"Scarlet!"
"Scarlet!" He yelled from the other end but she didn't and wasn't planning to give him a reply.
She laid on the bed with guilt written all over her face.
"How do I bring myself to tell him of the shameful scandal I've gotten myself into?" She asked herself and suddenly began sobbing silently.
"Scarlet, Please let me in" he tried coaxing but Scarlet wasn't buying it. She couldn't even look him in the eyes.
He leaned on the door, heaving a tired sigh.
Scarlet kept bawling her eyes out till it was past 9pm and she obeyed the call of nature by drifting off to dreamland.
"I'm s..orry Trent" she murmured in her sleep.
Trent couldn't take his leave after seeing her in that state. He fell asleep by her door.
Anna decided to check on Scarlet and met Trent Sleeping by the door.
She sighed before calling out to him.
"Sir"
"Sir" she called but he wasn't responding. She tapped his shoulder gently and the latter jolted back to earth.
"Hmm, sorry" he muttered as he rose to his feet in embarrassment.
"Sir, you can use the guest room" Anna said but he didn't want to stay any longer. He got furious. She shouldn't be ignoring him for God knows why. He's been here since noon and she isn't even giving him an audience. He stormed away in anger without looking back.
Anna didn't even bother knocking on Scarlet's door again.
"If she could ignore her fiance, then who am I?" She said sarcastically before going to bed.
Scarlet couldn't sleep that night. She kept rolling from one point on the bed to another, she was having a nightmare.
She jolted out of her sleep, panting heavily as she sweated profusely under the air conditioned room.
She was frightened to death. In her dream, Trent chased her with a dagger, and she kept running to nowhere. She fell to the ground after losing the final atom of strength in her and he was at the verge of plunging the dagger in her abdomen when she opened her eyes.
"Trent?" She muttered, sounding more like a question.
She couldn't phantom why she had such a dream at such a time.
Trent has been her fiance for three years, they would have tied the knots if not because of her continuous procrastination. Trent was her late father's choice, she had promised him before his death that she would marry him, though she didn't love him.
Trenton Gregory is her late father's friend son whose father is also late. The two friends embarked on a business trip together and died in a plane crash. Both fathers before their deaths, made their son and daughter promise to strengthen their bond by marriage.
They agreed to their parents wishes even though they didn't have feelings for each other.
Scarlet has tried opening her heart to him but she couldn't feel anything for him over the years. To her, their relationship was for formalities. Trent has treated her right over the years, she hasn't noticed any negative behavior from him, making the dream she just had a very terrible shock to her.
She couldn't go back to sleep, she drew a pillow to herself, shivering in immense fright.
She decided to distract herself by picking up her phone. She powered it on and saw a notification of 37 missed calls and 18 text messages.
She was surprised, 32 calls from Trent and 5 from her secretary, while 10 messages from Trent and 8 from her secretary.
She replied to her secretary first, telling her she won't be present at the office for a week.
She heaved a sigh before clicking on the text from Trent.
The last one caught her attention, it read "whenever you're ready to talk, you know where you can find me. I've been by your door for the past 6 hours" she suddenly felt guilty again.
"Does he really care about her that much?" She asked herself.
She couldn't type a reply as she didn't know what to say. She just drew the quilt over her head and remained in that position till the next morning.
***The next morning***
Dorathy, Scarlet's secretary stopped by to check on Scarlet after reading the text she sent by midnight.
She wondered why Scarlet would take a week leave from the office without a tangible reason. Her boss she knows doesn't joke with work, infact she spends more time at the office than her home.
She met Anna who was going in search of Sam around the mansion as she needed his assistance in the kitchen.
"Good morning madam, how may I be of help to you?" Anna asked. It was her first time seeing Dorathy.
"Good morning, my name is Dorathy and I am Miss Murdock's secretary" she said and Anna welcomed her.
"You're welcome, you want to see her right?" Anna asked and Dorathy nodded in affirmation.
"Just come in and wait for me to go check on her, but she might not come out" Anna informed her beforehand.
As predicted, Anna knocked on Scarlet's door for minutes but got no response.
She left the doorpost and informed Dorathy of the situation apologetically.
"It's fine, I'll be on my way now" Dorathy concluded before leaving.
"What could be the issue?" Dorathy asked herself as she walked towards the road to get a taxi.
She went to the office and began the day's work in Scarlet's absence.
Scarlet remained on her bed, her mind was a mess. Her eyes were pale as she laid like a doll.
"Am I really gonna take a week of the work that brought me to this level just because of this temptation?" She asked herself.
"What if my business rivals are involved in this and their plan is for me to fold up?" She asked herself and a certain determination surged up in her.
This is not just a normal determination, it's just like a wave that hits her