CHAPTER FOUR
1202 Words
A week after the merger was officially sealed, Garrett returned home from a trip.
“Pack a bag,” he said that evening. “You deserve a reward for this merger. We've booked a hotel for you in a resort downtown, enjoy the spa, eat whatever you want and enjoy the scenery.”
Seraphina blinked. “Why would you do that?”
Maureen appeared in the doorway, smiling.
“You’ve earned it, darling. So, we insist.”
Something felt off.
“What is this sudden kindness and love?” She thought to herself.
But Seraphina was too exhausted to really bother herself. She had given up on everything, is there anything worse than what they've done so far. She would rather dance to their music, it's not like she can save herself.
On a second thought; maybe—just maybe—they were giving her some space.
She arrived at the hotel and checked in.
Soon, it was the spa session.
Seraphina let the massage oils and soft music into her senses. At dinner, she was brought a glass of sparkling citrus wine by a staff.
“A gift from the resort,” he smiled. “For our premium guest.”
The last thing she remembered vividly was taking a sip from the wine she was served.
Then darkness.
……………..
Elsewhere, same night…
He didn’t want to be here. But his father’s words still rang in his head like a church bell:
“You keep wasting your name. All you want to do is spend lavishly and just live on the luxury you had no clue how it came to be. You either grow up or I send you to manage our branch in East Africa. If you can’t lead this family’s empire, maybe Victor should—”
He had stormed out of the house while his father was still talking. He booked the first available room. Drove for hours, came to the resort, and checked in under a pseudonym—just to breathe.
He just needed to escape his father's latest lecture on responsibility. He took some drinks at the bar, so he could just sleep off and forget about his father, the empire or whatever…
He got drunk. His steps uneven as he staggered down the hallway. He blinked at the key card in his hand.
“217…”
He continued through the hallway and stopped outside the wrong door.
He didn’t know.
And he cared less.
The door opened easily.
Inside, the room was dim. Warm.
………………….
The room spun.
Seraphina massaged her temple with her fingers as her head hit the bed. The hotel room was warm, the light dim and just perfect, the bed was large. The bedsheets smelled just as perfect. She wasn't feeling herself and all she wanted was to just sleep it off.
………................
A woman laid asleep on the bed, her dress had pulled up to her thighs, one strap had fallen off her shoulder.
He froze. “This isn’t my room —”
She stirred.
Her eyes opened, unfocused. “You came,” she breathed. “Why did it take you so long…”
He hesitated. He wanted to turn back.
But, something about the room __ warm and inviting. Something about the woman. He couldn't place it….he felt drawn to her like a magnet.
He took some steps forward into the room…. Still staggering.
She sat up, suddenly reaching for him. “Please, can you just stay with me just this one night, I don't want to feel so lonely tonight. I promise not to ask ever again…”
There was something about her voice. So soft. But, sounded sad, broken and lonely underneath. Made him feel like she needed him so bad.
“I__ I think you've got the wrong…” he was saying. But she grabbed him and pulled him closer.
Their lips met. The kisses were slow at first, uncertain. Then urgent, desperate.
She kissed like a woman suddenly set free.
He responded like a man trying to forget. To escape.
They didn’t ask names.
They didn’t speak much.
Their bodies collided and burned in the dark.
Clothes disappeared.
Moans replaced the silence.
In those moments, she didn’t feel like the discarded wife or the voiceless step daughter.
She felt wanted.
Desired.
Powerful.
And for him—it was more than just another wild night.
It was something he couldn’t even give a name.
……………
And then morning.
Light poured in from the windows into the room directly on his face, he woke up.
The woman lay beside him, her hair covered the most part of her face and the sheets twisted around her bare legs.
He bolted upright, blinking.
Where the hell was he?
His head pounded. His throat was dry.
“This isn't my room,” he muttered, his heart racing.
He looked at her again. She's still fast asleep.
Then reality dawned on him, he remembered briefly how he had entered the wrong room and couldn't just hold back.
He ran a hand over his hair, swore softly, then gathered his clothes.
No cameras. No staff.
No one will know.
But he knew—this wasn’t a mistake.
It was a trap.
And he had walked right into it.
He stepped out silently.
Seraphina woke up in a strange bed, her head spinning.
She was naked. The sheets were rumpled around her. Her lips felt sour. Panic flooded her chest.
Her underwear was nowhere in sight. And the dull ache in her thighs confirmed what the state of the room already told her.
“No. No. No,” she whispered, her voice cracking as she panicked.
She stumbled out of bed. Grabbed and struggled into her underwears and dress scattered all over, her fingers trembling. Her purse. Her phone. Where—?
She found them on the dresser.
What the hell happened?
She didn’t remember anything. Didn’t remember sleeping with anyone. Didn’t remember anything beyond entering the hotel.
She fled.
Ran down the hall, hair wild, shoes forgotten in the room.
It was pouring heavy outside. She hailed a cab and headed straight to the mansion.
But they were already waiting for her.
Garrett. Maureen. Ivy.
All seated calmly in the living room.
Garrett held his phone in his hand, an image already pulled up— A photo.
Her.
In bed.
With a man.
Naked.
Eyes closed.
Exhausted.
Trapped.
“Really, Seraphina?” Garrett said mockingly.
She froze. “I… I don’t know who that is. I don’t remember—”
“Maureen leaned forward, voice low and deadly. “Just look at how entangled you were with a stranger. Anyways, thank you for a clean evidence.”
Seraphina’s legs gave out.
She collapsed to the floor.
“You… set me up?”
No one denied it.
Garrett’s smile was slow, cruel. “You were never part of the real plan. Just the pawn. Now the game’s over. You will hear from my lawyer.”
And with that,
he walked out the door. Maureen and Ivy followed suit.
Seraphina's vision blurred. Her heart was shattered —but not from betrayal alone.
From the horrifying truth.
It was all a set up.
It was all planned.
- Writer
