2. Shameless Girl

"Ony, are you okay?"

I turned and saw Nicole approaching with a concerned look. So now she was playing the good sister. But when I saw Brandon and his friends behind her, my mood shifted. I didn’t know what came over me. I was really drunk. I looked at Brandon’s emotionless face as he stared at me like I hadn’t been his girlfriend for four years. Would he feel hurt if he saw me with another man? I wanted to know. And when I looked at the man holding me, I made a bold decision.

Grabbing his face, I kissed him on the lips. He was taken aback for a moment, but he didn’t push me away. It would have been embarrassing if he had. And after a while, just as I was about to pull back, he kissed me back.

The kiss was so good that it ignited a fire inside me. I forgot everything and melted into it. For once, I decided to be careless and do something without thinking about the consequences. By the time we broke the kiss, I was breathing heavily. I glanced at Brandon and saw the shock on his face before his jaw tightened.

So it did affect him.

I felt a little better. When I looked back at the man, he was still staring at me with a smirk. Under normal circumstances, I would have been embarrassed by what I had done, but the alcohol made me bold. I gave him a sweet smile and wiped the saliva from the corner of his lips with my thumb.

"Good night, Mr. King," I said.

He raised a brow in amusement, probably surprised that I knew who he was.

I didn’t wait for his response. I turned around and left the bar, leaving a few stunned people behind me.

That was the boldest thing I had ever done in my life, and I knew I was going to regret it later.

*****

"Ony!" The loud banging on my door jolted me awake.

I still felt sleepy, and my head hurt like hell, the aftermath of getting drunk.

"Ony, come out now!"

Another hard bang rattled the door.

I groaned. "Who’s shouting like that? What happened?"

The pounding only grew louder and more impatient. With no choice left, I dragged myself out of bed and stumbled towards the door before pulling it open.

"You shameless girl! What have you done?"

The first thing I saw was Aunt Pamela's face. She was seething with rage.

I frowned in confusion. She was usually short-tempered, but this… this was far worse than anything I had seen before. Before I could understand anything, she grabbed my wrist and started dragging me down the hallway.

"Aunt, What’s going on? Why are you dragging me?"

She ignored me completely and continued pulling me towards the living room. Only after we reached the center of the room did she finally let go of me. Confused, I looked around and realized the entire family was gathered there, including my grandmother. She sat stiffly on the couch and her eyes were fixed on the large television mounted on the wall.

The moment I looked at the TV, my breath caught in my throat. My picture was displayed across the screen. A picture of me kissing Andreas King last night. There was even a video. My eyes widened in horror.

What?

Someone had recorded me and leaked it to the media. What was going on? Before I could process anything, my uncle stormed towards me and slapped me hard across the face.

"Matthew! How dare you raise your hand on Ony?" my grandmother shouted.

"Why shouldn’t I?" he snapped, pointing at the TV. "Didn’t you see the news? It wasn’t enough that she’s the bastard child of this family?... now she’s dragging our family name through the mud with disgraceful acts like this."

I shook my head frantically. "What? No… I..."

"Shut up," Aunt Pamela hissed. "Don’t even try to make excuses. Nicole saw everything with her own eyes, and Brandon was there too."

"Ony…" My grandmother took hold of my hand. I hadn’t even noticed when she came to stand beside me.

"I didn’t mean to do it, Granny…" I whispered as tears streamed down my cheeks. "I was drunk."

That was the only explanation I could give. How could I possibly tell them that I was heartbroken? That Nicole had pushed and provoked me until I acted recklessly? That in a moment of pain and anger, I kissed a man just to prove something? I was such a fool.

My eyes snapped to Nicole. The smirk on her lips when our eyes met told me everything, though no one else noticed it. It had all been a trap. She had deliberately provoked me into doing something stupid, and I had fallen right into it. Was she the one behind the pictures and the video as well? But why would she even do something like that?

My uncle and aunt continued pouring out their anger while I stood there silently with my head lowered. But more than their harsh words, what truly hurt me was that Granny had to witness all of this.

"Enough. You’ve said enough," Granny finally shouted. "She’s young. People make mistakes."

"Mistake?" Aunt Pamela scoffed mockingly. "You call this a mistake?"

"Yes," Granny answered firmly. "What’s done is done. We can’t change it now. She’ll learn from this. No one will say another word to her."

"You’re spoiling her, Aunt," my uncle muttered.

Granny ignored him. Without another word, she took my hand and led me to my room, shutting the door behind us.

The moment we were alone, I broke down completely. Granny sat on the edge of my bed while I dropped to my knees in front of her, clutching her legs as my tears fell freely.

"I’m sorry, Granny," I cried. "I was drunk and couldn’t think properly. I shouldn’t have done something like that."

"It’s alright, Ony." She gently stroked my hair. "Making mistakes at your age is normal."

I lifted my tear-filled eyes to look at her. Even after everything that had happened, she hadn’t scolded me once. Now I felt even more ashamed of myself. Blinded by my emotions, I had embarrassed the family and brought shame upon them. More tears rolled down my cheeks.

Granny let out a quiet sigh before speaking again. "The real problem is that those pictures and videos reached the media. That’s what worries me. This will affect you badly."

Her sympathetic gaze made my face lose all colour. I hadn’t even thought about that before.

She was right. I would become a laughingstock. And I wasn’t alone in that video.

Mr. King. Andreas King.

Oh my God. What had I done? This scandal wouldn’t just ruin me. It could affect him too. What if he became furious? What if he decided to make me pay for dragging his name into this mess? Someone as powerful as him could destroy me without effort.

"Granny…" My voice trembled. "Mr. King must be angry."

She seemed to understand the gravity of the situation as well, but unlike me, she remained calm. "We’ll deal with this," she assured gently. "Don’t overthink it."

But her words failed to ease my fear. Andreas King was the richest and most powerful man in the country. How could ordinary people like us possibly handle someone like him?

"For the next few days, don’t go outside," Granny said softly, cupping my tear-stained face in her hands. "Stay home until this scandal settles down."

"Okay," I whispered, nodding slowly.

She kissed my temple and pulled me into a warm hug.