Chapter 2 Birthday Party

In just a flash, fourteen years had already passed.

"Michelle, my dear, you'll be graduating from college tomorrow. And today is your eighteenth birthday. Our classmates will host a party for you. Come one," Bree Su said. She was one of Michelle's best friends, the dearest one of them.

"Bree, forget it. I'm afraid it's better for me to not go. You know, my brother is very strict with me. He'll be so angry with me if I go home late. The last time I got home late, he let me sleep in the living room," Michelle said. "Just forget about the party," she firmly added.

"Don't worry, Michelle. It's your brother that we should forget about," Bree Su insisted. "You'll be graduating. Just find yourself a job and earn for yourself. Then, you'll be able to support yourself and forget all about your cold brother," she added with a slight anger in her voice.

"Bree, don't you dare talk about my brother that way. Even though he's a little strict with me, he's still sweet and nice."

"Oh, I'm sorry Michelle. I didn't mean to say it like that. But you should really attend your own birthday party," Bree Su said, still trying to convince Michelle. She quickly took Michelle's hand and dragged her along with her.

"Hey! Let go of me, Bree. I told you already that I won't go!"

Bree Su continued to pull Michelle until they reached the best bar in A City. Inside the bar, Bree Su guided Michelle towards a luxury room where their classmates were already waiting for Michelle. There were about twenty people waiting to greet Michelle with a happy birthday.

As soon as Michelle showed up in the luxurious room, all of them shouted in unison, "Happy birthday, Michelle!" Everything felt so lively as happiness filled the room.

Michelle looked at everyone who were giving her the most heartfelt birthday greeting. "Thank you. Thank you for celebrating my birthday." Excitement filling her face.

Bree held Michelle's hand and said, "Today is the birthday of our campus beauty, Michelle. Tomorrow, we won't see each other every day anymore. We will be scattered all over. All I can say now is let's enjoy this moment and get drunk!"

"Long live our youth!" everyone exclaimed.

As the party went on, Michelle's classmates got her drunk even though she didn't want to.

"Michelle, don't go home drunk. We weren't planning on going home today. We've checked in the hotel upstairs. You and I will share a room. Come one, I'll walk you upstairs. But let's stay first. I rarely come out. Let's just enjoy!" Bree chuckled.

"You stay here. I can go upstairs myself," said Michelle.

"Are you sure you can do it?" Bree asked.

"Of course," Michelle answered back.

Bree handed the key card to Michelle.

"Well, here's the card. We're at room 888. It's on the fifth floor. Be careful," Bree told Michelle. She was feeling a little uneasy because of how drunk Michelle was.

Michelle, who was obviously buzzed from the alcohol, said, "Room 888. Fifth floor. Can I go now?"

Before Bree could say anything back to Michelle, Michelle had already staggered towards the elevator. As Bree looked over Michelle's back, she thought that nothing bad could probably happen to her. So she turned around and went back to the room and enjoy the night a little bit more.

When Michelle was already inside the elevator, she covered her head, feeling really dizzy. She looked at the card and tried to remember which floor the room was on. "Which floor again?" she mumbled. "Oh, right. The eighth floor!"

Once she reached the eighth floor, Michelle stopped in front of room 8888. "Strange. Why isn't the door closed?" she murmured to herself. 'Could one of the employees forget to close it? Never mind.

I'll just go to bed. I'm so sleepy.'

She pushed the door open and closed it once she was inside the room.

The curtains were not closed and a faint moon light seeped in the room. Michelle staggered towards the bed. As soon as she lay down on the mattress, she fell asleep. There she lay without even noticing a man lying beside her.

In sound sleep, she felt a hand moving on her body.

'Am I dreaming?' she said to herself. 'Or am I just really drunk? Just forget about it. Go back to sleep, Michelle.'

Red-eyed, Carlos Yu looked at the girl beside him. His body suddenly felt a little hot.

"Gabriel Mo, do you think I will sleep with you after you drug me? There will be no more Mo Group in A City in the future.

Little girl, I have to apologize but you ran into my room by yourself."

The strange feeling Michelle felt was becoming more real. She struggled to shake off the hand she was feeling. When Michelle opened her eyes, she was startled by what she saw. Slowly, she became less dizzy and the alcohol had started to wear off of her. She quickly came to her senses and wanted to break off the man. But unfortunately, it was too late.

No matter how hard Michelle cried, Carlos Yu hadn't stopped. Under the influence of drugs, he didn't bother to listen to her pleads.

Michelle's efforts to struggle and shout were all futile.

Carlos Yu continued to pursue his predatory nature. Minutes after, Michelle fainted due to exhaustion.

Early morning... "No!" Michelle shouted. It broke the silence of the entire room.

Having a glance at the whole room, she put her hand on her forehead, slightly shocked. "Fortunately, all of it was a dream. I was almost scared to death." Sitting up, she asked herself, "Was it really just a dream?" She lifted the quilt that was covering her and looked at her naked body. From looking at her body, she realized that what she thought was just a dream turned out to be real after all.

Michelle suddenly burst into tears. Rushing to the bathroom, she crazily tried to rub off the marks on her body until it turned red.

"Tick tock! Tick tock! Tick tock!" The clock kept on moving. Michelle's phone was incessantly ringing while she still tried to rub the marks off of her body.

Immediately, she checked her phone and saw that Bree was calling her non-stop. She picked up the call and cried.

Bree instantly knew that something bad had happened to her. "Michelle, where are you? I couldn't find you anywhere."

"I've been in the room this whole time. Come here, please," Michelle cried.

"Room? What room? I'm also in the room! What room are you in?" Bree asked. She was feeling really anxious.

Still wrapped in her bath towel, Michelle checked the room number.

"I'm in room 8888," she said.

"What?! 888 is our room. I'm on the fifth floor. Wait for me! I'll get you," Bree said.

"I was in the wrong room this whole time," Michelle painfully said. "Come here and bring me a coat please," she continued. She was feeling really embarrassed.

Moments after, Bree finally arrived at room 8888. Michelle quickly opened the door for Bree and hugged her tightly. "Bree, what should I do?" She couldn't help but sob all over Bree.

"Do you remember what that man looks like?" Bree asked.

"I don't remember. I was drunk and it was really dark." Her words were almost drowned by her tears.

"If that's the case, then we're the only ones who know about this. No one else will hear about this. Just forget about it."

"Bree, this is my first time. And I lost it for no reason. I feel really bad," Michelle cried.

"It's not important, Michelle. Just don't think too much about it. Just remember that we were together last night," Bree said as an attempt to comfort Michelle.

"Okay!" Tears still fell down on her cheeks.

"Now get dressed. We have to leave this room as soon as possible."

After Michelle and Bree left, Carlos went back to the room. He didn't see Michelle leaving. There was a red stain on his bed sheet and a dolphin shaped ear stud beside the pillow. He murmured to himself, "Why didn't you wait for me? No worries, I'll just find you."