2. Kicked Out

"Alan, I can explain everything. We just..."

Before Elena could continue her sentence, a strange man suddenly appeared next to Alan carrying a paper bag.

"Your order," the man said as he held the paper bag out behind Elena.

Elena reflexively looked back and glared when she saw Jack wearing only a towel covering his private parts. She swallowed hard, then looked back at Alan.

Her cousin raised one eyebrow, especially when he saw some red marks on the bodyguard's body. Elena's heart felt like it was going to explode and her face felt hot and cold.

"I-I didn't have an affair. For God's sake, we were set up. I don't even know who brought me to this room. We were both unconscious after drinking champagne yesterday," Elena explained in a rush.

Jack didn't seem to care about them at all and went straight back into the bathroom with the paper bag.

"Can you explain everything from the beginning?" Alan asked as he entered the room.

Elena hurriedly closed the bedroom door and locked it from the inside. She explained everything, including the part where Jack received the drink from Bella.

"Please, don't let anyone know about this. I really never intended to betray Lucas."

Alan was silent and seemed to be thinking. The man wasn't bothered at all when Jack came out of the bathroom and left the room without even saying goodbye to them.

"Wait, how did you know I was here?" Elena asked suspiciously.

Alan looked at Elena with a look that was difficult to interpret. Elena wanted to scream because her cousin was very difficult to force to talk. Almost similar to Jack.

"Alan!"

"I've been looking for you since last night, but instead, I saw a woman who looked like you being carried into this room by someone. Before I could catch up, this room was closed. And after that, I couldn't find you anywhere, not even Lucas knew where you were."

Elena's shoulders slumped at the man's words.

"I'll investigate what exactly happened. You should hurry home so that no one gets suspicious. It's still six in the morning. Just tell them you're staying at my house."

After that, Alan walked out of the room, leaving Elena alone with her thoughts.

***

During the trip to her father's mansion, there was only silence that filled the car. Since leaving Elena with Alan earlier, Jack had not returned to the room. Leaving Elena alone in the hotel room for breakfast.

Even now, she doesn't know who rented the hotel room. She forced the receptionist to tell her, but they refused on the grounds of privacy.

"Let's just say that what happened between us was a mistake. Don't let anyone know," Elena said with a haggard, lackluster face.

The man only looked at her briefly, then refocused on the road ahead. Elena should have forgotten the incident, but of course she couldn't. She was no longer a girl and the man beside her was the culprit. She should have cursed him and demanded compensation.

But again she could only sigh. Jack didn't know anything. The man was also unconscious after drinking champagne last night. She wondered, was the man also unhappy or did he enjoy it? She had heard the man mention Claire and thought he was making love to her instead of Elena.

For some reason, Elena's heart ached. Although she was angry that he had taken away her honor, she felt humiliated for being mistaken for another woman. Was Claire his girlfriend? Did that man feel guilty too?

Next time, she would go to that woman and explain everything if they got into a fight.

"Should I accompany you inside?"

The question interrupted her thoughts until she didn't realize that they had arrived in front of the Pierce family's magnificent mansion. Suddenly her heart was racing and her stomach felt queasy.

She felt like something was going to happen, but she didn't know what. The discomfort was a sign of things to come.

"You can come in with me," Elena decided after taking a deep breath and exhaling it many times to get rid of the nagging nerves.

They stepped up to the door of the mansion that looked deserted from the outside. As soon as the door opened, Elena immediately entered the mansion with a stride, until suddenly her face was hit by something, causing her head to fall backwards.

"Do you still dare to come back here?"

A booming voice full of anger greeted her return. Elena opened her mouth when she saw many photos scattered on the floor after being violently thrown in her face.

She picked up one of the photos and looked at it. Her eyes widened in disbelief, then looked up to see her father. Thomas Pierce stood not far from her, accompanied by her stepmother and half-sister. Even more shocking, Lucas stood next to her half-sister with a hurt look.

