CHAPTER 4: Eventide Cabaret Girl

RUE

I sat at my office desk feeling really frustrated. Small things were bothering me, like not finding my pen and having an email I didn't read. I tried to work on my laptop, but I couldn't stop thinking about what happened last night.

"Ugh," I sighed, running my hand through my hair. The board meeting was stressing me out, and the memories from the strip club kept coming back, making it hard to focus.

My usually neat office was a mess, with papers scattered everywhere. It just added to my frustration—with myself, the whole situation, and the memory that wouldn't leave me alone.

I was irritated about how the women touched me in that strip club but most especially, I was fuming mad about the girl who refused to help me. 

Like, how could she ignore someone like me?! I never felt humiliated like that in my entire life. No one has ever paid no attention to me before. It’s not that I wanted attention last night but—damn it! I could not forget the woman’s face who dared to ignore me. I even have thoughts of searching for her to make her pay. 

A knock on the door signaled my assistant's entrance, holding a stack of documents. It stopped me from reminiscing about what happened last night.  

"Mr. Colterzon, here are the reports for today's meeting,” she said.

I glanced at the papers without much interest. "Just leave them on the table."

She left quietly, likely sensing my irritation. I leaned back in my chair, trying to regain control over my thoughts. The responsibility of being a CEO mixed with the frustration of the night before.

SlumberLux was the company I built by myself. It was already too much to handle but I still wanted to be the next owner of our family business. I think no one would be able to handle it well except for my grandfather and me. Not even Bryse, my nephew who’s just a few years younger than me.

My phone buzzed, and I picked it up to see a text from my asshole friend. 

Rij: Last night was epic!

I scowled at the message, resisting the urge to throw my phone. Rij's idea, his absurd suggestion, was an unwelcome intrusion into my otherwise composed life.

I just headed to the board meeting to drift my mind away from the thoughts of yesterday. It was kind of effective. After the meeting, I received a call from Mom. 

"Son, can you go to your sister's house tonight? Your grandpa requested to have dinner with the whole family," she informed me.

"I’m busy, Mom," I replied, attempting to avoid additional commitments.

“Just for tonight. I heard your nephew came back home after rebelling,” she pleaded, and her announcement caught my attention.

Bryse came back home after rebelling? The nerve of him to go home after he ran away from his responsibilities in our businesses!

Despite my initial reluctance, I found myself agreeing. I wanted to talk to Bryse, even punch him in the face for giving my older half-sister Amelia trouble. 

I arrived at my sister's house later that evening. The atmosphere in their house was eerily quiet, and the five of us—Mom, Grandpa, Bryse, Amelia, and I—gathered around the long dining table.

“Rue! It’s been a while since I last saw you,” Grandpa exclaimed, his voice carrying both warmth and expectation.

This was one of the once-in-a-blue-moon moments in our family, ever since my father died. I usually go home to my penthouse while my mom and grandfather still live in our ancestral mansion.

“Grandpa. How’s your health?” I inquired, my words serving as a mere pretext to engage in conversation.

“Still at the verge. Fortunately, Bryse came back home,” my grandfather said as he eyed my nephew. 

Bryse smiled warmly at Grandpa, deeply knowing he favored him so much. I gritted my teeth in irritation. 

I couldn't grasp the idea that after all the problems my nephew caused our family, they still favored him. I wouldn't even be shocked if my grandfather named all our businesses after this motherfucker. 

“It’s nice to be back and see you again, Pops,” Bryse told my grandfather. “I’m really sorry for all the wrong things I've done before. I think I was just manipulated by my ex.”

Liar. The possibility that you manipulated your ex was so much more believable than you, being manipulated by a woman, Bryse.

As much as I wanted to say those things, I kept quiet. 

“I’m so relieved that you already cut ties with that poor woman,” my sister commented. 

“I’ve learned my lesson, Mom. That's why.” Bryse smiled at her. 

“Now that you're back on the right path again, my conditions are still the same.” My grandfather announced which caught our full attention. “Whoever marries someone from a rich clan and bears a child first will be the owner of Colterzon’s businesses. Is that clear with the both of you, Rue and Bryse?”

I bristled at the idea, a twinge of discomfort surfacing at the thought of being pressured into such matters. I’m sure he was hinting at us having a family and a child already because his time could be over any time soon.

Bryse agreed with my grandfather. I forced a nod, concealing my reluctance beneath a façade of compliance. Deep down, I felt the weight of familial expectations pressing upon me, and while I may not have liked the idea, the lack of alternatives left me with no choice.

“My friends have beautiful great-granddaughters and are soon to be the heiresses of their company,” Grandpa proposed. “I’ll schedule a date for the both of you.”

I expected this already anyways. 

"Alright, Grandpa," I answered, bracing myself for the inevitable introduction to a woman chosen by my family, not by my heart.

People say arranged marriages are like a plan for a steady life. No messy emotions, just a logical decision based on tradition and family advice. It might not have the intense passion we associate with love, but is that a fair exchange for a stable and predictable life?

If I follow my grandfather's choice, my life would be straightforward. No heartbreaks, no one-sided love, just following tradition without the need for big romantic gestures or dramatic love stories – just quietly accepting the path set for me.

Sure, it might sound a bit cynical, but there's a certain logic to it, isn't there? Love, as wonderful as it is, often brings complications – jealousy, heartbreak, the constant fear of losing someone. If we could view it as a mere problem, something to be solved or avoided, life could be a series of logical decisions rather than an emotional rollercoaster.

Later that night, I needed to breathe some fresh air for all of my mounting problems. So, I decided to take a late-night walk outside my sister's house. 

To my surprise, I saw a woman stalking my their house in the dark. I confronted her and just as I told her to explain herself, she ran away like a guilty rat.

"Hey, come back here!" I yelled as she took off. I chased after her. With my longer legs, I managed to catch up. Grabbing her hoodie, she stopped and screamed like she was the one wronged.

Seriously? The nerve, huh?

“Please don't sue me! Please! Please! Please!” she begged. Hiding her face by pulling down her jacket hood, she acted like she was caught red-handed or something.

“Why are you stalking this house?” I asked her seriously. “And why are you hiding your face like you’re guilty?”

Because of what I said, she slowly dared to look up. Still, because of the hood of her hoodie and because we were in the dark, I did not see her face clearly.

“I… I was just looking if the news was true that my jerk ex is already back,” she muttered hesitantly with a hint of anger.

My forehead wrinkled when she called Bryse her jerk ex.

Hmm. She was Bryse’s ex-girlfriend? The one who manipulated him based on his stories earlier?

“Yes, he's back. So, you're his ex, huh?” I confirmed and then asked her, but she took my question the wrong way.

“Let go of me!” She tried to remove my grip on her hoodie.

“Wait—damn!” I was about to tell her to calm down, but she already chose violence. Unexpectedly, she kicked me in between my legs, causing a traumatizing pain.

Damn it!

I let her go, attending to my seemingly cracked eggs. She took that chance to run away. As she sprinted, her hood fell, and when she looked back at me one more time, I could see her face clearly as the lamp post lights hit her.

To my surprise, her face was familiar. My eyes widened when I realized she was the same girl who ignored me at the Eventide Cabaret last night.

Damn that girl!