Chapter 26
Chapter
Twenty-Six
ROSE
I woke to a dimly lit room and ran a hand over my body.
I was wearing a dress shirt, and my body ached with an unfamiliar pain between my thighs.
The curtains had been pulled shut, yet a sliver of sunlight peeked through the gap so I could see the presidential suite of the mega yacht.
A faint smile spread over my face as vivid images from last night flashed through my mind.
I slapped a hand over my eyes. It finally happened.
Everything I had wanted had come true. To my surprise, he was ecstatic that I was a virgin and didn’t mind my lack of experience.
Unable to contain my joy, I turned over. My blurry vision focused on the empty bed. I touched the pillow next to mine. It was cold.
“Damon?” I called out.
No response.
I listened closely, but there was no sound coming from the bathroom or downstairs. My brow furrowed in confusion.
I tossed aside the covers and wrapped myself in one of the white sheets. Turning on the light, I checked the downstairs area of the duplex. Untouched and empty.
Rose: Where are you?
I texted and stared at the screen, urging my phone to vibrate.
Did he leave?
No way. He wouldn’t leave me stranded on his brother’s boat.
Oh God, his brother! It suddenly dawned on me that I was on his brother’s boat, who happened to be my favorite professor.
What if Professor Maxwell returned in search of his twin?
It would be humiliating to be caught here, completely naked.
Would he look at me differently or think I was a promiscuous woman?
I never wanted him to view me as those thirsty women he constantly shook off.
I started searching for my clothes—and perhaps a note with an explanation. When I didn’t find one, I decided the safest course of action was to leave and connect with Damon later.
Fortunately, the pier was close to the main road, and I was able to call an Uber.
When I remembered Amelie saying she planned to visit her boyfriend this weekend, I plugged in Poppy’s address instead of the dorm.
I was restless and had no idea how to interpret Damon’s abrupt departure.
I wanted company, but I wasn’t ready to admit that I had slept with our family’s archnemesis, nor could I process his subsequent reaction the following morning.
My cousin had recently moved in with her mom and stepfather at a mansion outside the city. It was the perfect escape, and Poppy wasn’t an inquisitive person. I could have company without rehashing last night.
My phone buzzed in my purse, and I lunged for it.
My heart sank when I realized it wasn’t Damon, just a random number.
Our family had been harassed for various reasons, mostly by angry customers whose investments didn’t pan out.
Our public relations team had instructed us to never engage with random callers and to block the number immediately, which I did.
I reached her family home in less than forty-five minutes. It was more of a mansion sprawled over several acres of land. Still, something about the charming architecture and the green grounds made it a cozy home.
Once the security guard saw it was me in the Uber, he let the car through the large gates. Orange shades of early morning light enveloped the expansive grounds, the distant fog adding to the cathartic atmosphere.
I exited the Uber and rushed inside. The large front doors were open in anticipation of my arrival, and I strode into the living room to find Poppy reviewing client portfolios.
Clad entirely in black, she sat on the floor and used the coffee table as her workspace.
She was on her laptop and glanced up when she heard me enter.
“Rough night?” She looked me up and down. There wasn’t any trace of surprise over my unannounced visit. You would think she had been expecting me since yesterday.
“You could say that.”
I looked wild with unkempt hair, smudged makeup, and last night’s outfit.
But Poppy didn’t ask about it or what I was doing there so early in the morning.
Others might view our interaction as cold and impersonal.
It wasn’t quite the case. Like Professor Maxwell, Poppy lacked empathy.
Yet she had a knack for reading me and knew I wasn’t in the mood to bare my feelings.
Instead of trying to engage me in a futile conversation, she said, “Hm. I’m hungry. Let’s order breakfast.” She slid her phone open and pulled up the Uber Eats app on the screen. I watched her select a few items before passing me the phone. “Choose.”
I peered over the screen and absentmindedly selected a side item. I wasn’t a big eater, and it seemed the only times I ate nowadays was with Professor Maxwell. It had become a habit.
My phone buzzed, and I was disappointed to find another unregistered number flashing across the screen.
Poppy closed her laptop. “You’re staring at your phone like it’s a bomb.”
“I’m getting calls from random numbers again.”
“Block them.”
“I did.”
“Then why are you still upset?”
If Poppy were opening herself up for an emotional exchange, I must look like an absolute wreck. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t muster a smile to reassure her. “It’s nothing.”
Her eyes softened, and I didn’t take the small gesture lightly. She kept her feelings locked away, so her offering any form of comfort was significant. “He’ll get his head out of his ass soon.”
For a moment, I was speechless, then I realized she was referring to my father. My father cutting me off suddenly seemed trivial compared to losing my virginity and then losing, well, the guy.
“Thanks, Poppy.” I smiled gratefully. “Hey, can I crash in your guest room this weekend?”
She shrugged. “Knock yourself out. Mom and Zane are away on vacation.”
Zane was Poppy’s stepfather. It was a relief to hear they were away. My aunt, Piya, was the opposite of Poppy and had too much empathy. If she saw me in this condition, she would pester me relentlessly until I cracked and told her what was wrong. I wasn’t ready to talk about it.
I stayed cooped up in Poppy’s guest room for the rest of the day.
I had a daily ritual: wake up at exactly eight in the morning, make the bed with my pillows aligned with my sheets, brush my teeth with my favorite toothpaste, and drink my morning coffee.
I hadn’t done any of those things today.
Any interruption to my routine generally left me unsettled and restless.
But for the first time in years, it didn’t feel like the world would fall apart because I skipped a few mundane tasks.
Instead, I had found a new thing to obsess over—my phone. Something bad must have happened at Ambani Corp. My phone wouldn’t stop ringing with calls from unregistered numbers, all of which I promptly blocked.
I texted Damon a few more times to ensure he was all right.
In case his phone fell into the wrong hands, I kept the messages nondescript and sexless.
However, he left each message on read. My heart sank, and I finally accepted the harsh truth—last night meant nothing to him.
He took my virginity, then regretted it so profusely that he couldn’t be bothered with letting me down gently. I felt used and discarded.
Apparently, even good guys treated you like shit after getting what they wanted.