Room for You -
Chapter 2
The room was bathed in a warm glow of the lights. The man who sat on
the couch had flawless features, his handsome face the painstaking
artwork of the heavens. He wore a finely tailored suit that accentuated
his strong silhouette. At present, Elliot Presgrave's eyes turned icy as his
grandmother's steely voice reverberated in his mind. Elliot, you must
take Anastasia Tillman for a wife. I will only have her and no one else as
my granddaughter-in-law in the Presgrave Family. Right now, however,
the only person Elliot was thinking of was the woman whom he had
ravished in the dark all those years ago. That fateful night, his drink had
been laced and rendered him so intoxicated that the only thing he
remembered was how the woman had hopelessly sobbed while she
begged for mercy under him. When all was done, he had taken off his
watch and pressed it into her hand, thereafter passing out in the
dimness of that room. Fast forward to five years later; he was still
looking for her. It was just last week when he learned that she had sold
off his watch at the secondhand market, but the news came too late, for
his grandmother insisted that he take some other woman for a wife.
Just then, his phone rang once more. He picked it up and greeted
brusquely, “What?” “Young Master Elliot, we have found the girl. Her
name is Hayley Seymour, and she was the one who personally sold off
the watch.” “Send me her address, and I'll pay her a visit,” Elliot ordered
as an elated gleam flashed in his eyes. The mysterious girl from that
night has finally been sighted! I have to find her, no matter what. I need
to make it up to her for the things I've done that night. Meanwhile,
Hayley was in the women's boutique. She had taken over the boutique
a little over a year ago, but the business had been on a steady decline.
Struggling to pay rent, she had tried to come up with ways to scrape
together enough money to tide over. At last, she decided to try to sell
the watch she had in her possession, and much to her pleasant surprise,
it fetched a whopping price of five hundred thousand. The watch hadn't
been hers, to begin with. Five years ago, the clubhouse staff had
contacted her and told her that they had retrieved a watch from the
private room, thereafter prompting her to collect it from their lost and
found department. Upon arriving at the club and seeing that it was a
designer men’s watch, she claimed it as her own without even a second
of hesitation. Since then, the watch had been nestling in her closet until
she decided to sell it off at the secondhand market last week. Leading
up to the sale, she hadn't expected that the watch would be worth
much, but that was before she was offered an astonishing five hundred
thousand for it. Hayley was glowing as she stared at the amount of
money she had in her account, and she thought happily to herself, /
guess I can live comfortably for a while longer. At that moment, the door
to her boutique swung open, and she quickly rose to greet the
customer. “Welcome to...” She trailed off then, so stunned that she
abandoned the rest of her words. The man who had entered her
boutique stood tall and straight. He was handsome beyond
comprehension, and he carried with him an innate nobility. It took a
while for Hayley to snap out of her daze before she stumbled over her
words to ask, “I-Is there someone you're looking for, sir?” That was a
fair question, considering she was running a women's boutique. It was
impossible that a man wearing a refined handmade suit would be here
to browse through dresses and the like. He looked like he stood at six
feet two, and there was no mistaking the domineering edge of his
presence. “Hayley Seymour?” Elliot asked as his narrowed eyes locked
onto her. He searched her face, desperately trying to find traces of the
woman from five years ago. “Y-Yes, that's me. And you are...” She
couldn't quite finish her words; her faculty of speech was going haywire
under the man’s burning gaze. Having heard her reply, the man
reached into his pocket and produced a men’s watch before her, then
asked in a deep, rumbling voice, “Has this watch been in your
possession all these years?” Hayley glanced at the watch and instantly
felt the urge to shrink into herself. Blinking guiltily, she stammered, “Y-
Yes, the watch is... mine.” “And you were the woman from the Abyss
Club five years ago? The one who was in Room 808?" Elliot pressed,
eyeing the girl in front of him intently as he thought with a start, Could
she really be the girl from that night? The wheels in Hayley's mind
began to turn furiously. Room 808 from five years ago... Wasn't that the
room where Erica and I set Anastasia up? Why is this man asking me
about that incident? Without dwelling too much on this, she answered
