Tears rolled down Anastasia’s eyes as she stared at the face of the man who had forcefully deflowered her. She was heartbroken as she cleaned up and put on her clothes, or what was left of them at least. Her skirt was still intact but he had ripped a few buttons off her top and her panties were in no good condition either.

Stephen had already fallen asleep and all she could do was wish him death. She was still traumatized by everything that had happened and her hands trembled as she wore her clothes. Why did he do this to her? She had never seen such a monster in her life, the gentleman she had seen walking into the hotel was very different from the beast that attacked her tonight.

The tears would not stop flowing. She had lost her virginity to a man who either didn’t give a damn or was too drunk to care. He was already snoring after getting what he wanted from her. Why her? He could have any woman in the world, so why did he force himself on her? What had gotten over him?

She despised him so much that her intrusive thoughts suggested she either strangled him or stabbed him in bed. But she was too soft to do that, she was too traumatized to even think straight. She felt pain between her legs but the one in her head was the worst. The psychological effect of his actions were worse than the physical effect, she felt so scared even after he was laying like a log of wood on the king-sized bed.

Was this the so-called most eligible bachelor of the city? Someone who treats women like objects for pleasure? Someone without dignity nor respect. She might not be able to do anything about his actions, but Ana knew that she would loathe him for the rest of her life.

She had tremblingly walked to the door, her legs were shaking and she could hardly stand straight. She was sore down there and she couldn’t stop crying. She had to sniff in and fight back the tears as she left the room; she didn’t want anyone to know of this, especially at work. How would she explain that she was raped by Stephen Grey? Who is going to even believe her? They would shame her and call her names, she couldn’t be in this environment anymore, she needed to leave and never come back.

Anna rushed down the hallway and into the elevator, luckily there was no one on the way. She pushed the button for the ground floor and once again burst into tears. The elevator door opened on the down floor and she bumped into Rachel as she walked out.

“Hey, what happened?” Rachel asked immediately.

She ignored her and walked off in a hurry; she went straight to the changing room and carried her bag. Without informing anyone, she walked out of the hotel premises. The security man wanted to know where she was off to but she just asked him to inform the manager that she was resigning. Without further explanation, she left the hotel and walked into the cold empty streets.

Anna was shivering and crying as she walked home. Her place was a bit far from here but she didn’t mind trekking as it gave her time to get over these feelings. Of course, she couldn’t tell her parents what happened, she didn’t think she could let anyone know that she had been deflowered by the so-called most eligible bachelor of the city.

Anna had gotten to the dark part of the streets when she noticed footsteps following her, there were no cars on the road and it was starting to dawn on her that the decision she took out of trauma was a wrong one. Now she had only ended up putting herself in danger.

She walked faster as she was overwhelmed by fear, it wasn’t just one but two guys following her. She should have known better than to walk out the cold streets of Las Vegas by that time of the night. People were either drunk in the casinos or in the streets and both sets of people were dangerous.

“Easy pretty face, what is the hurry?” one of the men teased as they closed in on her and she began to walk even faster, with the pain between her thighs and her waistline.

“Yeah, why don’t you come hang out with us, sweetie?” the second man yelled.

Ana tried to corner into another street but then she noticed there were more of them on that street, and from the red lights and scent, she could tell they were smoking something illegal. Had she just walked out from a frying pan only to end up in an actual fire?

Ana’s next big idea was to run forwards even though she knew it was a terrible idea, she could never outrun these men, and they would only take more fun at punishing her if she suffers them. But what was she supposed to do? Walk right into their hands?

However, luck shone on her as she noticed a motorcycle coming her way, she began to wave at it immediately while silently praying that it was one of the good guys. Luckily for her, it wasn’t just one of the good guys, it was someone she knew, and it was her boyfriend!!

“Ana? What are you doing out here so late at night?” he queried as he stopped in front of her

“Jake?” she screamed. “Thank goodness, please take me away from here,” she pleaded as she climbed onto the back seat immediately.

The men who had been following her paused and threw curses at the bike guy right before they took off. She hugged him tight from behind and placed her head on his back as she wept.

