Chapter 9 Delete The Footage!

"What's wrong?" Cara asked her roommate, Lily, who was a travel blogger, and most of the time out to explore the world.

"You haven't contributed in rent for the last three months! What do you expect?" She asked Cara.

"I know I am sorry, but I'll do the next month. I promise!" Cara said, but Lily wasn't convinced.

She slid the suitcase in her direction. "Please don't waste my time and show yourself out. I can't do charity anymore!" Lily gave a tired look and Cara's eyes filled with tears.

"Please don't do this to me, Lily! Where would I go in the middle of the night." Cara said.

"That's not my problem! Why don't you sell your luxury car and pay for the damn expenses?" She raised her voice.

"I have got the job in the famous club! See, this is my appointment letter." She took out a folded paper from her bag and passed it to Lily. "The pay is good! I can pay the rent from next month and save something for myself."

"Please, Lily, have mercy!" Cara begged, tears flowing from her eyes.

Lily gave the letter back to her. "Look, I earn good, but that doesn't mean the expenses are solely my responsibility. This is your last chance. If you failed to pay the rent next time, I will throw you out."

Cara nodded, wiping her tears. "I won't disappoint you!" She said and moved to her room when Lily stopped her and locked the room. "What happened?"

"You can't use the room until you clear the dues!" She stated. "You can sleep on the floor or can take the couch, whatever suits you!" She said and disappeared into her room, closing the door behind her back.

Cara smiled bitterly. She kept her bags in the corner and slumped down on the worn-out couch. Her legs were killing, and she was too tired to even mourn over her fate, but like every night, she didn't forget to ask God.

"Why me?"

***

The next morning, Keith was making breakfast, and he played music raising the volume. Natalie creased her forehead and covered her ear with a pillow, groaning in frustration. "Babe, turn off the music!!" The tattooed guy sleeping next to her shrieked.

Natalie sat on the bed rubbing her eyes and wrapped bedsheets around her. She had a throbbing pain in her head and somehow she managed to step down and walked out of the room. She reached the music system and turned it off.

"Why did you turn off the music?" The voice came, and she turned, only to find Keith standing with a tray.

Natalie was aghast. She widened her eyes, staring at him, and was unable to form a word. "You know I love music while cooking?" Keith said, placing the tray filled with food on the table and taking a sip of his orange juice.

"Keith, you are here!" Natalie couldn't believe her eyes. "You texted me you'd be out of the town for a few days!" She asked. "Cancelled your plan last minute?"

"My life isn't much interesting to talk about! Tell me about yourself." He eyed her and Natalie gulped, watching him.

"I was sleeping," She said biting her lips.

Keith took another sip of his juice and smirked. "With whom?" He asked and Natalie tightened her hold on the bedsheet she wrapped around herself.

"I-I.." She couldn't meet his eyes.

"Change into something bearable for my sight!" He said, and she disappeared into the room she shared with him. She watched the guy sleeping on their bed and sprinted to open the wardrobe, only to find it empty. In fact, all her belongings disappeared except a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with her undergarments on the couch.

Keith almost finished his breakfast when he got a text from the Ascent Group. He saw the picture of the girl who was appointed at his insistence. Keith recalled meeting Cara at the club and he fumed in anger as she sent someone else into her place. "All women are the same!" He thought bitterly.

"Fire her! She is an imposter," He texted and turned his phone off when Natalie appeared. Keith rose from the couch and threw her suitcases at her feet.

Instinctively, she took a step back, widening her eyes, "Keith, I can explain to you! Please," She said in a high pitch.

Keith chuckled, "I have seen you kissing him in the club, bringing him to our apartment... my apartment precisely, and spending a night with him on my bed! What is left to explain?" He asked.

"Babe, I'm sorry! I was drunk. This won't happen ever again," She pleaded, her eyes clouded with tears. "I love you!"

Keith clenched his jaws, "Gone those days when your tears used to affect me! You cheated on me right before my eyes, Natalie! And I surely don't deserve this when I'm working my ass off for our better future!" He glared at her.

"I was lonely! You never have time for me. But I know what I did was wrong. I am sorry!" She said and Keith huffed.

"Care to share the details of your blind date your friend set you up for the last week?" He lifted an eyebrow, and Natalie turned pale.

"H-How..." She trailed off.

"Yeah, how I know?" Keith asked. "Because I'm a fucking cop and I know what the fuck goes around behind my back! Just I don't confront you every fucking time."

"This wouldn't have happened if you had given me time! You've forced me into another man's arm," Natalie accused Keith.

"Right, that's why I'm breaking up with you now! So that you can forever drown in the arms of other men!" Keith retorted.

"Keith, I love you!" Natalie cried while he sat on the couch crossing his legs and laughing.

"You don't love me, you love the fortune I hold." He said, his eyes pinned on her. "You love the heir of the Ascent Group, Keith Wilson!" He said each word loud and clear.

