Chapter 2 : Cathrine Rodriguez

Alex counted the money in the tin can. He gave half of it to Luke, the kind busker who lent him his guitar. Then he walked into a store.

A drastic change overnight, from a CEO to a homeless man. But that didn't make him regret his decision to leave home. Alex walked into a seedy alley filled with trash. Taking a cardboard box as a place to sit while enjoying a piece of bread and a bottle of mineral water. Not enough to fill his stomach, but it was better than starving.

As the night wore on, Alex zipped up his jacket and began to close his eyes.

"Help! ... Help!"

The sound of a woman screaming not far away made him suddenly wake up. He immediately ran towards the source of the sound. Two men could be seen pulling at a woman's bag, but the woman was struggling to hold on to it. Another man stood calmly near them. He must be the leader of the robbers.

"Hey, you, stop it!"

Suddenly the three men turned to Alex who was ready with a wooden block in his hand. The head robber smiled as he walked casually towards Alex.

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

"Let him go!"

"Hahaha! You see, Mark. This son of a bitch wants to be a hero."

"Hahaha!" They laughed.

The three of them approached Alex. There was fear in Alex's heart, but retreat was not an option. Alex swung at the wood but was held back by Mark. He, who had no basic martial arts, was easily defeated. Two men held his hands. The head robber punched him in the stomach so many times that he screamed in pain.

Satisfied with his stomach, they then moved on to beat Alex's face until blood came out of his nose. Seeing that Alex was starting to go limp, the two men let him go. Leaving him lying on the ground and kicking him together.

The sound of police sirens could be heard approaching in the distance. It scared the three men and they ran away. The woman ran over to Alex and helped him up, apparently she was the one who called 911 for help.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

The police were chasing the three men who beat him. The woman offered to help take him to the hospital, but Alex refused. Of course he didn't want to, afraid that his father's men would find him easily.

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

"No, I don't. I'm okay."

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 startled and frightened. Seeing the woman's expression, Alex felt guilty.

"I - I didn't mean to say that. I apologize."

The woman nodded slowly with hesitation, "It's okay."

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

Fuck the pride. Alex ganta thought the most important thing right now was that his stomach was full.

He took Alex to the nearest 24-hour fast food restaurant. It wasn't fancy, but hunger could make Alex eat voraciously in front of the woman in the fancy dress. The woman smiled at the sight of Alex eating like a starving man. Alex, who realized it, just smiled in embarrassment. After eating, they chatted with each other.

Cathrine Rodriguez, her name was. A childless widow who was abandoned by her husband. She inherited her ex-husband's entire estate, as he had no parents or relatives. On the other hand, she is the Owner of Beauty Dream PTE Ltd. A company engaged in the manufacture and marketing of famous cosmetics in America that she owned herself before marriage. Making her even more of a wealthy woman.

Alex listens more than she talks. He only spoke as necessary and added some lies because he didn't want Cathrine to get suspicious. But Cathrine, a psychology graduate, easily guessed the lies Alex told. Even so, Cathrine refused to reveal them and chose to pretend to believe them.

She offered him a place to stay in her house. Alex refused at first, because they had just met. Cathrine, who couldn't bear it and felt sorry for him, forced Alex a little even though she was a little afraid that she would be yelled at like that time. Cathrine's sincere intention made Alex rethink and agree to Cathrine's offer. They got into the car and started driving away.

A luxurious mansion stood right on the hill. The gate opened automatically to welcome Cathrine's car. She noticed Alex who got off with her.

Judging from his shabby appearance, Alex should have felt surprised and amazed by the house. But Alex was different. He seemed unconcerned and just looked around while continuing to follow Cathrine. Making the woman even more curious about who Alex really was.

Most of these houses are run automatically by Alexa (artificial intelligence). So Cathrine didn't need to hire a maid or security guard. Alex looked around, seeing pictures of Cathrine's wedding to her ex-husband. They looked very happy.

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

"Okay."

Cathrine opened the door to the room. Alex walked in and looked around. He pulled back the window curtains. The city street view was clearly visible from here.

"Why are you staying alone in a deserted place like this?"

There was no answer.

Alex looked back, and realized that Cathrine wasn't there. She lay down and closed her eyes. Imagine if he who was used to living in luxury now had to start everything from scratch.

"Uhm..."

Cathrine's voice startled Alex and woke him up. He had no idea since when she was standing next to him wearing sexy night pajamas. Making her curves clearly exposed.

He was a little stunned looking at Cathrine's body. Although she was no longer young, it did not diminish her beauty. Cathrine noticed Alex's gaze on her body. It made her feel both strange and embarrassed.

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

She shouldn't have thought that of the kind person who had helped her.

"It's okay. I brought you towels and my ex-husband's clothes. I think you're about his size." Cathrine said as she handed them over, "You'd better get cleaned up yourself before bed."

"Thank you. I haven't touched water in a while," Alex joked, making Cathrine smile before leaving the room.

It was 1:13 in the morning, but Cathrine still couldn't sleep. She was very curious about who Alex was.

Cathrine got out of bed and walked out of the room. All the lights had been turned off. She walked around like a thief in her own home. She slowly opened the door to Alex's room.

As expected, the man had fallen asleep in a dream. Catherine slowly entered. She knew this was really rude. Entering someone else's room even though the house was hers. But Cathrine was not one to do something to satisfy her desires. She picked up Alex's wallet that was lying on the table. She put it in her pajama pocket and quietly returned to the bedroom.

Cathrine opened the wallet and found a business card. Her heart suddenly raced with heated eyes as she found out who Alex really was. She clenched the business card with gritted teeth.