The Billionaire's Hidden Heir

Chapter 3: Can this be a nightmare

The early morning sun poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the highrise hotel room, shining bright lights over strewn clothes, discarded in the heat of pleasure.

I rose from the soft bed, my body tingling in parts that I wouldn't mention. It was like a rebirth, as I had never had s*x that was that good. I didn't have it with Mark. I also didn't have it with my first boyfriend before Mark.

I wasn't someone who slept around. I didn't sleep with my previous two boyfriends until one or two months after we began dating, so my escapade with the stranger, whose name I still didn't know, was shocking.

I tried to determine if I did it because I was angry at seeing Mark being so cheerful in light of our recent breakup, or if it was because I hadn't felt that excited sexually before.

My original plan when I decided to spend the night with the stranger had been to wake up early and leave before he could see me, but after the night we spent together, I wanted to see him in the light of day, and thank him for giving me a gift. His treatment of me last night before we ended up in bed made me feel cherished and respected as a woman.

Both feelings were something I had not felt in a long time, even before I broke up with Mark.

I couldn't wait for him to rouse before using the toilet, so I went into the ensuite to pee. When I saw the disheveled state I was in, I decided to take my bath and get dressed before I faced him. When it was time to put on my dress, I remembered that while we had been struggling to take off my dress, one of the hands of the dress had been torn.

I took one of the robes neatly folded in a cabinet and went out of the ensuite only to see the mystery man seated on the side of the bed with his head buried in his hands.

“Good morning. I was just–” I stopped short when he turned and looked at me. My eyes narrowed as I took in the face before me. Instantly, I dropped to the floor, shaking my head repeatedly as I repeated the word “No”.

I had the greatest night of my life with Erick Powell, Lydia's boyfriend!!!

Erick closed his eyes tightly, the skin around his eyes growing taut.

I tried to stand up on legs which felt like jelly only to fall back down. Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized what I had done to Lydia. My cousin didn't deserve such betrayal from me, from him, from us.

“This can't be real. It's a nightmare. I am dreaming. I am sure I'll wake up soon,” I cried, pinching my arms as if it would take me from this reality to my preferred reality.

In my panicked state, I didn't see Erick stand up and close the space between us. Immediately he tried to touch me, I yelped and moved away from him, leaving his hand stretched out awkwardly.

He gave a downcast sigh and spoke.

“We have to talk about this, Ariana,” he said gently. I refused to look into his sea-blue eyes, choosing to stare at the rug instead.

“Ariana, please listen to me. We have to talk about this.” He tried again.

It was at that moment I wondered why he never called me Ari like everyone else. The way he called my full name always caused goosebumps to break out on my skin. Even in this uncomfortable moment, my skin's reaction to my name on his lips didn't wane.

“You need to get dressed,” he said to no one in particular. He went to the phone by the bedside and asked for female clothes in size eight and a bunch of other things to be brought up to his room. The confidence with which he gave the order was a reminder of how different we were.

In ten minutes, the clothes were sent out, and he went to collect them from the hotel staff in the living room. He strolled into the room with the items in his hands. I had to choose from the different options available. I hurriedly took a pair of jeans and a cute, knitted, pink blouse and rushed into the ensuite.

As I put on my new clothes, I decided the best thing for both of us was to act like nothing happened last night. We would become amnesiacs, and it would all be like it used to with him being just a friend to me and a boyfriend to my cousin.

My mind made up, I opened the door to find him wearing a red plaid shirt and black jeans with black ankle boots. Over his reddish brown hair was a red beanie.

How could he look this good early in the morning?

With a steely look in my eyes, I spoke the words I knew were the only solution to this problem.

“I thought about it while I was in the ensuite and I came to the conclusion that the best thing would be to pretend that nothing happened, because nothing happened.” I waited for him to agree with me. This was me giving him a way out of this mess, making his life as uncomplicated as possible, yet he stared at me for a long time without saying a word.

“I know you feel relieved, but you are too good of a guy to show it. I do not hold what happened last night against you, and I promise not to tell Lydia about you–”

“Ariana,” He interjected with my name, “Thank you for not telling Lydia what happened here…”

I was happy he agreed with me, yet my heart dropped to my stomach and disappointment washed over me.

“You don't have to do it because I will do it myself,” he said, and began to walk to the living room. I gawked at his retreating back for three seconds before chasing after him.

“Are you insane? What do you think you are doing?” I yelled and pushed him in the chest when I finally got to him.

“I can't hide this from Lydia. She has to know.” He threw back at me with as much force as I yelled.

“I am telling you I won't say anything.”

“Do you think I am your ex? Do you think I have no integrity? Do you think I would be able to be with Lydia after what happened in there last night?” He pointed at the bedroom.

I blushed a violent shade of red as memories assaulted my senses.

“I am not happy about this either, but Lydia would be devastated. She will die if she finds out we both betrayed her.” I retorted angrily, pleading with my eyes for him to see reason.

We stared at each other, no one said anything for a while. I began to think he was seeing reason when he sighed resignedly.

“I am sorry, Ariana, but I can't keep this a secret.” With that, he walked out of the room.