Suddenly, I'm Married

Scarlett woke up in pain. Her head pounded as if she'd been knocked out by a hammer. She groaned and opened her eyes, one after the other. Her mind was still foggy, but she could tell that something was wrong. For instance, she didn't recognize the room she was in. Scarlett wondered what had happened to her last night. She couldn't remember a single thing. In fact, it took her at least five minutes to recall her own name.

She moaned while trying to lie on her back. She could feel the weight of her entire body, as if she had gained a few extra kilos overnight. And there was a dull pain between her legs, as if...

A yelp escaped her lips when her arm hit something while she was trying to find a comfortable position. Something hard. Her fingers poked at it once, twice. She just couldn't figure out what it was. So, Scarlett turned her head to the left, and her eyes widened in disbelief.

Her mind was definitely playing tricks on her, she thought. The man lying next to her on the other side of the bed couldn't possibly be real. He didn't look real. Scarlett stared at his face, which seemed to have been sculpted solely to seduce anyone who laid eyes on it. His jaw was perfectly defined, just like the tall bridge of his nose and his thick set of eyebrows. Scarlett's breath shortened when she noticed his lashes. Man, she wished hers were that long. They sat elegantly on top of the man's cheekbones, making him seem even more unreal. Hesitantly, she moved her hand closer until her finger poked his soft lips. Then, unexpectedly, the man's eyes flew open. Her brown pupils met his gray ones.

Scarlett screamed loud enough to wake the entire floor. She sat up in the bed at the same time he did. She realized with horror that she wore nothing but a thin piece of lingerie that didn't leave much to the imagination. She covered her chest with both hands.

"W-who are you?!" she yelled in the man's face. "What are you doing in this bed, you... You perv!"

But Scarlett didn't have to wait for his answer. Suddenly, memories of the previous night came back to her bit by bit. She remembered being with her friend Megan. It had been Megan's idea to spend the night in a hotel room, have a few drinks, and watch a movie together. Well... That was the plan, but they never got around to watching anything, because as soon as Scarlett finished her first glass of wine, the world had already begun fading around her. She remembered feeling so exhausted that she had to lie down on the carpet and stare at the ceiling. Then, she heard Megan laugh-but it sounded different. She sounded like a different person.

Scarlett had been caught between slumber and consciousness when the girl she considered a close friend leaned over her with the most hateful expression plastered across her face. She said:

"You will never find someone who cares for you as much as I do, Scar. Guess what? I have a surprise. I booked the most exquisite man in LA to come and spend the night with you, free of charge. They say he can literally take you to heaven just by the power of his looks, so imagine what it will feel like to have him inside you... But just in case you need a little push, I put a bit of aphrodisiac in your drink. How are you feeling already?"

Scarlett didn't understand half of what Megan was saying. All she knew was that she felt extremely warm and needed to get her clothes off as soon as possible. She had started unbuttoning her shirt while Megan watched her with a nasty smirk:

"That's it. Get naked, slut... When Austin sees these videos of you with another man, he'll finally realize that you're nothing more than a cheap little-"

Scarlett wanted to throw up. Those memories couldn't be real. Megan would never do something so cruel-not to her. Her shoulders trembled as she ran a hand through her hair, her head pounding harder than ever now. The man next to her frowned in concern.

"Uhm... Are you alright?"

Scarlett glared at him, gritting her teeth in fury. Megan had hired that disgusting bastard to sleep with her while she was unconscious. She didn't care that his gray eyes were as captivating as a spell. Beauty didn't make him any less of a monster.

She grabbed the first thing she could find. Unfortunately, it was only a pillow. Scarlett used it to hit the man repeatedly, punctuating each strike with an angry snarl:

"You. Fucking. Rapist! You took advantage of me! I will make you rot in jail, just you wait. I'm going to the police as soon as I'm done with you."

Scarlett gasped when the man grabbed the pillow as she tried to hit him again. He effortlessly took it from her and tossed it across the room. She shivered in fear when his eyes turned as cold as steel. His voice was low when he spoke:

"It was all you last night, princess. You were all over me, so eager to get screwed. I never forced you-I didn't have to. You weren't unconscious when it happened. Go wherever you want, but you'll never prove that I raped you, because that's just not what happened. Alright?"

"Son of a..."

Scarlett bit her lower lip, her whole body shaking with anger and shame. She realized the man wasn't wrong. She couldn't remember what had happened with him, but clearly, she hadn't been forced. There were no signs of resistance on her. If she went to the police, she'd only make a fool of herself.

But what would happen then? Was there really nothing she could do after falling into the cruel trap her friend had set for her? Hot tears streamed down Scarlett's cheeks. For the first time, she noticed the bloodstains on the bed, and it made her cry even harder. That explained the pain between her legs. She had never been with a man before. Her first time had been with a disgusting male escort. He had taken away her innocence and would remain unpunished, because she couldn't prove any of the wrong that had been done to her.

The man followed her gaze and noticed the blood on the sheets. Of course, he'd felt that she was a virgin last night. Seeing her break like that in front of him softened his expression. He didn't know how to react. He opened his mouth but struggled to say the words that hung on the tip of his tongue. Finally, he said:

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know, I... Even if you took all the initiative last night, I'm still willing to take responsibility."

Scarlett let out a dry laugh. Take responsibility? What did that even mean, coming from a male escort?

"What, you're going to give me back my virginity?"

He frowned. She didn't give him the time to respond:

"Just get the hell out of this room! Now, or I swear to God, I will kill you with my bare hands!"

He didn't need to be told twice. He jumped out of bed and picked up his clothes as calmly as he could. He took the time to put them on, despite the murderous glare Scarlett was shooting in his direction. Then, he took a business card out of his jeans pocket and handed it to her.

"If you change your mind... You can call me. I mean what I say, princess." Scarlett snatched the business card and tore it into pieces right in front of him.

"Get. Out," she said through gritted teeth, pointing at the door.

The man took a deep breath. He saw the suffering in her eyes and knew she wouldn't listen to anything he had to say. So, he walked away.

As soon as he was out of the hotel room, he heard the woman cry like a child behind the closed door. For some reason, it made his heart ache. He had never been one to feel any kind of emotion and yet...

He forced himself to leave and took the elevator to the ground floor. He walked out of the hotel, hands plunged deep into the pockets of his jeans. When he passed the glass entry door, he looked straight at the clear blue sky and took a deep breath. That's when two men dressed in dark suits approached him, stern looks plastered on their faces.

"Sir," they greeted him in unison.

The man tore his gaze away from the sky and started walking straight ahead, his two bodyguards following closely behind.

"That girl..." he said.

"Yes, sir?"

"Gather all available information about her immediately and report to me as soon as possible."

"Yes."

When a dark Range Rover stopped next to them, the man got in, and his bodyguards closed the door behind him.