"You bitch! You were about to marry Lucas, but you cheated on him and slept with your own bodyguard. What a slut! You've really tarnished the family name," Thomas screeched with a flushed face.

"I can explain everything. I really don't know why I slept with Jack. I swear, I don't remember a thing!" Elena argued, not to be outdone.

She tore through the disgusting photos in a fit of rage.

"I'm sure someone set me up. Don't you know your enemies are everywhere?" Then Elena saw Miranda, her stepmother whom she had hated since she entered the mansion. She pointed at the woman with baited breath. "I'm sure she did it."

The snake woman put on a wounded face and looked down to wipe her eyes.

"Sister, we love you very much. We were also shocked by this news. I woke up to find your photos all over the internet," Bella said with a sad face.

Elena's body immediately froze. "Wh-what?"

"Everyone knows about your behavior and they laugh at you for not being able to contain your lust. You've been looking good all this time, but you're just a woman hungry for caresses," Thomas insulted heartlessly.

Elena shook her head in disgust. "Do you trust photos that can be edited by anyone in this sophisticated age?"

"Can you deny it? Can you explain the red mark on your bodyguard's neck? You're so thirsty that you'd choose a lowly man like him over the much more honorable Lucas," Thomas snapped.

Elena could have argued, but the photos looked real. The question was, who had photographed them? Who came into the hotel room and brazenly photographed her and Jack in a very intimate and naked position?

It looked like it had been planned neatly and carefully in advance.

"Get out of this mansion and don't come back," Thomas said coldly. "Servant! Bring the suitcase here and give it to her!"

Elena blinked when she saw a servant in a black uniform pull out her suitcase and place it in front of her.

"You're expelling me?" She squealed in disbelief.

"You have tarnished the good name of the Pierce family and the Greenlake Corporation. You no longer deserve to be here. You're fired from now on."

"I just accidentally slept with my bodyguard, not killed someone. Isn't this too much? I'm the one who brought your company forward all these years."

Thomas scowled. "Your position will be replaced by Bella."

"What? She's not even your biological daughter! Have you lost your mind?" Elena shouted angrily.

"You're not even polite to your own father. Bella has always been kind and never misbehaved. Unlike you," Thomas retorted coldly.

She could no longer contain her anger. Elena looked at Miranda and Bella who were still wearing hurt and pitying faces, but it was all an act. She knew their true nature. She even knew what Bella's scandals were out there.

Her eyes shifted to Lucas who was still looking at her with hurt. Just as she was about to ask for support from her lover, she suddenly saw a small smirk on the man's lips. She blinked and the smirk was no longer there.

In that instant, Elena realized. She was too focused on the company to know what they were all doing behind her back.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I didn't expect you to have an affair behind my back. Especially with a lowly man like him." Lucas gave Jack a condescending look and looked disgusted. "I think it's better for our relationship to end here."

Elena had no intention of even explaining or pleading. Having spent years in the cutthroat world of business, she was used to observing the expressions of her business partners and opponents. She was not a stupid and naive woman. The small, even thin smirk on Lucas's lips said it all.

She nodded, then burst out laughing while clapping her hands a few times. The four people in front of her looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

"Okay. I'll get out of here."

She looked at Thomas with a meaningful lopsided grin. "You understand me best, father."

Thomas's eyes widened. The man who still looked fit at the age of 50 clenched his fists.

Elena turned around and dragged her suitcase, but Jack immediately took over. She didn't even realize he was still standing behind her. They headed to Elena's car and quickly drove away from the mansion.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked with a worried face. Again and again, the man turned to her.

Elena nodded, then shook her head. "I'm still processing what's going on."

Yes, Elena was used to dealing with severe problems, and she was used to being calm. Her emotions are still limited to the anger that exploded because of her father's treatment and not accepting that Bella will take over all of her hard work.

"Want me to help you get revenge?"