Chapter 23 Recording As Evidence. It seemed as though I was restless. At last, I grabbed the hem of his clothes, and asked, “I’ve shown my sincerity, right? How did you settle it in the end? Tell me. But before I could even hear his answer, I lost my consciousness. By the time I woke up, I felt thirsty, and my head felt like it was breaking. I struggled to sit up and the thin quilt slipped from my body. Soon, I found myself naked. My mind went blank for a. few seconds. I couldn’t seem to remember much of what happened after I got hammered. As I looked around, I found that I was somewhere I had never been to before. I had too many questions in mind. Then, I saw a folded bath towel on the bedside table. I grabbed it and used it to. cover my nakedness. Afterwards, I opened the door and walked out barefooted. The house was quite big, and there were faint noises coming from downstairs. The second I arrived at the stairway, I saw a group of people playing cards in the living room downstairs. They were the same people who joined our table last night. Felix was among them, but I didn’t see Derek. One of them noticed me and coughed. Thus, the others followed his sight and looked over at me. They all smiled with meaningful grins. I guessed that they must be imagining all sorts of erotic scenes. Hurriedly, I turned around and ran back to the room where I was just now. Leaning against the closed door, I tried to catch my breath. Thinking that Derek must’ve been the one to take me here last night, I decided to call him to ask. I grabbed my phone from the bedside table and saw that it was powered off. When I turned it on, the clock displayed that it was two in the morning

As soon as the call connected, I heard a ringtone coming from the balcony. Nobody was answering, and the ringtone kept on ringing. Thus, I drew t he curtains and walked towards the balcony. Sure enough, Derek was the re, wearing a night robe. He was lying on a deck chair on the balcony. It was still dark outside. Under the faint moonlight, I could see a small garden outside the balcony. He was holding a cigarette with one hand, and his phone in the other. He must’ve che cked the caller ID, so he didn’t answer it. “You’re awake?” he asked. Then, he took a drag on his cigarette before turning his head to m e. The sound of his voice was deep and hoarse. My mind became a mess. I wanted to ask him a lot of things, but I had no idea . where to b egin. With a faint smi le, he eyed me f rom head to toe. I was so embarrassed to be in the presence of a man I didn’t know very well with only a bath towel to cover myself. His penetrating gaze did n’t help either. Subconsciously, I grasped the bath towel on my chest. Seemingly amused, he chuckled. “Why are you being so nervous? I’ve already seen everything. You have a g ood figure, by the way,” he remarked. I felt so ashamed of myself. Derek was my benefactor, but I ended up sleeping with him. To put it bluntly, I was the one at fault, for I had drunk too much. We were both adults, so I couldn’t ask him to take responsibility for me. t h is . w a s . f a r

t o o . But even so, emba rrassing! . I just wanted to hide myself and be alone. “Sorry to trouble you. I’ll be tak ing my leave now. Having said that, I turned around, inte nding to run away. However, Derek pulled me back and pressed me against the wall . He took the cigarette from his mout h, and slowly lowered his head. He stopped just inches before my face. “Since you’ve slept with me, you n eed to take responsibility for it, ” he said in an intoxicating voice. My heart skipped a beat. I didn’t ask him to take responsibility for me, bu t he was the one who did. Afterwards, he added, “Last night, you wrapped your arms around my neck and never let go. Then, you pressed me onto the bed and rode me like a wild woma n. Eveline, I’m only a man. Since you needed me that much, I had to help you. I stared at hi m, gulping down my own saliva. He raised an eyebrow at me, grinning like an imp. “What? You don ’t believe me? I have a recording to prove it. Do you want to hea r it? I recorded it because I was afraid you’d deny it later on. There was recording? It was then that I imagined what had hap pened last night according to Derek’s description of it. If h e weren’t lying, I would feel too ashamed to live any longer. He smiled and unlocked his phone . It seemed that he was intent o n letting me hear the recording. Thus, I immediately c overed my ears. “I do n’t want to hear it!” . The second I covered my ears , the bath towel wrapped aro und me suddenly slipped down