CHAPTER 3

Eva's POV

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"Are you serious?" I asked Ethan in shock, and he nodded, his lips curled in a smile.

"Yeah. How much do you want me to pay you? But you must abide by my rules and work as my secretary only," he said, and I gulped hard.

"I haven't been a secretary before. I just graduated with a degree in software engineering, and I want to be a software developer. I applied at Almond Tech, and they offered me a start on Monday," I said, and his brows furrowed.

"I'll pay you two million. If you accept, you can come to work in my company by Monday. Fail to show up, and you lose, as I need a new secretary," Ethan said, and I gulped hard and accepted his card.

"Fine. How about the medicine you want me to take?" I asked, as he had almost forgotten the contraceptive pill in his hands.

"Oh, here it is," Ethan offered, giving me the bottle. I took two pills and gulped them down with the bottle of water that he gave me.

"Don't forget—by Monday. If you fail to show up, I'll get a replacement. I'll be expecting you. What's your name?" he asked, pausing as he turned to walk away from me.

Lowering my head and avoiding his eyes, I replied, "Eva Brooks."

"Hmm, Eva. I'm looking forward to meeting you again. Take your things and leave. Hotel service will be here to clean the room." After saying that, Ethan turned and walked out of the room.

My eyes fell on the red stain on his pristine white bedsheet.

Looking at the card in my hand, I shook my head, reached for my handbag, put the card inside, and took out my phone.

I saw four missed calls from my mother.

"Hello, Mom," I answered her call, and she yelled at me.

"Eva, what did you do to provoke Jacob? He has canceled his partnership with your father and called off your engagement. How can you cheat on him at a time like this when he is planning to marry you? What came over you?" Mom yelled, and I felt guilty.

"Mom, I'm sorry. Layla set me up," I tried to explain, but Mom cut me off.

"Shut up. Layla didn't set you up. You went to the man and cheated on Jacob. How can you do this to us? We disown you as our daughter. Don't bring your shameful self home to us again," Mom yelled, and before I could explain, the call ended.

Shaking my head, I stood in the hotel room and sighed.

Gripping my phone tightly, I tried to call Jacob one last time to explain that it was all a mistake and I would never cheat on him.

However, the phone rang, and he ended it. When I tried to contact him again, I heard, "Sorry, the number you are trying to call does not exist."

"What?" My brows furrowed upon realizing that Jacob had blocked me.

Did five years of our relationship mean nothing to him? I knew that Jacob had always wanted to have sex with me, but I had stopped him and told him we should wait until our marriage. Now, I had cheated.

Wiping my sobs away, I put on my bra and panties before reaching for my green dress and slipping it on.

After that, I put on my shoes, adjusted my hair, and took a final glance around the room to ensure I hadn't forgotten anything.

I walked out of the hotel room while the hotel service staff waiting went in to clean it.

Then I made my way to the elevator and rode down to the last floor.

When I walked out, I felt the prying eyes on me, but no one stopped me. The impressive luxury hotel was filled with people of different calibers entering and exiting.

Making my way out of the hotel building, I exited the premises too, recalling that I wouldn't have come to this hotel if not for Layla's insistence.

Hailing a taxi, I went home even as my mother had warned me not to return.

I knew that I had nowhere else to go.

Jacob had broken up with me, and I couldn't go to his place. Not just that—my relatives would be furious with me, as it was because of Jacob that my father's small loan company had been able to soar higher. Now that Jacob had withdrawn his support and demanded that I repay him for all the money he had spent on me, I knew that none of my family members would want to help me at this point.

When I arrived home and paid the cab, I walked nervously up to the gate of the bungalow house where my parents lived. My father owned this house, as he had bought it after Jacob and I started dating.

Reaching the gate, I knocked, and the security man pulled it open.

"Miss Eva, you are not allowed into the house," he said, and my brows furrowed.

"Why? This is my father's house. I want to see them and explain," I begged the security man, Tom, but he shook his head.

"Your mother said that if I let you in, I will lose my job. I don't want to lose my job, madam." He went back into the house and locked the gate on me.

"Wait, Tom," I knocked again, but he wouldn't answer.

Sighing, I paced about the gate, thinking of what to do. I couldn't believe that my family would abandon me at a time like this.

Was this how people fell from grace to grass?

I tried calling my mother, but the same number she had used to call me wasn't connecting.

Calling my older brother, Cruz, he demanded, "Eva, how could you cheat on Jacob at a time like this when we are looking forward to having you both become married?"

"Cruz, I was set up. I didn't mean to cheat on Jacob. Believe me, Layla set me up," I said, and my older brother sighed.

"I warned you to stay away from Layla. That girl is a snitch, and you didn't listen to me. She is not from our league, and also, her parents are richer than ours," my brother fumed, and I sobbed.

"I'm sorry. I should have listened to you," I said, and he sighed.

"It's fine. Where are you now? Mom and Dad are angry, and they don't want to see you. Also, Jacob is demanding compensation and saying that you never let him touch you, so you didn't do anything for him in the five years you both dated," Cruz said, sighing in frustration.

"Can I come over to your place?" I asked Cruz, knowing that he had gotten married.

"Mmm. Sure, but you know Maddison and you don't get along. Don't worry; I'll talk to her and make her understand," Cruz said, and I sighed heavily, feeling relief that I could rely on him.

Layla's betrayal still stung, and I couldn't call any of my female friends again.

I went back to the road, hailed a cab, and went to my older brother's house.