Chapter five

Eloise

I suddenly opened my eyes wide to see the mess I'd made. My head was killing me from the effect of the alcohol.

But thankfully, the man was gone.

I heaved a sigh of relief since I didn’t know how or what I would've done. How the hell was I going to face a stranger now that the alcohol's effect was gone, except for the banging headache?

I bit my lips and tiptoed to the corner of the room where I’d started to take my clothes off. I found a box and a note on my handbag, but I was too panicked to check it out. I just shoved everything back inside. Like an expert, I put all my clothes back on and tiptoed out of the room.

And out of the hotel.

Laura was a bitch.

I couldn’t see her car outside where she’d parked it earlier, which meant she’d already left without me.

I flagged a cab down to drop me home. Thankfully, I made it just in time; 6:50 a.m., ten minutes before my father would be up. I walked in confidently with my shoes in my hands.

"Holy moly!" I jumped when I saw my father standing next to the door.

"Good morning to you too, Eloise. I was expecting you home since yesterday."

"Don’t tell me you didn’t sleep, Dad!"

"I did. On the couch. Do you even have the slightest idea how worried I was?"

"I should have called," I apologized.

"Oh, you should! How is Alex?"

"How did you know, Dad?"

"Laura came looking for you this morning, and I also heard Alex came to GED yesterday," Father said and led me to the dining room. Even from a distance, my nostrils were already filled with the perfect aroma of my favorite meal.

"You always know my heart, Father!" I dropped my bag and shoes on the couch and went all in for the food.

A few minutes in, my father cleared his throat. "It's a good thing it’s over with Damon. You helped him climb up there, and now he’s forgotten all about it. It’s totally my fault. If I didn’t lose all of my money due to bad choices, this wouldn’t have happened."

"Daddy..." I could feel the pain in his voice. He was so happy when I was dating Damon and even gave his blessing. I guess he never believed a day would come when he would hate that decision.

"Eat up and go to work. I will introduce you to someone better."

I nodded. "That would be after I return, Dad. I'm leaving Italy as soon as I can."

*****

Four weeks later.

I stared in a daze at the hospital test results in my hand.

"Four weeks pregnant? How? I was supposed to be barren. The doctor said my womb was damaged. And how could I get pregnant from just one night with that psychopath stranger who was weirdly good?" I murmured to myself. I had completely forgotten about that crazy night, but after getting sick, I went to the hospital for a test.

It was like a miracle to me because the doctor had said post-cancer that my eggs were like those of a 68-year-old woman and that IVF wasn’t even an option.

Suppressing my frustration, I shoved the test results into my bag. Not being able to get pregnant was the reason Damon hated me. Now that I had the chance to bear a child, there was no way I would abort this baby!