Chapter 9

"I am not saying you shouldn't call the police if you want, but you should take a look at this first so that you will know who to get arrested," Ryan said.

  Stephanie glanced from the papers Ryan was holding to him. She wondered what he was up to. She grabbed the papers from him and opened it.

  Inside was the details of the debts that Anderson owed and something else… she scanned through the evidence

  She had been drugged the night before. She let out a gasp as she realized who had planned the whole thing. Anderson!

  There were pictures that had been taken from the CCTV camera of the bar where she had been last night. The bar man had added something to her drink after he was seen with Anderson. 

  "What…?" Her lips quivered. The papers fell from her. She slowly looked at Anderson.

  "What's wrong?" Anderson scrambled from the floor. He ran up the stairs to where she was and picked the papers from the floor. 

  His eyes scanned through the page. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. It was enough that what he planned didn't work out yesterday, but what is with the careless attendant who spiked Stephanie's drink?

  "Anderson, shouldn't you explain to her what really happened?" Ryan asked, enjoying the scene. He had only gotten the information about Stephanie being drugged so that he could clear his conscience. The way she had suddenly slept after the incident of last night had been somehow confusing to him. 

  If Anderson had not lied to Stephanie about him pushing Anderson down the stairs, Stephanie wouldn't have known about neither the incident that happened last night nor the debts Anderson owed. The last thing Ryan wanted at the moment was to be arrested. Adding the police station's problem to his already numerous problems would only make things harder for him.

  Anderson wanted to cuss Ryan out for doing something as stupid as this and still having the gut to talk, but he stopped himself and looked at Stephanie. She was staring at him, clearly needing an explanation of what happened.

  "I am sor—" Anderson started to say but Stephanie interrupted him.

  "Explain what happened. Now," she snapped.

  Anderson ran his hand through his hair again as he watched Stephanie's furious and hurt eyes.

  "Actually… well, it happened. Someone spiked your drink at the bar. And… I called you. Remember? You were supposed to come see me at the hotel, but you didn't show up," Anderson said.

  Stephanie had felt drowsy after taking two cups of vodka. She remembered that Anderson called that she should meet him at a hotel, but she had probably told her driver to drive her home. She had thought… well, she had thought she was meeting Anderson in the hotel. She actually thought she had sex with Anderson last night and she had woken up this morning to find herself naked in Ryan's bed. 

  Her face coloured and she became very self-conscious of what had happened. She had not given much thought to it for the past few hours. But… Anderson had drugged her and asked her to meet him in a hotel. What was that supposed to mean? She gasped. 

  Done with watching the drama between the two, Ryan went inside and packed his stuff.  

  When got back outside, he took one last look at the woman he once loved. Right there, he felt all the love he once had for her disappearing. And for the first time in the last few hours, he could feel the heaviness from the heartbreak reduce slightly.

  "You know what, Steph? I think you and your family don't really deserve me."