The Billionaire’s Unexpected Proposal (Evelyn and Derek)

Michael woke up the following day with a splitting headache. The throbbing in his skull was relentless, like someone had been pounding a hammer against his temples all night. He groaned and sat up slowly, his eyes squinting as the sunlight streamed through the curtains of the suite.

"What the hell happened?" he muttered, rubbing his forehead. The room felt unfamiliar and disjointed. He glanced down and realized he was still fully clothed, his clothes wrinkled from having slept in them. Confusion swirled in his mind as he turned to his side. Sandra was lying beside him on the bed, also fully clothed, her chest rising and falling in deep sleep. Michael's frown deepened. He didn't remember what had happened and why they were both still fully clothed.

He reached out and shook her shoulder gently. "Sandra, wake up."

She didn't stir.

Michael's irritation grew. He shook her harder, this time more aggressively. "Sandra!"

She groaned, her face scrunching up in discomfort as she slowly opened her eyes. "What... what time is it?" she mumbled, her voice groggy.

Michael ignored the question, his mind racing. "How did we end up like this? What the hell happened last night?"

Sandra blinked in confusion, slowly sitting up. "I... I don't know. I have the worst headache," she said, pressing her palm to her forehead.

Michael narrowed his eyes as he stood up from the bed, his gaze sweeping the room. Something didn't add up.

He scanned the suite, his eyes settling on the small hidden camera he had planted in the corner before Sandra had arrived. He quickly retrieved it and plugged it into his phone, his heart pounding as he pulled up the footage.

He fast-forwarded through the video, his brows furrowing as he saw himself sitting on the bed, drinking from the wine while he waited for Sandra to join him. His movements seemed to slow down, and he yawned repeatedly until he dozed off, passing out within minutes of drinking the wine. Michael's jaw tightened as he rewound the footage to the beginning.

There it was Sandra, pouring something into the wine before his arrival. His blood boiled.

Without a second thought, he marched back to the bed and roughly shook Sandra, who had gone back to sleep, awake again, his voice a low growl. "Sandra, wake up. Now."

Sandra groaned in protest, her hand coming up to shield her eyes from the bright light. "What's your problem?" she snapped, clearly irritated.

"My problem?" Michael's voice was sharp as a blade. "You drugged me, didn't you?" He asked as he grabbed her purse.

Sandra's eyes widened, but she quickly masked her shock with a frown. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me. I just watched the video," Michael snarled, taking out the vial from her purse. "You put this in the wine. I saw you do it."

"What video? What video are you talking about?" She asked with a frown.

"It doesn't matter what video I'm talking about. Answer my damn question! Why did you put something in my drink?" Michael snapped at her.

Sandra opened her mouth to protest, but the cold fury in Michael's eyes made her falter. She knew denying it wouldn't work, so she swallowed hard as she quickly tried to fabricate a believable story, "It..... it wasn't what you think. I didn't mean any harm. It was supposed to be an aphrodisiac, not a sedative! I just - I don't know what went wrong." Michael's laugh was humorless. "An aphrodisiac? That's the best you've got? Do you really think I'm that stupid?

You didn't even drink from it, and you left after I passed out." Michael's eyes darkened, and his jaw clenched in disbelief. Sandra looked at him incredulously. "Did you really set up a video recorder in here?" she asked, her voice laced with disbelief.

"That's not important," Michael shot back. "What's important is why you felt the need to drug me. What were you planning?"

She flinched at his tone, "Look, I wasn't planning anything. I just thought—"

"Cut the crap and tell me exactly what your plan was, or else I'm going to kill you in here," Michael threatened.

Sandra's eyes flashed angrily. "Kill me? Why don't you try? Was I the only one here with a plan? What about you? did you plant a camera in here? What was your plan?" She retorted.

radont mess with me, Michael warned.

Michael. You should not mess with me! You think you deserve answers, and I don't? You're not my boss. You don't own me. We are doing this together, so quit using that tone on me. I drugged you, so what? Why did you put a camera in here without my knowledge? Were you going to blackmail me with our sex tape or what?" Sandra asked, and Michael frowned as he turned away from her. "This doesn't make any sense," he muttered, walking away from her as he tried to figure out why she drugged him.

