"Remember what I told you, Marcus. This is the only way we can get the staff to let you check the footages," Derek said upon their arrival at the Kingston's Hotel."Yeah, I got it," Marcus says in return as they approach the receptionist counter.The receptionist behind the counter immediately flashes both of them a smile when she sights them walking over."Welcome to Kingston's Hotel. How may I help you?" she asks, maintaining the smile on her face.Marcus looks around first before saying, "I stayed here some days ago. And during my stay, I came with a watch which I seemed to have forgotten after I left. Can you help me look into that?"The receptionist assesses him to clarify his face. "Hold on, sir. Let me have your details first.""It's Marcus. Marcus Thurstan.""Alright."The receptionist proceeds to type into the system she had in front of her and in no time she got the information she needed.Meanwhile, Derek's eyes were lingering about as he tried to understand what could have
It was Nadia, Catherine's close friend and colleague. She was the lady inside the familiar car and to his surprise, it wasn't her husband she was kissing.Derek couldn't believe his eyes. Nadia was cheating on her husband with another man right in the open? This was too strange to believe.Nadia opens her eyes and suddenly noticed Derek standing right outside her car. Instantly she pulled away from the kiss and adjusted herself.With shame written all over her face, she stepped out of the vehicle, walking up to Derek who just stared at her like she was a disgusting creature."I never knew you had a new husband," Derek said with the intention to mock her. "Or should I call that man in there your lover?"Nadia snorts. "It's not like I'm the only one who has a lover," she says, looking away from him.Derek heard that loud and clear and it was too much of information to process because he knew she was getting somewhere with that."What do you mean by that?""Nothing," she says, folding he
"It wasn't a regular party. The party had a lot of businessmen and we had to perform for them due to some business reasons.The managing director even made us dance with this so-called businessmen and I think that was what caused the misunderstanding you heard over the phone."Nadia explained all that to Derek and it took him back to the day he received the skirt in the box.How he had called Catherine and then Nadia was still fresh in his memory and he remembered the particular detail that got him confused."Are you saying that whoever that man was that made that statement about my wife danced with her before dancing with you?" Derek asks to clarify the situation."Yes, that's what I'm saying," Nadia states. "Even after the party, some of those businessmen tried to book private appointments with me but I declined all of their offers because I couldn't do such."Derek looked at her sarcastically. Like, how was he supposed to believe that she really declined the offers of those who wan
"The ropes were indeed tight enough," Nadia admitted. "But I don't think they were enough to cause bruises on one's body. Well I wouldn't know since I wasn't part of the hostages."Derek immediately began to suspect that Catherine must have had those bruises on her body before she participated in the game.She must have used the game as an excuse to cover up for the fact that she already got the bruises. It was all too complicated for him as he thought about it."Did you guys by any chance lodge in this hotel?" he asked."You know, I was going to ask what you were doing here in the first place. I mean, it's a way long distance away from the city," Nadia said."Just answer the question I asked you.""Well, we did lodge here after the dance party at Filandel. Most of us crashed here on the company's account."It was beginning to make more sense to him now. There was a much serious truth about Catherine being in that hotel truly."Then did you happen to know what my wife got herself invo
"The problem now is that the description you just gave to me seems to be matching with a lot of male colleagues in the company. So if you could be more specific…"Derek frowned almost instantly. For a moment he thought he was going to uncover the truth about his wife's infidelity but he has just been sent back to another route."You're telling me that you cannot just think about someone that matches that description without me giving you a full explanation?" he quizzes."Well, there's Philip, there's Arnold, Benjamin, Roland and more of them. I just need more details on that," she clarifies.This is no use, he says to himself inwardly."And there's no one else with a similar nickname to my wife, right?""There are similar ones but not the same type with Kathy's.""You can leave now. But I'll be in touch with you. And you had better pick my calls whenever I reach out."Without even waiting for her to say anything, he turns around and then walks up to his car which he got into and drove
Catherine had just slapped Gina across the face to Derek's surprise. He didn't even see that coming. "You slut!" Catherine points a finger in the direction of the bewildered Gina. "You think you can take my husband from me, right? It's not possible. Not when I'm still his legally wedded wife!" "Ma, I think there's a misunderstanding. Your husband was just trying to—" Gina tries to explain but was cut short. "Spare me the crap. And this is a warning to you. Stay away from my husband!" "Kathy, what are you doing?" Derek asks his wife. She faces him instantly. "I can't believe you've been suspecting me of cheating on you when it's what you've been doing all along!" "But this is just a misunderstanding. I can promise you that's it not what you think." "It's not what I think? Oh really? I caught you right in the act and you say it's not what I think?" He couldn't believe this. How could the tables turn all of a sudden? Initially it was him accusing her of infidelity and now it has
He stared at the phone, letting it ring without bothering to pick it up.He couldn't pick it up now when his wife was beside him. He had to find a chance to get alone.And by the time the the call ended, he glanced in the direction of Catherine to see her staring at him weirdly.The phone rings again and without even staring at the screen, he silenced the phone before switching it off. "What's stopping you from picking your call?" Catherine asks from beside him. "It's not important," he says, trying as much as possible to keep his focus on the road ahead. Fortunately, she doesn't say anything else and neither did she bring up the matter of what happened in his office. The ride all through was a silent one and he couldn't be more than grateful for the temporal peace, knowing how complicated he still found himself. Not too long after, they arrived at their destination. Except it wasn't their home. "What are we doing here?" Catherine had to ask upon sighting that they were packed i
The instant they arrived home, Catherine didn't wait before heading in first. Derek could only watch, knowing she was still unhappy with him.He followed her from behind until he got inside their apartment. Once he saw that she was attempting to ascend the stairs, he decided to speak."You never told me how the party went…"Slowly, Catherine turned around to look at him. "What party?" she asks."Your company's?"At first, she passes him a suspicious look as if trying to gauge the reason for his question. But she switches after being unable to gauge anything from his reaction."Didn't we talk about it already?""Not everything," Derek said in return, hoping she wouldn't see through the fact that they never even discussed anything related to a party in the first place."We did have a party. And it was okay, I guess?""What type of party was it?"She shrugs. "The kind that a company hosts. There were a whole lot of businessmen in it and I couldn't even keep up with the whole thing."It w