Chapter Three - The handsome devilish stranger

Chloe opened her eyes, excruciating pain emerged from her back, she looked around her environment to see that she had run into a pole. Her car was damaged badly and was full of smoke; she removed the seatbelt and grabbed her bags. “Shit!” She cursed as she got out of the car, the ringing in her head intensified. “Was I trying to kill myself just now?” She asked into the peering darkness.

“Shit,” she cursed again as she walked along searching for a taxi.

“Chloe, what the hell happened to you?” Her sister asked. As soon as she got inside, ignoring her, Chloe stumbled upstairs.

Did she come home drunk?” her mother asked to come out of the kitchen, but her sister shook her head. “She was bleeding through.” She opened the door, peering outside.

“Her car isn’t parked either,”

“Chloe!” her mother yelled as she climbed up the stairs after her, but Chloe had gotten inside and had bolted the door.

“Chloe, open this door!” her mother yelled from the other end, banging on the door continuously. “Chloe, what happened? At least talk to me.”

Chloe’s hands were shaking as she picked up the picture frame that Ken had given her for their anniversary. She stared at it for a moment, the memories flooding back. They had been so happy together, but now all she felt was betrayal and hurt.

Without warning, Chloe flung the picture frame across the room. It hit the wall with a loud crack, and the glass shattered into a million pieces. Chloe didn’t care, she just wanted to destroy everything that reminded her of Ken.

“Chloe, are you alright? For the love of God, open up!” her mother yelled.

It was too late because she had started tearing apart her room, overturning her dresser and ripping down her curtains. She grabbed the pot of flowers that Ken had given her on their first date and hurled it across the room. It smashed against the wall, sending shards of glass flying everywhere.

Chloe could hear her mother’s voice from outside the door, asking if she was okay. She didn’t answer, she just kept turning and tossing things over. Her anger was consuming her, and she couldn’t stop herself.

As she destroyed everything in her path, Chloe felt a sense of release. Each item she smashed was like a small victory, a way to take control of the situation. She didn’t care about the consequences, she just wanted to feel something other than the pain and hurt that had consumed her.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Chloe collapsed on the floor, surrounded by the ruins of her room. She was exhausted, emotionally and physically drained. But she didn’t feel any better.

She opened her eyes slowly, feeling the weight of exhaustion pull at her weak limbs. Her head was heavy and her eyes bleary, she got up from her sleeping position as she had fallen asleep on the cold floor.

She glanced around the room, taking in the now unfamiliar surroundings. The bed was unmade, the blankets a tangled mess, glass, paper, clothes all over the place.

“What the hell happened here?” she asked herself, a sudden pain shot up from her head again. “Shit! I thought that was a dream.”

Her phone blasted from the other end of the room, she ran across the room to answer it. “Hello,”

“Good morning, Am I unto Ms. Chloe Sutton?” It was a young man on the other end, and she didn’t know the number either.

“Yes, it is I. Who are you?”

“My name is Officer Bentley. Did you get into an accident last night? Security footage shows a woman getting out of the car after the accident, but we are not sure if that’s you.” Chloe’s heart quickened in her chest.

“Yes, that was me.” She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

“You should come down to the station once you have taken care of your health, or we will be forced to come over to your house.”

“I’ll go to the station this afternoon.” She said with a nervous laugh.

“Thank you for your cooperation, Ms. Sutton.”

There was a knock at the door, and she flinched, putting her phone away immediately. She heard her sister’s voice, muffled through the wood.

“Chloe, are you okay? Can I come in?”

She didn’t answer. She didn’t know how to face them after last night, she didn’t know how to break the news to them.

She knocked again, and then there was a long pause. Chloe could hear her sister’s footsteps receding down the stairs, and she let out a sigh of relief.

She fell on her unmade bed, feeling the weight of sleep pulling her under once again.

She slowly opened her eyes, the headache that she once felt receding. She felt the sunlight filtering through the blinds and warming her face.

She managed to push herself out of bed, feeling the stiffness in her muscles from the accident and the hours of inactivity. She cleared her room, clearing out the shards of glass and pieces of clothes and broken accessories. She hung back her curtains, feeling deep regret for the rampage. She took a deep breath and made her way down the stairs, bracing herself for the questions she knew were coming.

Her mom and sister were sitting at the kitchen table, sipping coffee and chatting softly. They looked up as she entered the room, concern etched on their faces. Her mom stood up, a worried expression on her face.

“Chloe, honey, are you okay? We’ve been so worried about you,” she said, coming over to give her a hug.

Chloe stiffened in her embrace, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. She knew she needed to tell them what had happened, even though the thought of it made her feel sick to her stomach.

“I…I caught Ken and Janet together,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Her sister’s eyes widened in the shock of the news, and her mom’s grip loosened.

Chloe felt a lump form in her throat, and she struggled to get the words out.

“Ken broke up with me and I ended things with Janet,” she drawled, her voice shaking.

