Chapter 24 The Feeling of Home. I quickly bent over to pick up the bath towel, but Derek grabbed the other end of it faster than I could. My face instantly turned red. I held onto the bath towel with all my might and said, “Let it go!’. But he didn’t. He just kept on holding it. While I was deathly embarrassed by what was happening, he wrapped the bath towel around my body. My heart began to race. I pressed my hands together, daring not to look him in the eye. All of a sudden, he pulled me into his embrace as he raised his phone. Then, I heard a click. “What did you do?” I panicked when I saw the picture on his phone. In it, he was wearing a night robe, and I. was wrapped in a bath towel while we were embracing. This picture alone could make people think all sorts of things. He smiled at me and said, “I’m going to keep one more evidence, so you won’t be able to deny it!”. “You…”. I was interrupted midsentence when we heard the sound of the door opening. Louise was the one who pushed it open and walked in. “Hey, Eve, you awake?” She then put on an obscene smile. She must’ve seen him holding me just now. Surprised to see her here, I asked, “Lulu, what are you doing here?”. Confused by my question, she asked, “What do you mean? I’ve been with you all this time, okay? I was just thirsty, so I went to the kitchen to get some drinks. I’ve been watching them play cards for a while. Oh, by the way, would you like some?” She showed me two cans of beverages. It was then that I realized that I had been fooled by Derek. With a face as red as an apple, I glared at him and said, “Why did you say that…”. “That what?” He leaned against the glass door lazily, looking at me with a smirk. I lowered my gaze, held my breath, and refused to respond. Derek suddenly leaned close to my ear, and soon, the sound of his magnetic voice resonated in my ears. “It’s true that you were so wild after you got drunk. Your friend can even testify. If I didn’t hold onto my principles and refuse to give in, you would’ve raped me. The word “rape” left me flustered. But th e truth of the matter he indirectly reveal ed to me made me breathe a sigh of relief

Perhaps noticing my expression , Derek smiled, slowly turned a round, and walked away from me. It wasn’t unt il he had dis appeared from . my sight that I realized there was another room connected to the balcony. Back in the room, I asked, “Lulu, are you sure you stayed with me all this time? Did you help me take off my clothes?”. Leaning against the headboard, Louis e opened a can and took a few sips b efore glancing at me with amusement. “Who else would do it? Did you think that Derek was the one who helped you take off your clothes? Did you even ask him that? Eve, you really are something. Louise’s mockery of me reminded me of the e mbarrassing scenes that transpired moments a go. Not a moment later, I blushed yet again. “I allowed you to drink last night because I was with you. I would never leave you alone! You vomited all over me last night. I had to take off your clothes and clean you before I could take a shower. I was drenched in sweat and vomit, Eve! Do you think it was easy?” . What Louise revealed to me warmed my heart. I the n crawled under the quilt . from the other s ide of the bed a nd held her arm. “You’re the best , Lulu. “Actually, Derek was here when I to ok a shower,” Louise added, throwin g the empty can into the trash bin. My heart skipped a beat. She chuckled and nudged my arm whe n she saw the look on my face. “Do you know how conflicted I was when I took the shower? On one hand, I wanted him to sleep with you, but on the other hand, I was scared that he would do it. I took my time in the bathroom, but he was already gone by the time I came out. I was so embarrassed t o hear it that I began to scratch her armpit. “How could you have suc h thoughts?” . Louise dodged my hand and smiled. We kept on playing for a while. When she spoke again, she became more serious. “I’m just thinking that Dere k is far better than that sc umbag, Shane. If you divorce . Shane and leave the bastard for Derek, it ’ll be good for you. I hid beneath the quilt, thinking of what happened at the balcony earlier. To be h onest, my mind was in shambles right now. An excellent man like Derek could have any woman of his choosing. He would never fall in love with som eone like me. I didn’t want to have any fantasies that I shouldn’t have. But I must admit that he was a very attractive man

Each time he flirted with me inadvertently, I couldn’t help but feel flustered. Because of the hangover, I f elt really bad. After a while , I drifted into sleep again. Later on, I was awakened by a knock on the door. When I opened my eyes , I found that it was already dawn. Louise opened the door, carrying a set of clothes. She told me that th e clothes were sent to me by Derek. It was a new dress , and it still even had its tag on it. Why did he have a new dre ss at home? Was it his gi rlfriend’s? Or his wife’s? . I barely knew anything about him. What k ind of work did he do? Had he already be en married? I knew none of those things. I was worried that our staying in his house all night could spell trouble for him. After all, I was so heartbroken when my marriage was destroyed by another woman. I didn’t want to cause any misunderstandings, nor did I want him to have any conflicts with his family because of it. The dress was a perfect fit for me. Perhaps his girlfriend or wi fe had the same body type as me. When I went downstairs, I found that the living room was in a mess. I had no idea w hen the men playing cards last night left. Louise had to go to the Taekwondo dojo early in the morning, so she took a cab and left. I was too embarrassed to leave as soon as I got up, so I cleaned up the living room for Derek. Once I was done, I still didn’t see the hoste ss that I had imagined. Derek wasn’t around e ither. I was hesitant to make some breakfast. After hesitating for a while, I we nt to the kitchen. When I turned around and threw the broken eg gshells into the trash can, I found that Der ek was leaning against the kitchen entrance. His hair was wet. Clearly, he had just tak en a shower. He looked quite cool and char ming in a clean white shirt and suit pants. I was embarrassed by his gaze. “I didn’t see you around, so I helped myself t o your kitchen without your permission. I have no idea what you like to eat. T here were some eggs in the fridge, so I figured I’d make some egg sandwiches. He kept on leaning against the kitchen entrance with a gentle smile on his face. “Seeing a woman cook in the kitchen makes me f eel like I have a home