“Ana, are you crying? What happened? Did they touch you?” Jake queried.

She shook her head immediately, trying to speak without breaking down but the words wouldn’t come out. She just let the tears flow at some point; she needed to let it all out before she got home. She could be silent with her boyfriend, but definitely not with her mom. If the old woman noticed something was wrong, she would force the truth out of her. Ana was just not ready to tell the story of how she was raped by a billionaire; her life would be ruined if they found out… this was a secret she was willing to take with her to the grave!

Stephen groaned as he stretched his body on the bed, he was feeling so exhausted and forced his eyes open as the daylight from the window reflected on him. Why was he tired after a full night’s sleep? His head hurt as he sat up; after yawning twice in a row, he stood up from the bed and walked to the window side. He looked outside the building and could tell that it was past early morning. How did he sleep for so long?

As the billionaire CEO turned to find his cellphone, he froze at the sight of something else. Blood!! There was a blood stain on the bed. He quickly checked his body to know if he had injured himself but there was no wound on any part of his body.

Stephen was scared and confused at the same time, he tried to remember what happened the previous night, the memory was blurry at first, like an imagination or more of a dream. He tried to put them in place, piece by piece and slowly it began to come together.

His jaws fell apart when it crossed his mind that he might have forced a lady to lay with him the previous night. He remembered being drunk and horny but the memories after that seemed more like a dream. He was confused… Did it really happen or was it all just a silly dream?

Stephen examined the bed slowly and saw something, it was the rope of a bra; of course he would recognize that anywhere and any day, he used to be a playboy and saw quite a lot of that. His heart dropped at the sight of that.

“No… It can’t be, it has to be a dream,” he muttered to himself as he swallowed hard, trying to convince himself that it was all just a nightmare.

Stephen didn’t know how to feel about it, he turned to the bedside table and the whiskey was still in place. He picked up the bottle and sniffed it for any abnormalities but everything seemed fine. He took his watch from the top of the small cupboard and checked the time, it was ten minutes past eleven already. He quickly turned on his personal phone and messages from his family began to come in, they were worried about him. The only people that knew of his whereabouts was his right hand man, Domenic, who was in the same hotel as him, but in a different ward.

Stephen put a call across to Domenic immediately, he asked him to arrange for a car to pick them up from the hotel in thirty minutes. After that, he rushed into the bathroom for a quick bath. He couldn’t believe that he had gone to bed without a shower; that was more shocking than sleeping with a girl who he didn’t know or remember. He needed to fix the latter, but after the first was fixed.

** ** ** ** **

“What do you mean nothing happened? You came knocking on the door at 2am in the morning, you were supposed to be at work, so where the hell had you come from? And why are you not leaving for work today? I thought your morning shift begins today?” Mrs. McCurry threw a bunch of questions at her.

“Mom… I already told you. Nothing happened, I just can't go back there, I will find another job soon, I promise.” Ana replied, trying to force a smile like everything was fine.

But the truth was that nothing was fine, she was broken on the inside but due to her family’s condition, she had to put on the act; what she wasn’t strong enough to do was return to her place of work. She cannot go back to the place of the incident, even though the manager would be mad at her for bailing, he will be more than happy to have her back, but she just didn’t want to return there.

Aside from being scared, it seemed like that chapter of her life was over. She should never have taken that job in the first place, it wasn’t a place for simple naïve girls like her, and she had learnt her lesson the hard way. The only thing of value she had has been taken away from her, her virginity had been ripped away from her by a selfish man who cared only for himself.

“You are lying to me, Anastasia. Did you get in a fight with someone? Were you fired? Did you do something wrong? You know you can tell me whatever it is, you don’t need to hide anything from me.” Her mother insisted.

“Mom, I am not lying or hiding anything, you have to believe me. I just chose to quit because I don’t think the job is appropriate for me anymore. I know I need the money for college but I will find another job, I just need a little time.” Ana pleaded

Mrs. McCurry sighed and shook her head, and then she came closer. “Is it that boy you are seeing? You came home with him last night, right?” she asked softly.

