The Woman From Five Years Ago
Mark and Eric watched the footage of him staggering after drinking a glass of whiskey while standing on the veranda.
Then the woman who had been trying to make small talk with him saw the opportunity and quickly leaned in to help him.
Mark pushed her away and threw the glass in his hand on the floor, immediately startling her and causing her to take a step back in shock.
The rims of Mark's eyes were red, slightly indicating his fury. The drug in his system was starting to cause his blood to boil. In great discomfort, he took off his jacket and flung it away while cursing, hoping it would give him some reprieve.
Just then, the woman seemed to get a call on the phone in her hand and quickly swiped across the screen. She turned away slightly to the left with a hand over her mouth and started to speak in a hushed tone.
Somehow, she had gotten so engrossed in her phone conversation that she hadn't noticed Mark escaping until it was too late.
"Zoom in on her face," Mark instructed the security officer as his gaze turned dark.
He wanted to see the face of the woman that dared to drug him.
God knows that the headlines would have been all about him this morning if she had managed to get her hands on him last night.
As Mark had instructed, the screen was zoomed in for him.
"Michelle?" Eric's gaze widened in surprise.
Immediately, Mark turned his attention to him. "You know her?"
At that question, Eric withdrew his gaze from the screen. "Michelle Ang. She is quite popular for being shameless 'in a classy manner'."
When Mark raised an eyebrow at the term, Eric explained, "She likes to use whatever method to snag the deals she feels she deserves because of her influential family."
"Oh. So, I am amongst the deals she deserves?" Mark questioned as Eric shrugged. "You are not a billionaire bachelor for nothing."
"You really know a lot of shameless people, don't you?" Mark snorted.
"I do, bro." Eric grinned before shifting his attention back to the screen, in time to hear his brother's next instruction.
"Call the police, I want to file a complaint."
At first, the hotel manager was scared that he was about to make a police report against the hotel, but his strained nerves relaxed when he guessed it was for Michelle Ang.
While the call was being made by the hotel manager, Mark continued to watch the CCTV footage as he sought to find out the identity of the other woman that saved him.
The next screen showed him meeting her in the elevator.
"Quick, I want to see her face." His impatience voice rang in their ears.
Soon, the camera was zoomed in and at last, he got to see her face. "What the fuck! Bring it closer!" he quickly instructed as he leaned closer to the screen.
Having witnessed his brother's reaction, Eric was more curious. "Do you recognize her?" he asked while looking between the screen and his side profile
Mark did not answer immediately. Instead, he gazed intently at the screen as the blurry image of the woman cleared up.
"My goodness! She's the one!" he exclaimed in shock.
"Who? You know her?" Eric nudged his shoulder as his eyes begged for answers. Now it was his turn to be the curious one.
"Yes, but not her name," Mark briefly responded while focusing on the screen. "Print that photo," he instructed.
"You are going to look for her?" Eric raised a brown and in return, Mark spared him a glance.
"Wrong," Mark replied. "You will be the one to find her. I want every detail of her in my hands as soon as possible."
"What?" Eric groaned. Since when did he turn to a detective or a police investigator?
"How long will it take?" Mark inquired without giving him time to process things. "24 hours," Eric replied out of impulse.
Just a moment ago, he didn't look like he wanted to fulfil the task delegated to him. But now it seemed like he didn't have a choice.
"Twenty-four hours? That's fair enough." Mark nodded, satisfied, and turned his gaze back to the screen to continue watching the footage.
The next scene that played out caused horror to smear on all of their faces, including the hotel manager.
"Damn! She really did flip you!" Eric's jaw dropped in shock. Glancing at his brother, he asked, "Do you still want to find her?"
"Of course. I have to find her. I want to meet her as soon as possible," Mark replied.
He didn't have any intentions of changing his mind only because he was flipped over and knocked out by an interesting woman from the past. If there was anything, he was even more fascinated by her.
Right now, he didn't care if she knew him as Mark Wang because there was something more important than that.
He wanted to meet her and ask if she really did not recognize him from the hot streamy night five years ago.
It's not like his facial features changed much from that night. Also, they had met and talked a bit before getting drunk together. Why didn't she take it easy with him now instead of flipping him like a sack of potatoes?
Mark rubbed his fingers together. Things were going to get even more interesting from now onwards.
Mark and Eric watched the remaining footage and saw how Elena carried him out of the elevator to the hall before abandoning him at the far corner.
"At least she saved you from what would have been another big scandal of Mark Wang even though you did step out of line." Eric nodded as he let his gaze rest on his brother. "You owe her dinner, brother."
Mark peeled his gaze off the screen and slipped his hands inside the pockets of his pants. "I'm even willing to make a greater compensation than that."
Just then, the hotel manager answered a call before making an announcement. The police have arrived.
Mark laid a few more instructions to the security team before making his way out with Eric and the hotel manager.
"You haven't told me how you two met. Care to fill me in?" Eric probed, refusing to take a break until he has heard the gripping story of Mark Wang and his saviour.
"You will get a chance when you bring her details to me and hand that shameless woman over to the police," Mark answered without sparing him a glance.