Seeing that she had succeeded in turning the table, after a moment, she exhaled. "Fine. You want the truth? I drugged you, but I wasn't planning anything. I just... I didn't want to sleep with you. And I didn't want to miss my meeting with Rayna," she lied. Michael blinked in surprise, but his glare didn't waver. "What? And you thought drugging me was the best solution?" Sandra b Sandra brushed a brushed her hair out of her face, "You were pressuring me, and I didn't know what else to do! You threatened to cut me off our arrangement; I didn't have a choice! It was easier than just saying no. I don't trust you." Sandra's voice was defensive. Michael scoffed, shaking his head. "Well, now I don't trust you either." The room fell into tense silence. They glared at each other, tension simmering between them until Sandra's face suddenly shifted, her frown deepening. "Wait. Did you really have a camera in here?" she asked, her voice sharper now. "Is that how you know everything?" Michael raised an eyebrow. "Why do you care?" Sandra's brow furrowed as a memory surfaced, her headache momentarily forgotten. "I was with Rayna last night, and then Evelyn showed up. I started feeling drowsy, but I don't remember coming back to the room," she said, mixing up the truth with lies since she couldn't tell Michael that she had invited Evelyn over with plans of setting them up. "Evelyn showed up?" Michael asked as his expression hardened.

"Yeah. I don't remember the details. And I don't remember coming back here either. Did your camera catch that?" she asked, and Michael's anger turned to suspicion.

He glanced down at his phone, scrolling through the footage, rewinding to the point where Sandra entered the room. His stomach dropped as the video showed Evelyn bringing Sandra into the room, laying her beside him, and taking photos of them before leaving. Sandra's eyes widened as she leaned in to see, and she paled. "What the hell..?" Michael swore under his breath. "Did you tell Evelyn about this suite?" he asked, his voice tight with frustration.

"No!" Sandra said quickly, shaking her head frantically. "I don't remember telling her anything, Michael. I was with Rayna when Evelyn showed up, and after that, it's a blur."

"Damn it," Michael swore under his breath, and his mind raced as he cursed under his breath again. "We need to get those pictures back, or we're screwed."

"How are we supposed to get them from Evelyn?" Sandra asked, and Michael's jaw clenched as he considered the situation.

He paced around the room for some time, lost in thoughts, while Sandra frowned as she kept wondering how and when Evelyn had switched their drinks. Was Rayna in on it, too, or had it been just Evelyn? How did Evelyn know the suite number? "I think we will let her keep the pictures"" Michael said after pacing for some time, and Sandra frowned.

"We can't do that! How do you..."

"Getting the photos back would be difficult, but discrediting them could be easier."

Sandra's eyes flickered with confusion. "What do you mean?"

He turned to her with a plan forming in his mind. "Think about it: who is she going to show those pictures to? Your parents and Derek. So, we'll come up with a story," Michael explained. "We can say that Evelyn invited us both here separately to talk things over. I got here first; she gave me a drink, and I passed out. Then she knocked you out too, brought you here, and took the pictures to make it look like something happened."

Sandra's eyes lit up. "That could work."

Michael nodded. "You'll tell your parents that story, and I'll tell my aunt and Derek."

Sandra winced. "I'm not sure my parents will believe me.'

Michael's gaze hardened. "You have to make them believe you, even if it means that you borrow a page from Evelyn's book and do what she did to you. Confront her about the pictures and record the conversation. The only part that matters is her admitting she took pictures of us."Sandra slowly nodded, a glimmer of hope sparking in her eyes. "That's a good idea, but there's still one problem. The suite is registered under your name. If anyone looks into it, they'll know Evelyn didn't book it."

Michael smirked. "Don't worry about that. With the right tip, I'm sure the receptionist can change the name on the booking."

Sandra let out a slow breath, nodding in agreement.

"Okay. Let's do this."

As they locked eyes, a silent understanding passed between them. They will handle their trust issues some other time. For now, they had a common enemy to handle.Material © of NôvelDrama.Org.