Chapter 4: Aftermath

Caroline's pov

A dull ache ravaging through my head woke me up from my much needed sleep. The morning light streamed through the beautifully decorated binds…

Binds? When did orisons suddenly fix binds for their prisoners?

I tried to move my body, but a sharp pain that came from my joints made me realise what a bad decision it was.

My body felt heavy and sore. Between my thighs were like they had been lit on fire.

What had happened?

I asked myself grudgingly,

Was I still in the prison room? But the soft duvet was so soft and comfortable to the hard bench that was in my prison room.

And again, when do prisons suddenly have a hard, warm body that was emanating a soothing heat.

A man's body!.

I gasped in horror. Jerking up forcefully

A handsome, incredibly hot man was lying beside me.

I looked under the duvet, and my heart stopped.

I was naked?

With a ridiculous stranger.

Immediately, memories of yesterday night started coming in like a dam that was opened.

I remembered meeting him outside the club after being thrown out shamefully for not being able to pay.

He had come to me, so annoyingly and so confident with a cocky smile that I would have lived to clean off his face. Bu5 surprisingly, my body was thinking differently

I didn't know if it was the alcohol on my system of the fact that i was depressed but I suddenly felt as if all my cells were coming alive.

Then when he held me. I lost it.

Everything from then on was a blur to me, as I could only remember drowning into his strong, intoxicating manly smell.

It drove my head crazy and before I knew it, I was nodding to his question.

“How could you, Caroline?” I said out loud but had to close my mouth when the man stirred.

“That's for being quite Caroline” I silently berated.

I turned my head slowly, my breath hitching when my gaze landed on him. The stranger.

His face relaxed in a deep sleep. He looked almost peaceful, so different from the hinged ferocious beast he was last night. I could still feel the way his big dick was hitting inside me like a hammer each time he made a powerful thrust.

But as I stared at him, a strange feeling crawled up my spine. A flicker of nostalgia. Have I met him before?

No. That was impossible.

It didn’t matter.

I wasn’t here to dwell on last night or try to piece together where I might have seen him before. This was a distraction, and only because I was drunk. It was an escape from my miserable reality. And now, it is over.

His breath was even. That was a good sign and not wasting any time, I dragged my tired and sore body out of bed.

I hissed silently.

Moving as silently as possible, I gathered my clothes from the floor. My dress was wrinkled, and thank goodness it was still manageable. I slipped into my dress. Running a hand through my messy hair to smoothen it.

It doesn't matter.

I kept on repeating to myself. as i quietly tiptoed towards the door, being as subtle as possible not to wake him.

I took a deep breath, as the door handle was almost at my reach.

But before I could reach for the handle, a voice sliced through the silence.

"Leaving already?"

I froze, my heart beat increasing.

Shit.

Slowly, I turned, meeting the stranger’s unnaturally blue gaze.

How could someone be so ravanging handsome and hot at the same time?

He was propped up on one elbow, his dark eyes unreadable. His voice was smooth, filled with amusement.

"Is this how it works now?" he continued, his lips curling into a smirk. "No payment before you disappear into thin air?"

I didn't know why , but a sharp sting of humiliation and fury shot through me.

"What the hell did you just say?" I snapped, whirling around.

His smirk deepened, his gaze lazily trailing over me as if he was enjoying my reaction.

"You heard me."

Rage boiled in my veins.

I had already lost so much, my dignity, my marriage, and possibly my career, but I would not let a stranger reduce me to this.

I didn't know what entered me, but I knew I wouldn't stand there and let someone take me as a prostitute.

I reached into my purse, yanked out my checkbook, and quickly scribbled down a figure.

"You want payment?" I hissed, tearing the check from the book and tossing it at him. The paper fluttered through the air before landing squarely on his bare chest. "Consider it done."

His expression darkened, his smirk vanishing as he stared at the check.

“Besides you lack proper skills, you were not even the least satisfying.”

I didn't wait for a response. Nor to see his enraged face I had imagined in my head.

With my head held high, I stormed out of the hotel room, slamming the door so hard it rattled the hinges.

I needed to forget that this night ever happened.

Even if I had let my anger get the best of me. And I had just thrown away my only savings I have from my four years of working as a secretary.

By the time I arrived at the house I once called home, I was exhausted. My emotions were a tangled mess, but one thing was clear, I had no regrets.

But as I stepped inside, I was met with an eerie silence. Thankfully, there was no sign of Nathan, my so-called husband. No sign of Amelda, the cutthroat bitch who I had considered to be my friend.

Good. I couldn’t stand the sight of them anyway.

I quickly showered, washing away the remnants of the night before, and dressed in the most professional outfit I could find. Whatever mess my personal life was, at least I still had my job.

Or so I thought.

**********************

The moment I arrived at the office building, something felt off.

The surroundings felt gloomy.

The before vibrant leaves and sparkling parking spots were now littered with plastic cans and refuse.

Two months of me being away in prison felt like twenty years. a lot of things had changed. I hardly recognise anything. Again.

Shaking my head. I braced myself up. And walked towards the security post with my head held up.

I would not show weakness. Not to anyone.

“You can’t enter, Mrs. Caroline,” the security personnel said flatly.

I frowned, my heart dropping into my stomach. “What? What are you talking about? I work here.”

“Not anymore,” he said.

A sickening wave of dread swept over me. “Excuse me?”

Before he could answer, the sound of a familiar engine sent a shiver of rage down my spine.

I turned, just in time to see my husband’s sleek black car pull up. Stopping just beside me. The door opened, and out stepped the woman who had destroyed my life, Amelda.

And right behind her… was my husband holding her like it was the only thing that mattered.

My fists clenched at my sides as they walked towards me, their expressions smug.

“Ah, look at this,” Amelda sneered, her voice dripping with mock sympathy. “Poor Caroline. I'm still clinging to the past.”

Her shrill laughter rang through the surroundings, catching the attention of the other worker.

I turned my gaze to my husband, expecting at least a shred of decency from the man I had once loved. “Is this some kind of joke, Nathan?”

His lips curled into a cruel smirk. “No joke. You’re fired, Caroline. You shouldn’t have come back.”

My blood turned ice cold. “You can’t just…”

“Oh, we can,” Amelda cut in, tossing a thick envelope at my feet. “And while you’re at it, sign these.”

I didn’t have to pick up the papers to know what they were. Because what was boldy written at the heading Said it all.