, then let me drive you back. I won’t let you drive by yourself when you still haven’t recovered completely yet.” He insisted.

“I don’t need you to drive me anywhere. I can take care of myself, Donovan. Just give me my damn phone.” I told him, reaching for my phone.

I don’t know what exactly got into him, but he childishly raised the phone to the length that it was impossible for me to reach already. My eyes close as I curse mentally and keep telling myself to be patient and just get the phone so I can leave already. As soon as I opened my eyes, his arm was not raised anymore but was hidden at the back, so I had no choice but to get it, even if it meant I needed to hug him.

Just when I was already hugging him completely to get my phone, he suddenly wrapped his arms around me and made me freeze on my spot. His hold is tight and as if he was longing for it. I could feel my heart pounding like crazy but I tried to keep it all to myself. My mouth was shut as I could hear his beating heart when I leaned to his chest earlier to reach for my phone.

What is this familiar feeling now?

“I won’t insist on driving you home anymore, just stay here and spend the night for your own safety. I know you don’t want me around you, but you have no choice. Our paths will keep crossing starting now and I assure you of that. But for now, if you say that you won’t leave this room to go back to your place, then I will gladly leave and let you have your space. Just tell me you won’t leave.” He said without even flinching nor stuttering.

For some reason, I felt my chest become lighter than the heaviness that I had when I first arrived in this place today. I could feel the comfort in his warmth and even in his soft voice that used to calm me down back then whenever I was pushing myself down because of my father’s harsh words. It all still feels the same… but it shouldn’t be like this now.

“F-Fine. Just let me go now and leave the room.” I only said, pushing him away gently this time.

He let out a sigh of relief before placing my phone back onto the nightstand, then taking something out of his pocket. He reached for my hand, which made me flinch, before opening it to place a key in it. I looked up at him in confusion, but he only showed a smile.

“I know you still have doubts that I will come here while you sleep, so I am giving you my spare key to assure you that I won’t come back here. You can hand the key to the manager by tomorrow before you leave. I will lock the door and tell them not to open the door unless you open it yourself.” He placed a hand on the top of my head, gently patting me there. “Take more rest. I will leave now.”

I was left speechless the whole time. I couldn’t even utter a single word as he spoke because it all seemed so familiar. The way he talks after he stopped fooling around. The way he shows concern. That is what he was like back then, but… how can he even swallow all of his anger towards me and show me mercy now after what I had done to him back then?

“Oh!” He suddenly stopped before he could even open the door, turning around to face me with his hand on the doorknob. “It is nice seeing you again formally this time, Kaylie Amber. It sucks that our first encounter had to be in a club’s restroom.”

Those were the only words he last said before leaving the room completely. His last words repeated in my mind until a certain scenario came into my memory. A familiar face in the restroom with a woman on the sink counter as she moans while the man behind her enters her nonstop. My eyes widened in realization.

“It was him?!” I raised my voice as my mouth was left wide open in amusement.

I freshen myself up and change my clothes before going back to bed, sitting there with my back leaning on the headboard. My thoughts then drifted to Don right away as I looked around the room which now had his familiar smell and with his presence imprinted everywhere already. I don’t know what he has been up to during the previous years, but one thing for sure is that something has changed in him.

May it be his way of living or just his whole being. It all changed. The way he talks. The way he dressed, like how he was in a silky dress shirt, with two buttons unbuttoned, tucked in slacks with a pair of leather shoes. The way he acts and even how he owns this whole bar. If I add the fact that when I saw him f*****g a woman inside a restroom’s sink counter, it feels like a part of him indeed changed so much. However, a part of him still feels the same.

A decade of his presence unfelt, it feels weird to know that he is around. I wonder what he has done during the past years and what he is busy with. What does he do now? Where did he go after graduation? How has he been? I have so many questions in my head, but I can’t even dare to ask him any of that. I don’t even want to ask him about it because… I don’t think I have a right to do so after what I did to him.

A deep sigh escaped my lips as I reached for my phone from the nightstand this time to open it. It was kept closed for hours. I am sure I have got a lot of calls and messages by now, and I wasn’t wrong. The moment the phone screen opened, I was bombarded with several messages and missed calls from all of my friends and some messages from Mom and Dianna. There are so many that I just decided to skip some of it and send a message to Dianna for her and Mom to inform them that I am fine while I send another message to our friend’s group chat to do the same.

“Isn’t she so quick?” I exclaimed with a small chuckle escaping my lips when Kiana’s name showed up on my screen before I could even check my social media. I answered the call right away and made sure to put it on a loudspeaker. “Hello?”

[“f*****g hell! You finally answered! Where the f**k are you?! Don’t you know how worried we would be if you just disappeared and became unreachable like that?!”] She immediately scolded, making me proud that I put the call on the loudspeaker instead.

“I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to just disappear from all of you for half a day. I just really need some time alone. But you don’t need to worry about me, okay? I am safe and I only drank. Not a very big deal.” I explained, reassuring her more.

I heard her let out a sigh of relief as if some stress had just left her body. [“I wanna scold you more, but I won’t. What’s important now is that you are safe. Are you home? Do you want me to drive there and stay with you?”] She worriedly asked.

“You don’t have to. I’m not at my place anyway. Besides, I have something important to tell you.” She hummed in response, obviously curious about what I was about to say. “I met Don.”

[“Don?”]

“Yes, Don! The guy from college that I… you know?” I explained in a way she can remember more.