“What? No mum, this has nothing to do with Jake. He actually picked me up from the road when I was unable to find a cab,” she replied.

“Of course, how did you expect to find a cab by that time of the night? What if something had happened to you? don’t ever do something like that ever again. You should have called your father and he would have come to pick you up if it was so necessary that you left in the middle of the night. And you still haven’t told me why you deemed it necessary to leave the hotel at that time of the day… Did someone say something inappropriate? Did anyone misbehave with you?” she queried.

Ana swallowed hard the moment her mom mentioned that. She found it difficult lying straight to her mother’s face but she couldn’t just tell her that she was molested and sexually assaulted by a crazy rich young man; how would she explain that she was raped by the infamous Stephen Grey of the Grey family… one of the most reputable families in the country as a whole.

She opened her mouth to speak and just then, there was a knock on the door. Ana’s heart skipped as she feared it was someone from work, they must have come to know why she left and didn’t return. She had turned off her phone since she got home that night to avoid taking any calls from them.

“I will go check… check it,” she stuttered nervously.

“Yeah, you do that and come back here to complete our conversation.” Her mother replied and scoffed.

Once again, Ana gulped down saliva and began to walk down the hallway leading to the entrance door. She was scared; if it was someone from work, what would she tell them? She hadn’t thought of any lies. What if the man who raped her had framed her or told lies about her?

As she got closer to the door, her heartbeat sounded even louder; she was petrified to her bones, and then the worst happened. It was either her mind was playing games with her or it was really happening. She caught his scent!! That cologne! She recognized the scent of that cologne… it was the first thing that greeted her when she went into his room last night. This cannot be true!! He wasn’t here, was he??

Anna stood in front of the door with her heart racing, she didn’t know if to open it or just wait till the person went away. She could still perceive that scent from last night, it was a unique and obviously expensive masculine cologne; she doubted the people who lived around here would be able to afford such.

The knock came again and she quickly grabbed the handle of the door, she turned her back to it and breathed in heavily, before letting it out. Anna then opened the door and came to face a man who had his back to her, he turned around slowly and she froze. It was him!! Stephen Grey was standing at her door!!

Anna couldn’t believe it, what was he doing here? How did he find her house? Why did he come here? Did he know she actually lived here? Was this a coincidence? These questions purged through her heart with the speed of lightning while she remained mute and frozen.

Was he really there or was she just imagining it? The elegant young man, dressed in a royal blue classic suit and a black shiny shoes to match. His black sunglasses sitting perfectly above his pointed nose, the sun reflecting on his very easily cognizable light brown mustache and his majestic upper curls standing high; he was like a Disney Prince.

Ana moved her eyes slowly above his head and she could see the luxurious black car parked in front of the house, she didn’t even hear it arrive. The engine was either very silent or her discussion with her mom was loud.

After a minute of staring and saying nothing, which felt like an eternity to Ana because she was feeling so many emotions at the same time; confusion at the peak of them all. Stephen was the one to break the silence, it seemed like he had been taken aback as well by her appearance. Seeing her with drunk eyes, maybe this wasn’t what he expected to meet.

“Hi,” he uttered softly and took a step up the threshold stairs.

Ana took a step backwards immediately, fear flickering in her eyes. She was going to close the door on him when he spoke up immediately.

“Wait… Please wait, I am not going to hurt you, just hear me out.” He pleaded.

“What is worse than what you have already done to me? Just go away.” She replied immediately, trying to sound calm and undisturbed by his presence, even though it was just a pretense. She was terrified by his presence.

“I am very sorry about last night, if you give me the chance, I would like to properly apologize.” Stephen said.

Ana scoffed and shook her head. “Apologize for what? Abusing me? Ruining my life? costing me my job? Taking away my dignity and pride as a woman? Hurting me physically, psychologically and in every other way? What do you want to apologize for?” she queried.

“If you would just listen to me…”

His words were cut short by her mother’s voice. “Who is that, Anna?”