Natalie stood in her place wordlessly. There was a minute of silence between them when Keith spoke again. "I won't change my decision, Natalie. You're just wasting your time here!"

"Fine! I am going, but you're going to regret your decision." She gritted out, and taking her luggage, she moved to exit from the door.

The loud thud of the door marked Natalie's exit from his life and Keith wiped tears from the corner of his eyes. He genuinely loved Natalie despite everyone telling him she was using him for money, but he never believed them.

"What's going on here?" The tattooed guy walked out of the room just in his boxers, rubbing his eyes, and Keith narrowed his eyes, watching him. "Where is Natalie?" He asked, taking the couch across from him.

"She just left!" Keith answered, and the guy nodded, stretching his arms. "You must be tired after all night long actions?" Keith said, and the guy smirked proudly.

"Yeah, can I get a coffee, please?" He asked.

"Sure!" Keith rose from the couch and walked into the kitchen.

"By the way, who are you? Natalie's roommate?" He asked.

"Boyfriend!" Keith corrected. "I mean ex-boyfriend. We just broke up and she left!"

***

Aries was sitting on the bed resting his head against the headrest, his thumb scrolling the video of the dark alley on his phone. He doesn't remember how many times he has seen the video in the last three days, yet he couldn't get over it or with an obsession with finding the girl he kissed.

Alyona softly moaned, opened her dreamy hazel eyes, and smiled at Aries. She pulled the cover tight against her chest and pecked Aries on the cheek. "Good morning!" She said, her voice came out sluggish and Aries gave a tight smile, appearing a little distant.

"You were the beast on the bed last night!" She said seductively, her slender finger caressing his sharp jawline.

Aries held her hand and looked at her. "Why don't you get ready and I drop you at your hotel?" He asked.

"Already want to get rid off me?" Alyona smirked.

"Nope, I have got an important meeting!" He said, but Alyona cut him off.

"Don't let me stop you! You can go to your meeting. I can handle myself," She said.

"Wow, really? You aren't cringy like other women?" Aries raised an eyebrow and Alyona chuckled.

"Okay, then!" Aries stood back on his feet while Alyona stared at him. "I'll see you later!" He smiled and turned to leave while Alyona watched him, and as he reached the door, Alyona called him.

"Aries?" Alyona said.

"Yes!" Aries turned to her.

She walked to him, tightening the bedsheet around her body. Her face was an inch away from him. "If you ever think about trying a relationship, I'm willing to wait for you," Alyona said and pecked on his cheek.

***

Late afternoon,

Cara woke up on the couch, stretching her arms. She sat on the couch making a messy bun of her hair when her eyes find her room keys along with a note. She opened the note, and it was a message from her roommate.

"I tried to be heartless, but I can't be. I'm trusting you the last time, Cara. Don't disappoint me this time!"

Cara folded the paper and took the keys of her room. Her phone started ringing on the centre table and it was Sandra. "Hey!" Cara received the call.

"I lost the job!" Sandra cried on the other side.

"What?" Cara shrieked. "Why? I mean How?"

"The manager summoned me to his cabin and called me an imposter. He also said that they would make sure I won't get a job anywhere!" Sandra said and Cara was confused at first.

"Imposter?" She wondered.

"I think they were referring to me replacing you," Sandra said. "But how did they get to know?"

Cara recalled the brief meeting with Keith at the club and understood what has gone wrong. "Sandra, calm down, please!" She said while the latter was panicking on the other side. "I'll see what I can do for you. Please be patient!" She said, and they ended the call.

Cara was thinking hard to solve her friend's problem, but there was no way for her to reach Keith. She searched the Ascent Group on her phone and decided to visit them to solve the issue and give Sandra's job back to her.

An hour later, she took a bus to reach the Ascent Group and her eyes travelled all the way up, watching the massive building. She walked in through the entrance but stopped in her track when she saw Alfred Doyle shaking hands with some gentlemen. She gulped the lump that formed in her throat and her eyes widened when Cynthia Glazier and her daughter Isla Glazier came into the picture and joined Alfred Doyle.

Before they could catch a glimpse of Cara, she turned and ran out without stopping or glancing back.

***

Grayson Group of Hotels,

"Why were you so restless during the entire meeting?" Simon asked Aries.

"Don't ask me anything right now. I fucking lost the deal!" He threw a crystal paperweight on the floor and it shattered.

Simon sighed watching Aries. "Are you still looking for the woman you kissed in the alley?" He asked. "Why are you after her?"

"I don't know!!" Aries shrieked, his eyes travelled to Simon. "I haven't seen her, yet she has possessed my mind! I can't get her off my head. I feel like I'm losing a battle when I realise I won't find her ever! It frustrates me to no end." He resigned in his high executive armchair.

Simon stayed silent for a few moments while Aries was in deep thought when he heard him saying. "Delete the footage and move on!"