[“You mean Donovan? The one from Business Administration?”] I hummed in response. [“How did you even meet him? Isn’t he like… gone? He hasn’t shown himself up for a decade or less, if I am not mistaken. He wasn’t even there during a mini-reunion even when he was obviously on the list.”]

“Look, meeting him right now is not the only shocking thing about this whole thing, okay? Turns out that Novan Palace is actually owned by him. If I am to interpret his words, it looks like The Vonod Inferno is also owned by him.” I exclaimed, still shocked by that fact.

Who would even expect that the place I love to hangout the most or just chill for a moment is actually owned by him? How can I even miss it when the name of the place looks like it was derived from his name but backwards?! It is not that I didn’t expect him to be successful in his own way with the job he chooses to have. I just didn’t expect that I would see him again as an owner of the places I love to go whenever I am stressed.

[“Are you serious right now? Isn’t he from a normal family? How can he even build such a prestigious bar and nightclub for highly exclusive people?”] Kiana exclaimed, making me sigh.

“I told you already before, didn’t I? You just can’t judge someone based on their family background! He disappeared for so long. Maybe he landed a job where he earned so much money, which is why he managed to open his own club!” I explained, scolding her as well.

[“Look, I am not judging him or what, okay? It’s just shocking on my part. I didn’t expect him to be a bar and nightclub owner when he barely even went to one back then. Isn’t he almost allergic to bars and nightclubs back then because he always study to keep his scholarship at Capewell?”]

“I know! But… there is something more actually. But before I tell you, you need to promise that you really won’t tell anyone about it. You can tell anything to our friends except this. Got it?” I desperately asked her, to which she only hummed in response despite being all confused by my words. “Do you remember when I told you that I had s*x the other night but I can’t remember who it was?”

It was enough for her to react.

[“You have got to be joking!”]

Our conversation lasted for an hour as we talked about Don alone. There were so many unexpected encounters and even thoughts that Kiana and I shared as we also walked through memory lane during that moment, which is probably what Don still despises the most. But one thing for sure, Don is indeed up to something and I can feel that something worse is about to happen soon. After all, I doubt he would randomly show himself up after all these years with no purpose.

Days have passed and my life couldn’t be any more boring. Since Dad forcefully made me not come into the office, I had to ask my secretary to schedule my visit time to our hotel branch in order for me not to overlap with Dad’s visit. After all, Dad might want me out of his sight. I still have a job to do and I plan to maintain it no matter how harsh he is to me. Keeping the company in order is what is more important to me now.

“You should list down all the machines we need to replace so we can send a request by the end of the day already. It’s not really a good idea for Dad to hear that some of the machines are broken and there is no spare to replace them right away.” I told my secretary, Lara, while looking down at the casino where several people occupy each machine.

“Ma’am, you got a call from Mr. Moreno.” I immediately turned to face Lara as she showed me a smile before handing me the phone. She signaled the other staff who were with us to move away before giving me a nod. “Good luck, ma’am.”

I watched her stand a few meters away for privacy as I took a deep breath to answer my father’s call. “H-Hello, Dad?”

[“DTC Group’s CEO just called. He wants you to come into their office to personally talk about the proposal once again to see if he could reconsider it. You are given a second chance now, Kaylie. Don’t mess it up.”] He immediately said, making me slightly relieved and nervous for myself.

If I fail this one again, I’m pretty sure I will hear more from him than the previous one.

[“Also, since you are given a chance by the DTC Group, take this opportunity as a chance for your escape to the marriage with Darryl.”] My eyes widened a bit with what Dad just said. [“If you successfully made this partnership happen, then consider yourself free from the burden of that marriage. But if you don’t, get yourself ready to marry Darryl in two months.”]

That was all my father said before he hung up the phone. A part of me was relieved because I had already got my opportunity handed to me. I have my chance to escape a marriage that I don’t even want to begin with. However, it is the part of successfully making the partnership that worries me. How can I even make a partnership possible when they made it clear last time that they won’t do business with us?

Despite all the doubts in my head, I still ended up preparing for that day where my opportunity to have my freedom is given to me. I dressed up in a blazer dress with a belt on my waist with a pair of pointed toe stiletto heels. I styled my hair down with some big curls at the edge and put on light makeup to finish the look. This should be enough to become presentable in front of Mateo again.

“You must be Ms. Moreno, the General Manager of Grand Moreno Hotel. I am Ian Capilo, the secretary.” A man in his mid-20s says as soon as I reach the top floor where I was told the CEO’s office is located. “He has been waiting for you inside. Please come this way.”

He guided me to two sliding doors that automatically opened and closed until they led us to a massive office. I could tell right away that this is indeed the CEO’s office just by its space and the furnities used. On the right side of the room, there is a long table and some chairs around it in front of a huge projector. There is a couch located with a center table just a few meters away from the long table and a cabinet with books in it on the side. However, the CEO’s table is located at the farthest left side with two staircases before even reaching it.

“Mr. Concepcion?” I called softly with a smile, ready to greet him, after I approached the table.

However, as the swivel chair turned, my smile slowly disappeared as my lips parted with eyes widening a bit. He looked up at me before a smirk formed his lips again. His eyes raked from my head to toe, obviously checking me out.

“You did prepare a lot to meet me.” He exclaimed, making my brows furrow. “Though we have already met. We even had sex.”

“What the hell are you doing in that chair, Donovan? What are you doing here?!” I questioned in so much confusion.

“Didn’t you come here to meet the CEO? Well then, here he is! In the flesh.” He proudly says with a smile.

This is seriously making me crazy now.