Chapter 4 What Are You Doing Here

Celeste didn't actually expect Damon to show up at her hotel room.

The only reason why she had publicly flirted with him was to strengthen the impression he had of her.

"How did it go, Cel?" read Megan's text.

It had come in as soon as she walked out of the casino and checked her phone.

"It was alright. But I lost all the money you lent me," Celeste replied, letting out a bitter laugh as she typed.

As it was now late, she headed to the hotel next door to spend the night.

It wouldn't be safe for her to be on the streets alone.

"That's alright. As long as Damon didn't make things difficult for you," Megan said.

She had grown up with Celeste and knew how stubborn she could be. Her only hope was for Celeste to stop putting herself in harm's way.

"Don't worry, Meg. I know what I'm doing," Celeste texted back.

As soon as Celeste reached her hotel room, she went for a bath.

However, she had spent a lot of energy on tonight's card game and accidentally fell asleep in the tub.

This was the scene Damon encountered when he walked into the hotel room. Celeste was curled up in the tub, her head pillowed on the edge. The bath water had already cooled by then.

Grabbing Celeste's hair, Damon dunked her head into the water. He held her in place until she woke up from the near-drowning.

Celeste struggled to get to the surface and heaved in huge breaths.

"What are you doing here?" As soon as she had asked the question, she regretted it.

She could have bitten her tongue off in annoyance. Wasn't she the one who had tucked her keycard in Damon's belt?

Suddenly, her face turned red. She thought she had long abandoned her sense of shame, but it seemed that wasn't true. Celeste observed this with disappointment.

Damon smirked as he watched Celeste's face shift through different emotions. He had a scornful expression on his face.

The way Damon looked at her made Celeste feel uncomfortable. She got up and grabbed a towel that hung at the side, intending to wrap herself in it.

However, Damon caught her hand and pressed her body against the bathroom wall. It was a compromising position to be in, but Celeste couldn't fight against him.

As she tried to escape, Damon doubled down and bit her lip.

In the end, Celeste had no idea how she'd managed to fall asleep. She only knew that she had repeatedly cried and begged, but Damon showed her no mercy.

She had assumed that a man like Damon never lacked bed partners. But from the way he forcefully took her, she knew that he was like her—a newcomer to this game.

When she awoke, she found a check with a seven-figure sum thrown at the head of the bed. On it was Damon's flashy handwriting.

A note read, "Don't let me see you again, or I'll sleep with you each time I do. And don't even dream about marrying into the Bishop family.

"The Bishop family doesn't want a woman who sells alcohol at a club. Damon Bishop."

The fact that he left his name made it clear that he wasn't afraid of Celeste spilling this information to the press.

Celeste wasn't bothered by this. She snapped a photo of the note and sent it to Megan.

"I wonder what he'll think if he finds out I'm the one who's supposed to be his fiancée?"

"Cel, you've been through a lot," Megan replied after a long pause.

Afterward, Celeste sent the photo of the note to Shannon. She also sent a screenshot from the video of their previous lovemaking.

Not long later, Hannah called.

She yelled through the phone, "How dare you sleep with your little sister's fiancé? You're shameless, Celeste York! You're such a bitch!"

She kept going, saying, "Let me tell you something. There's no way the Bishop family will let you marry Damon.

"If you leave Taverdale now, I'll forget this incident happened. Otherwise, I'll make sure you regret it!"

To emphasize, Hannah said, "Did you hear me, Celeste York? Don't forget, Caleb is still in the hospital. You'd better behave! Did you hear me?"

As Hannah shouted through the phone, Celeste responded calmly. "Are you done yet? If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up."

Seeing that Celeste wasn't backing down, Hannah immediately softened her tone. "Celeste, it will benefit you too once Shannon marries into the Bishop family. You should think about the York family even if you don't care about your sister."

"If I'm not mistaken, the marriage agreement between the Bishop and York families was arranged by Mr. Bishop Senior and my mother," retorted Celeste.

She continued, "It has nothing to do with Shannon, right?"

As she spoke, Celeste had to shove down the disgust she felt for Hannah.

Unable to hold back any longer, Hannah snapped, "You were the one who severed ties with your father. You can only blame yourself for this."