41 A Bloody Mess

Phillip woke up the next morning with a pounding head and a disoriented mindset.

His entire vision was cloudy and he could barely make out his surroundings or recall anything from the previous night.

Bells rang in his ears consistently, forcing him to cover his ears with his palms.

It was a struggle to sit up on the bed. He had to grab his head with his hands in other to sit up, but then, as his gaze moved around to take in his surroundings, he saw a big patch of red stain on the sheets and literally jumped down from the bed in fright.

Just as he got off the bed with a pounding head, he tripped over something that caused him to fall face flat on the floor.

"Fuck!" he cursed through gritted teeth as he felt the forceful impact of his fall on his head. Phillip felt that his head was about to burst open but most importantly, he wanted to see what he stumbled over.

With a lot of effort, he managed to stand to his feet and walked towards the window to pull it apart properly, letting the morning sun into the room. But just as he turned around, his gaze took in the frightening scene right in his face.

A bloody white bedsheet, a bloody fruit knife at the other side of the bed, and then a cold half-naked female body on the floor which he had tripped over.

The first reaction from Phillip would have been a scream, but somehow, he managed to muffle the sounds with the hands clasped over his mouth.

"What the fuck happened last night?!" He cried out in fear as he quietly stepped over to the body on the floor. No matter how desperate he was to replay the events of the previous night, his memories failed him.

All he felt in his head was an excruciating pain he couldn't handle.

Finally discovering that the cold female body on the floor belonged to Angel, he fell on his butt as his gaze widened in shock.

There were about three stab wounds he could count on her upper body. He had checked with a finger under her nose, she wasn't breathing, and when he had touched her, her body was cold.

Who knows for how long she's been dead?

The worst part about the whole scenario playing out in his face was that he couldn't remember anything. The last thing he remembered was dancing and drinking with a bunch of girls and Angel introducing herself after he walked up to her.

As for getting a room after, he didn't even know how it happened.

Phillip couldn't bear the burden of having murdered someone, so he quickly pulled himself together, grabbed his things and fled while hiding his blood-stained shirt.

It was only after he got into his car while panting heavily that he was able to slow down to breathe.

"I-I killed someone… I-I K-Killed someone…" He continued mumbling the words over and over again. "NO! I-I Can't go to jail!" As soon as he finished decreeing that, he picked up his phone to call someone.

"I-I Need your help. I-I T-Think I killed someone."

---

At the same time, a phone call was made to Christian when he went out for a morning run.

"Mr. Sanders called someone. They have removed the body, cleaned up the entire room and deleted the CCTV footage." 

Getting the report, Christian slowed before coming to a stop. As he panted for breath, he checked the time on his sports wristwatch before replying, "He was so fast. Are you sure this is his first time committing a crime?"

Christian was surprised by Phillip's ability to be coolheaded and even move up to assemble a team to help clean up his mess.

Even though he was hoping for something like this to make his work easier, he was still baffled.

"There are no records of crimes like this from his past, but seeing how he immediately got someone to clean up his mess, there might be a history," the person at the other end answered.

Christian was quiet for a while before exhaling deeply. "Did you get all the important footage?"

"Yes, Sir. We also got into the room to record and take pictures of the crime scene."

"Good." Christian was satisfied.

Unknown to Phillip, Christian's team had already gotten a hold of the CCTV footage outside his room before he had someone clear the records from the nightclub.

"Wait for at least 24 hours before moving on to the next step. Don't forget to keep an eye on him," Christian instructed and stayed on the phone for another thirty seconds before terminating the call.

Slipping his phone into the pocket of his shorts, he zipped it and continued with his run like nothing ever happened.

On the other hand, Diane was disturbed because he neither answered nor returned her calls. It's not like they had a fight before he travelled, so she was getting worried about being ignored by him.

She was starting to think that their relationship which she thought was gradually becoming better had in fact, taken a worse turn.

---

The same day, Ashley visited Christian and his family. She arrived in the afternoon and stayed until evening and throughout their interaction time, Sarah was all smiles.

The gifts Ashley got for her grandchildren touched her even though they were over-the-top expensive.

Susie was equally happy with the visit and let her hold the babies one at a time after feeding and changing their diapers.

"Ash, thank you for being a good friend to my brother," Susie said gratefully.

"We are glad to have you in his life as he barely has any friends," Sarah chipped in with a big smile that reached her eyes.

Even a blind person could tell how much she loved Ashley based on her actions and her secret rooting support.

Hearing the praises, Ashley chuckled softly as she handed the baby back to Susie. "I am happy to have met a genuine person like Christian, but I am not his only friend," she said. "I at least met one at his inauguration ceremony."

"Really?" Susan immediately raised a questioning brow. "Who?" she inquired, looking curious.

Right where Christian was sitting, his fingers tightened on the mug in his hand as he withdrew his gaze from the women assembled across from him. His thoughts were left to him alone.