Chapter 2 : Cathrine Rodriguez

Alex counted the money in the used can.  Split half of it to Luke, the kind-hearted busker who lent him his guitar.  Then he entered a shop.

Drastic change overnight, from a CEO to be a homeless.  But that in no way made the man regret his decision to leave the house.  Alex went into a rundown alley full of trash.  Take a cardboard as a place to sit while enjoying a small bread and a bottle of mineral water.  It's not enough to make his stomach full, but it's better than starvation.

 The night was getting late, Alex tightened his jacket and began to close his eyes.

 "Help! ... Help ...!"

 The sound of screaming not far away made Alex suddenly wake up.  He immediately ran towards the source of the voice.  Two men were seen pulling a woman's bag, but the woman kept hers.  Another man stood quietly near them.  He must be the leader of the gang of robbers.

"Hey, stop it!"

 Suddenly the three men turned to Alex who had been prepared with a wooden block in his hand.  The chief robber smiled as he walked leisurely towards Alex.

 "Who are you? How dare you interfere with my business!"

 "Let go of that woman!"

 "Hahaha! You see, Mark. This guy wants to be a hero."

 "Ha ha ha!"

 The three of them approached Alex.  There was fear in his heart, but retreating was not the right choice.  Alex swings the wood but manages to be restrained.  He who had absolutely no basic martial arts, was easily defeated.  Two men held her hands.  The chief robber punched him in the stomach repeatedly until he screamed in pain.

 Satisfied with his stomach, then moved to beat Alex's face until blood came out of his nose.  Not quite there, seeing Alex who was starting to limp, the two men let go.  Leaving it lying on the ground and kicking it together.

The sound of police sirens could be heard approaching from a distance.  Scared the three men and ran away.  The woman ran over to Alex and helped him up, apparently she was the one calling 911 for help.

 "Are you okay?"

 "Yeah. I'm fine."

 The police chased three men who beat him.  The woman offers to help take her to the hospital, but Alex refuses.  Of course he didn't want to, fear that his father's men would find him easily.

 "Come on, you're pretty badly injured. I don't want you to get hurt."

 "No. It's fine."

 He glanced at Alex's clothes, "You don't have to worry about money. I'll pay for it."

"I said no!"

 Alex's shout made the woman shocked and frightened.  Seeing her expression made Alex feel guilty.

 "I don't mean to say that. I am sorry."

 She nodded slowly, "It's okay."

 "Hey, umm... If you want to help me, maybe you can buy me some food?"

 Fool with pride.  The most important thing right now was that his stomach was full.

 He took Alex to a nearby 24-hour fast food restaurant.  Not fancy, but hunger could make Alex eat greedily in front of her without shame.  After eating, they chatted with each other.

Cathrine Rodriguez, her's name. A childless widow who was abandoned by her husband. She inherited 75% of her ex-husband's estate after dividing it in half with her sister-in-law. On the other hand she is the Owner of Beauty D****e PTE. Ltd. A company engaged in the manufacture and marketing of well-known cosmetics in America.

Alex listened more than he spoke.  He only spoke as needed and added a few lies because he won't Cathrine to be suspicious.  But Cathrine, who is a psychology graduate, easily guessed the lies Alex was telling.  Even so, Cathrine refused to reveal it and chose to pretend to believe.

 She offers a place to stay in her mansion.  At first Alex refused, because they just met.  Cathrine, who couldn't bear it and felt sorry for him, forced Alex a little even though she was a little afraid of getting yelled at like last time.  Cathrine's sincere intentions made Alex think again and agree to Cathrine's offer.  They got into the car and started driving away from the place.

A luxurious mansion stood right on top of the hill.  The gate opened automatically to welcome Cathrine's car.  She noticed Alex who came down with him.

 Judging from his shabby appearance, Alex should have felt surprised and amazed at her property.  But Alex was different.  He seemed unconcerned and just looked around as he continued to follow Cathrine.  Makes the woman even more curious about who Alex really is.

 Most of these houses are run automatically by Alexa (artificial intelligence).  So that Cathrine did not need to hire a maid or security guard.  Alex looked around, saw photos of Cathrine's wedding with her ex-husband.  They looked very happy.

"I'll show you your room," she said, walking up the stairs.

 "Okay."

 Cathrine opened the door of a room.  Alex enters and looks around.  He pulled back the window blinds.  The city street view is clearly visible from here.

 "Why are you living alone in a lonely place like this?"

 There's no answer.

 Alex looking back, realized that Cathrine wasn't there.  He lay down and closing his eyes.  Imagine if he who used to live in luxury now had to start everything from zero.

 "Uhm..."

 Cathrine's voice startled Alex and woke him up.  He don't know since when the woman was standing beside him wearing sexy night pajamas.  Making her curves exposed clearly.

 He was a little stunned staring at Cathrine's body.  Even though she is no longer young, that doesn't reduce her beauty.  Cathrine noticed Alex's gaze on her body.  It made her feel weird and embarrassed at the same time.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Alex felt awkward.

He shouldn't have thought that of a good person who had helped him.

 "It's okay. I brought you towel and my ex-husband's clothes. I thought you were his size."  said Cathrine, handing it over, "You'd better get cleaned up before sleep."

 "Thank you. I haven't touched water in a long time," joked Alex which made Cathrine smile before left the room.

 It was 01.13 AM, but Cathrine couldn't fall asleep. She was very curious about who Alex really was.

 Cathrine got out of bed and walked out of the room.  All the lights have been turned off.  She walked sneakily like a thief in her own house.  Slowly opened Alex's bedroom door.

 As expected, the man had fallen asleep in a dream.  Catherine slowly entered.  She knew this was totally disrespectful.  Enter someone else's room even if this house is yours.  But not Cathrine if she didn't do anything to satisfy her desires. She took Alex's wallet which was lying on the table.  Put it in her pajama pocket and quietly returned to the bedroom.

Cathrine opened the purse and found a business card.  Her heart suddenly tightened with eyes heated up when knowing who's Alex really is. She clenched the business card with gritted teeth.