Chapter 5

Steve went home straight from the restaurant, he was beyond devastated, he regretted every single thing, he really should have been careful.

In a dimly lit room, slight sobs could be heard resounding through all the corners. The strong scent of alcohol traveled across the room. He sat down looking broken on the floor, he regretted everything, and he wished he could turn back time.

"Mira, I love..." He didn't complete his sentence before he suddenly stopped "What the h*ll have I done??"

He sat down looking devastated and shattered, he was growing insane, regretting what happened, everything that happened...

The young man sat down on the floor and tried to remember how it all started.

****

Two months earlier~~

He was meant to sign a business deal with a company but to his surprise, his secretary informed him they were signing the business deal in a private room at a night bar.

Steve was the CEO of a company that was passed down to him as the eldest son of the Jim family.

Around 6:00 pm he arrived at the bar with his secretary, Catherine, they walked to the private room and saw a man waiting for them inside already, the man introduced himself as the personal assistant to the CEO of Fidel's Company, which was the reason Steve was here.

After introducing themselves briefly they started talking about the deal, Steve found absolutely nothing to his disadvantage so he accepted, they were both benefitting from this deal.

Although both companies were at an advantage and signing wouldn't be a problem, they both had to revise the plans keenly. After they finished signing, a waiter came in with a bottle of red wine.

"Let us make a toast for future collaboration with your company Mr. Steve," Mr. Gabriel said.

Steve wasn't the alcohol type, he couldn't hold his liquor but it would sound disrespectful to reject a toast, so he joined Mr. Gabriel and they clicked each other's bottles.

By the time they finished everything Steve was drunk as hell, he couldn't stand up to his feet on his own.

Catherine his secretary had to help him out, she rested one of his hands on her shoulders and held him by the waist for support, when they reached the parking lot, she realized that she didn't know where he lived. Their CEO never gave anyone his home address, so she decided to take him to a hotel, at the thought of this, Catherine grinned mischievously to herself.

She worked for him for the past three years, the first time she saw him, she was attracted to him, no doubt he had the money, looks, and everything a woman would look for in a man. She was there even before he had a girlfriend but he never noticed her.

After giving it much thought, she took him to a hotel nearby. Catherine booked a room and helped Steve to the room. When they arrived she dropped him on the bed carefully.

Catherine had plans of sleeping with Steve to tie him down to herself but she shrugged the thought away "No no no, that would make me..." She didn't complete her statement when the thought that Steve would go back to his girlfriend hit her hard.

She ended up choosing another means to get what she wanted.

The next day, Steve woke up with a severe headache, he tried to turn around but he suddenly heard someone sniff, and he immediately jerked his eyes open.

He gasped out loud in shock when he saw Catherine sitting on the floor, 'What happened?'. Their clothes were scattered around the room, which made him more confused.

She was sobbing, her eyes were all swollen, and her clothes... She covered herself with the sheets.

Steve felt like his head would set off very soon, he didn't understand, he wanted to remember what happened last night, but his head ached badly whenever he tried.

Steve held his head with both hands "What happened?" He asked Catherine, who didn't want to answer she kept on shedding tears like a broken dam.

Steve stood up and wrapped himself up, he went close to Catherine, "What happened last night?" he asked

" You... You forced me" Catherine said with trembling lips, her shoulders were shaking, and she didn't need to explain further, Steve could already understand what would have happened.

He felt his world crumbling beneath him, no no no. This can't be happening. When Catherine said so the first thing that came to his mind was Mirabel, what has he done...?

He was still in a daze when Catherine stood up, she wore her clothes still sobbing.

After she finished dressing up, she walked towards the door looking all broken.

Steve immediately came back to his senses and held her back.

"Please no one should know about this, I'll give you enough money," he said.

What?! Is this all he could say?

Catherine slapped his hands off angrily and walked out.

Steve felt like slapping himself, 'What did he just do? How did it end up like this' he fell to the floor, his head... It ached a lot.

****

Presently

He sat down all weak and shattered, his world crumbled right in front of him and he could do nothing to mend it back

He tried to tell Mirabel various times but he never had the courage to. The story didn't end there or else it would have been easier for him.

He planned on telling Mirabel about it a few nights ago but one night before, he suddenly got a call. His father invited him home.

On his way to work, he dropped by earlier. When he entered the house he was greeted with the grim look on his parent's faces, but what surprised him more was the lady sitting with them.

He was beyond shocked and surprised to see Catherine sitting there with his parents in the sitting room.

He felt like his world crumbled and shattered into pieces when his parents finally revealed to him that Catherine was pregnant.

When Steve heard that from his mother he knew he was done for, in the end, he had to marry her. The family's reputation was at stake.

Steve felt faint after everything, how was he going to ever face Mirabel, what was he going to tell her??

He didn't know how to face her and tell her that's why he called her and told her that they should break up; Yes, he knew he was a coward.

Remembering everything that happened made his head ache severely.

"Mira... I love you, I always did and I'll always do" he finally said and a tear rolled down his eyes.