straightforwardly, “Of course, that was me.” “Keep this watch from now
on, and don't try to pawn it off again. I'll make it up to you for what
happened that night,” he said as he handed the watch to her. “I'm Elliot
Presgrave. Remember my name, will you?” Hayley looked up at him in
shock. Elliot Presgrave? As in, the heir to Presgrave Corporation, the
leading conglomerate? "Y-You're Elliot Presgrave?” she asked, so
overwhelmed she might collapse. The man next to Elliot handed her a
name card and interjected, “Miss Seymour, this is our young master’s
name card. You may look for him if you need his help in any way.” She
took the card with one shaky hand, and when she saw the shell-
shocking name embossed onto the gold stationery, her heart nearly
flew out of her chest. So the guy who slept with Anastasia five years ago
was not the male escort we arranged for her, but this fine specimen who
happens to be the heir to the Presgraves’ family fortune? As realization
dawned upon her, Hayley reached out and grabbed Elliot's arm, then
forced tears to spring to her eyes as she threw a fit. “You have to take
responsibility, Elliot. Do you know how hurt and traumatized I was after
that night?” With that, she looked down and cried crocodile tears,
sobbing miserably like she was the one who had been violated five
years ago. There was only one thing on her mind right now: to step into
Anastasia’s shoes and assume the role of the victim from that fateful
night. She was set on having Elliot take responsibility so that she could
get more benefits out of this. Ultimately, she hoped to marry the man
and become Mrs. Presgrave. “Don’t worry, I promise to take
responsibility,” the man said solemnly, his husky voice steady and
reassuring. “Miss Seymour, Young Master Elliot has arranged a villa for
you, and you can move in anytime. He will take care of all your needs
from now on.” Elliot's personal assistant, Rey Osborne, pointed out
helpfully. Hayley's eyes lit up at once. She was so ecstatic she could
pass out. A world of riches and glamor will soon be in my hands! “There
are some things I have to take care of, so I'll get going,” Elliot said, then
after casting Hayley a brief look, he turned to leave. When the door
swung shut behind him, Hayley clutched the watch tightly. She was so
overwhelmed by this unexpected turn of events that she could cry. “I'm
going to be rich! Rich!” While she celebrated the windfall, she found
herself hoping viciously that Anastasia had dropped dead within the
last five years so that she wouldn't appear out of nowhere like roadkill.
In the understated luxury ride, Elliot sat in the backseat with his eyes
closed. Is Hayley really the woman from five years ago? Why does she
seem different? Or have five years changed her? The orange rays of the
setting sun spilled through the car window and played over the man’s
chiseled features. He looked so handsome that it was hard to believe he
wasn't some valuable piece of art that belonged in a museum; there
was no one who could replicate such fine looks. He was the true
successor to Presgrave Group. He had taken over the reins five years
ago and launched the conglomerate to new heights, so much so that it
was crowned first place among the world's leading companies. On that
fateful night five years ago, he had experienced his first and only
downfall in his lifetime. One of his rivals had spiked his drink in hopes
of manipulating him into ruining his own reputation. Elliot had saved
himself by darting into the private room, but just as the effect of the
drug was at its peak, a random woman scurried in and relieved him of
his predicament. Since then, the fact that he had just ravished and
taken away a girl's innocence had been weighing on his conscience. He
was sure that she had been chaste up to that night, for when he woke
up after the deed, he saw under the lights of the private room the
traces of blood that stained the couch. As he thought about the
scattered mess in the private room that followed his misdeed, he
stopped doubting Hayley's identity and his impression of her. I have to
take responsibility for what I've done to her. While this was happening,
Anastasia was in her apartment somewhere abroad as she said on the
phone, “Got it. Give me three days tops to return to the country and
prepare for the competition.” “Mommy, are we going back?” A small
figure wandered over to her side. He wore a blue checkered shirt and a
pair of denim shorts. His features were delicately chiseled, albeit
childish. He was only four or so, but there was unmistakable grace and
elegance to his movements. Anastasia smiled and nodded. “Would you
like to go back with me?”
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