Room for You
Chapter 2

The room was bathed in a warm glow of the lights. The man who sat onthe couch had flawless features, his handsome face the painstakingartwork of the heavens. He wore a finely tailored suit that accentuatedhis strong silhouette. At present, Elliot Presgrave's eyes turned icy as hisgrandmother's steely voice reverberated in his mind. Elliot, you musttake Anastasia Tillman for a wife. I will only have her and no one else asmy granddaughter-in-law in the Presgrave Family. Right now, however,the only person Elliot was thinking of was the woman whom he hadravished in the dark all those years ago. That fateful night, his drink hadbeen laced and rendered him so intoxicated that the only thing heremembered was how the woman had hopelessly sobbed while shebegged for mercy under him. When all was done, he had taken off hiswatch and pressed it into her hand, thereafter passing out in thedimness of that room. Fast forward to five years later; he was stilllooking for her. It was just last week when he learned that she had soldoff his watch at the secondhand market, but the news came too late, forhis grandmother insisted that he take some other woman for a wife.Just then, his phone rang once more. He picked it up and greetedbrusquely, “What?” “Young Master Elliot, we have found the girl. Hername is Hayley Seymour, and she was the one who personally sold offthe watch.” “Send me her address, and I'll pay her a visit,” Elliot orderedas an elated gleam flashed in his eyes. The mysterious girl from thatnight has finally been sighted! I have to replace her, no matter what. I needto 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 boutiquea 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 scrapetogether enough money to tide over. At last, she decided to try to sellthe watch she had in her possession, and much to her pleasant surprise,it fetched a whopping price of five hundred thousand. The watch hadn'tbeen hers, to begin with. Five years ago, the clubhouse staff hadcontacted her and told her that they had retrieved a watch from theprivate room, thereafter prompting her to collect it from their lost andfound department. Upon arriving at the club and seeing that it was adesigner men’s watch, she claimed it as her own without even a secondof hesitation. Since then, the watch had been nestling in her closet untilshe decided to sell it off at the secondhand market last week. Leadingup to the sale, she hadn't expected that the watch would be worthmuch, but that was before she was offered an astonishing five hundredthousand for it. Hayley was glowing as she stared at the amount ofmoney she had in her account, and she thought happily to herself, /guess I can live comfortably for a while longer. At that moment, the doorto her boutique swung open, and she quickly rose to greet thecustomer. “Welcome to...” She trailed off then, so stunned that sheabandoned the rest of her words. The man who had entered herboutique stood tall and straight. He was handsome beyondcomprehension, and he carried with him an innate nobility. It took awhile for Hayley to snap out of her daze before she stumbled over herwords to ask, “I-Is there someone you're looking for, sir?” That was afair question, considering she was running a women's boutique. It wasimpossible that a man wearing a refined handmade suit would be hereto browse through dresses and the like. He looked like he stood at sixfeet two, and there was no mistaking the domineering edge of hispresence. “Hayley Seymour?” Elliot asked as his narrowed eyes lockedonto her. He searched her face, desperately trying to replace traces of thewoman from five years ago. “Y-Yes, that's me. And you are...” Shecouldn't quite finish her words; her faculty of speech was going haywireunder the man’s burning gaze. Having heard her reply, the manreached into his pocket and produced a men’s watch before her, thenasked in a deep, rumbling voice, “Has this watch been in yourpossession all these years?” Hayley glanced at the watch and instantlyfelt the urge to shrink into herself. Blinking guiltily, she stammered, “Y-Yes, the watch is... mine.” “And you were the woman from the AbyssClub 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, Couldshe really be the girl from that night? The wheels in Hayley's mindbegan to turn furiously. Room 808 from five years ago... Wasn't that theroom where Erica and I set Anastasia up? Why is this man asking meabout that incident? Without dwelling too much on this, she answeredstraightforwardly, “Of course, that was me.” “Keep this watch from nowon, and don't try to pawn it off again. I'll make it up to you for whathappened that night,” he said as he handed the watch to her. “I'm ElliotPresgrave. Remember my name, will you?” Hayley looked up at him inshock. Elliot Presgrave? As in, the heir to Presgrave Corporation, theleading conglomerate? "Y-You're Elliot Presgrave?” she asked, sooverwhelmed she might collapse. The man next to Elliot handed her aname card and interjected, “Miss Seymour, this is our young master’sname card. You may look for him if you need his help in any way.” Shetook the card with one shaky hand, and when she saw the shell-shocking name embossed onto the gold stationery, her heart nearlyflew out of her chest. So the guy who slept with Anastasia five years agowas not the male escort we arranged for her, but this fine specimen whohappens to be the heir to the Presgraves’ family fortune? As realizationdawned upon her, Hayley reached out and grabbed Elliot's arm, thenforced tears to spring to her eyes as she threw a fit. “You have to takeresponsibility, Elliot. Do you know how hurt and traumatized I was afterthat night?” With that, she looked down and cried crocodile tears,sobbing miserably like she was the one who had been violated fiveyears ago. There was only one thing on her mind right now: to step intoAnastasia’s shoes and assume the role of the victim from that fatefulnight. She was set on having Elliot take responsibility so that she couldget more benefits out of this. Ultimately, she hoped to marry the manand become Mrs. Presgrave. “Don’t worry, I promise to takeresponsibility,” the man said solemnly, his husky voice steady andreassuring. “Miss Seymour, Young Master Elliot has arranged a villa foryou, and you can move in anytime. He will take care of all your needsfrom now on.” Elliot's personal assistant, Rey Osborne, pointed outhelpfully. Hayley's eyes lit up at once. She was so ecstatic she couldpass out. A world of riches and glamor will soon be in my hands! “Thereare some things I have to take care of, so I'll get going,” Elliot said, thenafter casting Hayley a brief look, he turned to leave. When the doorswung shut behind him, Hayley clutched the watch tightly. She was sooverwhelmed by this unexpected turn of events that she could cry. “I'mgoing to be rich! Rich!” While she celebrated the windfall, she foundherself hoping viciously that Anastasia had dropped dead within thelast 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 eyesclosed. Is Hayley really the woman from five years ago? Why does sheseem different? Or have five years changed her? The orange rays of thesetting sun spilled through the car window and played over the man’schiseled features. He looked so handsome that it was hard to believe hewasn't some valuable piece of art that belonged in a museum; therewas no one who could replicate such fine looks. He was the truesuccessor to Presgrave Group. He had taken over the reins five yearsago and launched the conglomerate to new heights, so much so that itwas crowned first place among the world's leading companies. On thatfateful night five years ago, he had experienced his first and onlydownfall in his lifetime. One of his rivals had spiked his drink in hopesof manipulating him into ruining his own reputation. Elliot had savedhimself by darting into the private room, but just as the effect of thedrug was at its peak, a random woman scurried in and relieved him ofhis predicament. Since then, the fact that he had just ravished andtaken away a girl's innocence had been weighing on his conscience. Hewas sure that she had been chaste up to that night, for when he wokeup after the deed, he saw under the lights of the private room thetraces of blood that stained the couch. As he thought about thescattered mess in the private room that followed his misdeed, hestopped doubting Hayley's identity and his impression of her. I have totake responsibility for what I've done to her. While this was happening,Anastasia was in her apartment somewhere abroad as she said on thephone, “Got it. Give me three days tops to return to the country andprepare for the competition.” “Mommy, are we going back?” A smallfigure wandered over to her side. He wore a blue checkered shirt and apair of denim shorts. His features were delicately chiseled, albeitchildish. He was only four or so, but there was unmistakable grace andelegance to his movements. Anastasia smiled and nodded. “Would youlike to go back with me?”