Anna turned around immediately. “It is no one important, I will be there soon,” she replied immediately, and then she walked outside fully and closed the door behind her.

Stephen sighed and stared back at the car, someone was waiting for him inside it. He turned back to Ana. “Anna…”

“Don’t call my name,” she interrupted immediately.

“Look… I know what I did was horrible and you think I am a bad person, but that is not the truth. I can't explain what happened or why I did what I did but I can assure you that I wasn’t in my right mind when it happened, I was under the influence of alcohol and I must have lost control of myself. This has never happened before, believe me.” He pleaded.

“Why should I believe you? Aren't you Stephen Grey? Billionaire playboy; this is the way people like you behave, they have no respect for others, they do whatever they please because they know they can get away with it. So because you were drunk, that is a valid reason to attack an innocent girl and disrespect her in the worst way possible. You have ruined my life, Mr. Stephen Gray and I would never forgive or forget you. I know there is nothing I can do to you, but Karma would pay you a visit someday.”

“Look girl, you have the wrong perception of me. If I was the person you say I am, do you think I would be here right now, apologizing to you?” Stephen queried.

“So because you came to my house to say sorry, that makes you a good person and I am supposed to just forgive and forget what you have done to me? What about my dignity? How do I regain it? What about my job? What about my pride as a woman?”

“I can get you another job, a much better one if you need. If you want money…”

“I don’t want your money!!” Ana half-yelled, and then quickly turned back to know if there was any reaction from inside the house. “You rich kids think money can solve everything, I don’t want your money, Mr. Grey… Keep your stupid money to yourself. Just go away from my life and never come back, I hope our paths don’t cross again, I hate you so much!! You disgust me and I never want to see your face again!!” she spat as tears began to roll down her eyes.

Stephen was silent for a while and then he sighed. “My friend is waiting for me in the car and so I would have to leave now, but I must let you know this before I leave. I am very sorry for what I did to you Anna and it wasn’t on purpose. When I realized what I had done when I woke up this morning, I went to ask of you but your manager reported that you didn’t show up at work after you abruptly left a resignation last night and your phone was turned off. I had to request your address from him which had led me here. I understand that you are in pain and it is all because of me, but I am really sorry about that, Ana. I know I cannot make up for what I took from you, but if you should ever need anything from me, please do not hesitate to contact me… here is my profile card.” He said sadly and pulled out a card from his breast pocket.

Anna stood there staring at him while tears rolled down her eyes, she refused to accept the card from him and he had no other choice than to drop it at her feet. Stephen walked away towards the car, he stopped at the door and turned back to her with a sympathetic face and then he got in and moved away.

Anna remained standing there while she watched the car drive away, she then sat down at the threshold of the building and let the tears flow freely. She didn’t know how to feel about this; now he was making it difficult for her to blame and hate him. Why did he have to be nice to her? Why did he leave her with mixed feelings? Was she supposed to just forgive him and move on with her life? or live with the hatred she has for him? Would she even be able to move on with her life if she doesn’t let go of her anger and hatred for him?

Ana felt so powerless and with lack of direction. What was the next phase of her life going to be like? She had already quit her job and she stood on the ground that she was not going back to that hotel or any hotel at all.

The door opened and her mother walked out. Ana was quick to clean her tears immediately and act normal before her mother would notice. She took the profile card and hid it in her palm as quickly as she could.

“Who was that person and what did they want?” her mother asked while standing over her.

“It was a stranger, he was asking for directions to the parish.” Ana lied

“And that was why he thought it was necessary to knock on my door? The stupid thing is, I don't know how to use a google map?” she fired.

“It is okay mom, he left already.” Ana replied and sniffed in to hold back the raging tears.

“Are you crying?” Mrs. McCurry asked suddenly as she noticed her daughter’s red eyes.

“Huh? No… not at all, I just got something into my eyes, and I tried to get it out so my eyes got teary.” She lied again; she didn’t even realize how good she was getting at this lying thing.

“Well, go wash it out with water, don’t just sit there… chop-chop!!” Mrs. McCurry signaled and Ana got up, heading into the house.