"What are you doing? You slut!"
The roar shattered the silence of the peaceful morning. Elly was not yet fully awake when a violent tug wrenched her body from the bed, sending her crashing onto the cold floor.
An arm swung through the air. Fingers connected with Elly's skin as a sharp slap struck her left cheek, sending a searing heat through her face. Her head snapped to the side and her ears rang with a deafening buzz. Gasping for air, she looked up to find Erick, her lover. He stood over her with ragged breath, his eyes burning red with fury.
Elly was dazed. The throbbing pain in her cheek was nothing compared to the horror that seized her as she realized she was completely naked. Beside her, on the disheveled bed, a strange man who was also nude had just stirred awake, blinking at his surroundings in a confused daze.
"Erick..." Elly's voice trembled, nearly swallowed by her terror. She curled inward on the floor, trying to cover her body with shaking hands.
Ignoring her entirely, Erick lunged at the stranger. He climbed onto the bed and unleashed a flurry of relentless punches. The sound of fists striking flesh echoed sickeningly through the quiet room.
"You bastard! You slept with my girlfriend!" Erick screamed, losing all control. Fresh blood began to splatter, staining the white sheets until they looked like a slaughterhouse floor.
"Stop it, Erick! You're going to kill him!" Elly shrieked hysterically. Only then did Erick stop. His chest heaved and his shoulders rose and fell with every jagged breath. He turned to Elly, and for the first time, she saw a flicker of madness behind the face of the man who had always cherished her.
Erick stepped closer. He gripped Elly's arm so tightly she felt as though her bones might shatter. "Did you help him steal my designs?" he asked in a low, menacing voice.
Elly's heart seemed to stop. The battered man on the bed was Erick's business rival, the very man who had caused Erick to lose a major tender because his designs were stolen. Worse yet, those designs had won the contract under that man's name. The man Erick believed she had just slept with.
"I... I don't know. I don't understand how I got here," Elly sobbed, shaking her head violently.
Erick let out a bitter laugh, a sound that carried a painful edge. He shoved his phone in front of Elly's eyes. On the screen, a video played showing a woman who looked exactly like Elly entering this very hotel room.
"No! That's not me!" Elly screamed in denial. But Erick simply snatched a pile of clothes from the floor and hurled them into her face.
"Then these aren't your clothes? Is that it?!" he roared. He dragged Elly by the arm, forcing her to stand and face the man who was now moaning in pain. "This is the man who was with you in that video!"
Elly's world collapsed. Her tears fell uncontrollably, and her body racked with tremors at the weight of the vile accusation. Yet, in the midst of the devastation, a memory flickered in her mind: the face of Erick's mother. The middle-aged woman who, only a few days ago, had delivered a cold threat to separate them by any means necessary.
"Break up with Erick, or I will use whatever means it takes to tear you apart."
The sentence rang loudly in her mind. Elly understood now. This wasn't just an affair; it was an execution of her love.
"Erick... I'm sorry... please forgive me." Elly collapsed, sinking to her knees at Erick's feet.
"I'm sorry. I betrayed you," she whispered with a shaking voice. The apology was not a confession of guilt, but a choice. Elly had decided to give up on trying to convince him.
With bloodshot, watery eyes, Erick kicked his feet free from Elly's grasp, pushing her body backward.
"I gave up everything to be with you. I never imagined you would betray me. Don't ever let me see you again!" Erick barked. He turned and stormed out, consumed by frustration.
Elly's body convulsed. The tears she had tried to hold back finally flooded out as she wailed in helplessness until her chest felt tight and hollow.
***
Hours later, after Erick had left in his shroud of despair, his mother arrived to find Elly, who had only just finished dressing.
"Go as far away as possible," the woman said coldly, tossing a thick envelope onto the table. She looked at Elly as if she were a stain ruining an expensive carpet.
"I will never, under any circumstances, accept you. Erick is the primary heir, yet for a common girl like you, he threw away his throne just to be a struggling freelance architect. You are the anchor dragging down his future."
The words pierced Elly's heart deeper than any slap. Left with no choice, Elly decided to vanish from Erick's world for the sake of his own future.
***
Five Years Later.
"Elly, have you heard? The owner of this hotel is visiting and staying here!" Agnes, a fellow housekeeper, approached with a face full of excitement.
Elly offered only a thin smile as she continued folding a stack of towels. Since she started working in this small town, she had never cared about the identity of the hotel owner. Her focus was singular: work, get paid, and return home to her son.
"Agnes, I have to go to the Club Floor now," Elly said calmly, pushing her equipment cart toward the elevator.
Elly walked through the hallway at a relaxed pace. The owner wasn't scheduled to arrive until the day after tomorrow, so she felt no need to rush. In this quiet little town, it was rare for a guest to afford the Presidential Suite. The top floor was usually as silent as a grave.
As Elly turned the corner toward the suite, she let her guard down. Her mind wandered to the grocery list she needed to buy with her remaining EBT balance. She did not expect anyone else to be there.
The sound of cleaning supplies hitting the floor snapped Elly out of her reverie. She realized her cart had collided with something solid. Elly flinched. Her gaze fell upon a pair of polished leather loafers and the hem of expensive trousers. Behind the man stood two burly bodyguards.
"I'm sorry, Sir. I didn't mean to," Elly said, panicked. She bowed deeply, her body trembling with the fear of losing her job. "Please forgive my clumsiness."
"I didn't expect to run into you here, Elly."
Elly's world stopped spinning. That deep voice struck her consciousness, sending a wave of painful trauma through her.
Slowly, she looked up. There, standing only inches away, was Erick. Her former lover stared down at her with an expression that was hard to read. It was cold and sharp, yet it held a simmering resentment that felt ready to explode.