THE SECRET BILLIONAIRE

Chapter 2

Cassandra stumbled back, slumped onto the bed, her mind reeling with thoughts weaving in a confusing loop. How did she end up here?

Her head hammered, heart slamming against her rib cage. She pressed her hand against her chest like one fighting back a heart attack then pressed her finger on her temple as though she was burning, a migraine almost splitting her head.

Carl watched her, his expression calm, and posture composed, unaware of the storm sweeping through her heart.

He stepped forward, hands tucked in his pocket. He spoke up, voice smooth and laced with concern.

“Listen, I know this is crazy but believe me, I saved you last night and,” He took another step closer, eyes narrowed on her, “How did an aphrodisiac get into your body. How did you get it even?"

The question hung in the air, unsettling. The silence stretched.

She dropped her hand, looked at him and that voice, it looks like he was interrogating her. Like she was a criminal caught in a crime scene and now she's getting accused. But the question gnawed her heart.

How did and outlawed drug, long restricted by the governments got into her body? Her mind reeled, brain working for something to make sense.

In that unsettling thoughts, Carl's voice came again, like a quiet thunder, like he knows her, everything about her even before now.

“And who is Henry?"

Cassandra snapped, her head turned like a whip. She locked eyes on him. Squinting, she asked,

“How did you come about that name?” Suspicious laced in her voice.

Carl snapped, a quick retort. “I should be asking you that. Who is Henry?”

Cassandra stared at him quietly, the silence stretching thin between them. She looked away, eyes fixed on the floor as memories surfaced.

Last night,

Henry Varnovas, her fiancee had invited her....

Another thought— sharp, struck her heart like icicle.

Today was supposed to be her wedding day with Henry Varnovas, the Heir of the Varnovas empire, a man whose last name can twisted the city's economy.

Henry had invited her to a lavish hotel, five star, Vip lounge. They were to discuss about their wedding plan but Henry didn't show up...or maybe he did. Cassandra didn't remember that part.

But a room service had showed up with a bottle of champagne, saying it was from Henry and he'd informed her he'll be late. Something urgent came up. He'd said.

Cassandra wondered why Henry didn't call to inform her but she waited.

A sip and two from the champagne, her vision began to swim star. She lost her balance, slipped off the bed and...a quiet fire seemed to be burning inside and....that was all she remembered. Every other thing Blanked.

She swallowed, wondering how she ended up in a room like this when she was in one of the finest hotel in the city last night.

And a strange man took her virginity on her wedding day. Hell! The thought alone made her stomach turned.

She let out a tiring breath, hand pressing the side of her head again. It was burning and the pain between her legs, she couldn't push it aside.

She picked her phone. Messenges had flooded her inbox, calls up to 100 missed calls had piled. Fifty missed calls from Henry and the others from her parents and friends.

Her heart dropped. All this happened and she didn't know?

Her finger tapped on the screen quickly to put a call across to Henry but another message popped on the screen. She almost discarded it but it caught her attention.

It was a clip.

She didn't hesitate. She clicked on it.

And there it was,

In a lavish background. Maybe the same lavish hotel from last night.

Under the soft glow, on the bed was Henry, her supposed fiance and the man who should have been her husband today, screwing another woman on the bed. An old woman, old enough to be his mother.

The speaker vibrated with pants and moans.

Cassandra's stomach knotted and a sick feeling clawed her heart. She felt like puking. The scene was horrible. How could Henry be so shameless? On a night to their wedding?

Carl stood there, watching, oblivious of her latest discovery.

Cassandra never wanted this. She never wanted the marriage but she thought her parents knew better. That maybe they have the insight and they've seen something a young mind couldn't see but now she knows they're wrong.

Maybe they're short sighted and they didn't see far beyond the veil.

The marriage was an alliance. To solidify their business and build something great. The Varnovas family and the Kenneth family— Two powerful families in the city knotting their children.

Cassandra never loved Henry. She was only respecting her parents' opinion and she thought maybe...just maybe she might possibly love Henry when they get together.

But this? The clip that burn in her hand? Him shameless digging an old woman on a night to their wedding? She shook her head. It's not going to work. Never!

She doesn't care what her parents' opinion no more and its about time she act on her own accord.

Then she looked at the man who'd claimed he would take responsibility for her. Carl.

With his appearance, he wouldn't even be employed as a servant in her family and even a janitor in her company shouldn't dress like this.

Brown shirt that looks like it was baked with dust and plain trousers that had seen better days. He's just an ordinary man and maybe he was only lying. How did he know there was an aphrodisiac in her body. This place isn't a hospital and he couldn't even be qualified as a doctor.

Doctor strange, maybe. Pathetic!

But her reputation is on the line now. If words pass this four walls about what happened between she and this ordinary stranger, medias would explode and the headlines would be hot. Like— CEO of Kenneths group caught in bed with a hotel janitor.

She sweats her ass to build her family name over the years and that reputation didn't happen overnight. It took Years. Not Five, not Ten. She's not going to allow a mistake like this topple her career.

She's Cassandra Kenneth, the CEO of Kenneths group, the name the world didn't find strange and the face that appears on Ads and magazines everyday.

Henry is gone and she's going to find out, in a discreet way how she ended up here but she has to clean her mess first.

She steadied on her feet, straighted her gown like she was dusting her mess. She adjusted her appearance and her heels clicked with purpose.

She took her designer purse from the bed and fiddled through it, paper rustling.

She fished out a paper and slammed it on the bed.

“$2 million dollars. Forget about what happened last night and keep your mouth sealed,” She stepped closer to Carl, heels stabbing the floor. Her eyes carried confidence and pride now like she was not the same woman last night begging for a wild ride.

“And just forget about me. Forget about this face.” She swayed to the door but stopped and turned, eyes sharp enough to shatter glass.

“And if I find out that you're lying, I'll make sure you spend the entire of your life in a dungeon.”

Carl chuckled, unmoved, amused like she just cracked jokes.

“$2 million dollars? Is that really how much you can pay to shut me up?"