Her mom pulled back, looking at Chloe with a mixture of shock and concern. Her sister reached out to take her hand, and she felt a wave of gratitude wash over her. At least she has the support of her family.

“It’s okay, Chloe, you don’t need those scumbags anyway,” her sister said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Yeah, you’ll surely meet someone better.” Her mother reassured her.

She checked her phone to see about fifty missed calls. Her eyes widened over breakfast. “Mom, since when have I been locked up in my room?” She asked curiously; half of the calls were from Eric and some of them from Veronica.

“Hum… I think about two days?” she asked her sister. “No, it’s three days.” Her sister confirmed.

“Shit! Shit! Why didn’t you wake me up?” she shouted, grabbing her purse and running out of the house.

“We tried, but you didn’t…” Her sister was cut off by the slamming of the door.

“Good gracious, that girl has been a mess ever since your father died.” Her mother mouthed, shaking her head. “I forgot to ask where her car was.”

Chloe arrived at the office. Veronica was the first to approach her, her eyes filled with concern.

“Miss Chloe, where have you been? We’ve been trying to reach you for two days,” she said, her voice tinged with frustration.

She felt a wave of guilt wash over her. She had been so caught up in her personal problems that she hadn’t even thought about how her absence had affected the company.

“I’m sorry, Veronica. I’ve been dealing with some personal issues,” she said, her voice quiet.

Veronica’s expression softened, and she put a hand on her arm.

“Is everything okay? Do you need some time off?” she asked, her concern genuine. “I’ve been feeling you’ve been too hard on yourself, lately.”

Chloe shook her head. “No, I’m okay. I just needed some time to sort things out.”

Veronica nodded, but she could tell she wasn’t entirely satisfied. And then she dropped the bombshell.

“We had an investor coming in to meet with us yesterday, but because you weren’t available, we lost the deal,” she said, her tone hardening.

Chloe’s heart sank; curse on Ken and Janet, may they rot in hell. She felt disappointed in herself, she had always prided herself on being a reliable and dedicated businesswoman, but she had let her personal problems get in the way of her job.

Erica approached, her expression stern.

Chloe’s heart quickened in her chest.

“Chloe, you need to understand that this kind of behavior is unacceptable; business wise. You are running a business here, and you can’t afford to have a C.E.O who isn’t professional or reliable,” she said, her tone scolding.

She felt a sense of shame wash over her.

“I’m sorry, I got into an accident.” She replied with her voice barely above a whisper.

“From what I see, it isn’t something so serious.”

Erica said, her voice commanding and bossy, as usual. “Business should always go on as long as you’re alive.”

Veronica felt sorry for Chloe, she was trying her best, but Erica here is being too hard on her. It is also important to note that this was a first for Chloe.

“We’ll talk more about this later. For now, I need you to focus on catching up on the work you missed,” she said, before turning and walking away.

Chloe took a deep breath, feeling the weight of work settling heavily on her shoulders.

“Yes ma’am.” At this point she knew she needed to give up on every last ounce of pride and work till she got back on her feet. Only then could she make Ken pay dearly.

Erica was ruthless and merciless, she was a hard woman and was trying to build Chloe in that model. According to her, a perfect businesswoman. After the day was over, Chloe carried her tired body home, and since she doesn’t have a car anymore. She hired a taxi.

As she walked up the path to her family home, she was listening to music from her ear pods, her mind going back to Ken and Janet and her blood boiled.

But as she approached the house, she could see that something was off. There were a group of men standing outside, their voices raised in a heated argument with their mother.

She was confused for a moment, unsure of what to do. But then she squared her shoulders and approached them, determined to figure out what was going on, and what they were doing on her property.

“Excuse me, what’s happening here?” Chloe asked, her voice firm, but her eyes revealing her tiredness.

“Chloe,” her sister ran behind her.

The men turned to look at her, their expressions condescending.

“This doesn’t concern you,” one of them said, his tone dismissive.

She felt a flicker of anger ignite in her chest.

“I beg to differ. This is my house, and I have a right to know what’s going on,” she said, her voice rising.

The men hesitated, glancing at each other's uncertainty. And then one of them walked towards them, he had been standing off in the distance and was watching silently while he smoked.

And then she looked up at him, since he was much taller than her.

He was standing at the center of the group, his towering frame and chiseled features both intriguing and striking. He had a menacing look in his eyes that sent shivers down her spine.

He was wearing a black cap so she couldn’t see his face, but he was exclusively dressed, with a snake tattoo on his neck.

He looked important and yet dangerous at the same time.

But despite the danger that emanated from him, Chloe couldn’t help but feel drawn to him. There was something about him that was magnetic, that made it impossible for her to look away.

“I see you’re also Mr. Sutton’s daughter,” he said with an arrogant, smug face. “Don’t you have a brother? The man of the house.”

“If you have anything important to say, you had better start talking.” Chloe gritted through clenched teeth.

“Mr. Sutton really did pack up a useless bunch.” He said jokingly, and his colleagues laughed.

In anger, Chloe threw a slap at this handsome devilish stranger.