The woman's opulent dress was half off, exposing her shoulders in the dark hotel room. George swirled the wine in his glass before slowly pouring the red liquid onto her body. It trickled down her pale skin and disappeared into the deep red fabric of her dress, making her appear even more alluring.
Josie bit her tongue, trying to force herself to maintain a sliver of clarity, but to little avail. George leaned in, his tongue sliding over her collarbone like a snake. Meanwhile, his other hand held up his phone, capturing the scandalous moment on camera.
Then, after glancing at a message on his phone, George adjusted Josie's position, making her sit on top of him before he slowly lay down beneath her. When Zelda led Winston's parents in, they saw Josie straddling George's scene.
On the other hand, George looked aside in humiliation and refused to look at her. Mrs. Carter pointed at the lewd scene before her in disbelief, her eyes rolling back as she was about to faint. Later, the scene descended into chaos.
***
When Josie woke up again, she found herself in the hospital once more. The first person she saw was once again Winston, but unlike last time, there was no tenderness in his eyes. The moment he saw her open her eyes, he swung his hand and slapped her hard across the face. "Josie! I brought you to meet my parents and this is how you do it?"
Josie struggled to sit up, her voice hoarse as she said, "Since I'm in the hospital, you should know I was drugged."
Slap! Another slap landed on her face, splitting her lip.
Winston's face was dark with fury. "That is not an excuse for what you did! You were drugged and instead of coming to me, you went to George? Looks like I wasn't wrong about you after all. You're just a greedy, shameless woman who chases after money and pleasure!"
She wanted to say that she had tried to find him, but he had chosen to take care of Zelda instead. Josie also knew that even if she said it, Winston would only believe what he wanted to believe. So, Josie remained silent.
Her silence only fueled his rage. His voice was ice-cold as he spoke again. "Tomorrow at 3 PM, meet me at the City Hall to get our marriage certificate. After that, I'll owe you nothing. Once we're married, I'll leave for France with my parents. You can figure out your own life from there."
The cracks in Josie's already shattered heart deepened further. This incident had given Winston the perfect excuse. Before this, he was probably still struggling to find a way to get rid of her.
Was he more furious or more relieved now? She didn't know and she no longer cared to find out.
The day before their supposed wedding, Josie spent her time in the hospital. During that time, Janice visited her, bringing along documents for a new company and agreements she needed to sign before starting her closed training.
The nursing home also called, informing her that Thomas's condition had improved significantly and there were signs that he might wake up soon. If everything went well, he could regain consciousness within half a month. At the latest, it wouldn't take more than six months.
A flicker of hope reignited in Josie's desolate heart. Maybe her uncle would be back by the time she finished her training.
She packed everything she owned and grabbed a taxi to the airport, holding onto that hope. On the way, she received a message from Winston. He told her that Zelda was devastated because her birthday party had been ruined, so their wedding certificate appointment would be postponed for three days.
Josie took a deep breath and with that, any last bit of hesitation she had disappeared completely. Without a second thought, she blocked and deleted Winston's contacts from all her social media accounts and boarded her flight without looking back.
***
Three days later, outside the City Hall. Winston sat in his car, increasingly irritated as his third call to Josie went unanswered. In a fit of rage, he slammed his phone onto the dashboard. "Damn it! Where the hell is Josie Yaeger? She's already half an hour late!"
He turned to his assistant. "Go to her house and bring her here!"
The assistant hesitated, his voice shaking as he looked at the latest message on his phone. "S-Sir. Miss Yaeger … she's already gone."
