The truth

Sunday, but it was far from sunny. The mansion sat against the cold atmosphere of New York city. I peeped through the window more than a million times. But each time I looked, I was disappointed to not find Damien Jaeger's favourite Range Rover parked in front of the mansion.

When is he going to return? I wondered every forty five minutes. It has already been a week since he left and since yesterday, I haven't been able to reach him. He had flown all the way to Qatar for a business meeting. I had dreaded being alone in the mansion with Derrick but was a bit relieved to find out that Derrick was absent from the mansion and has been for the past week. But slowly, paranoia started creeping in as I wondered about Derrick's whereabouts.

What if he followed Damien Jaeger all the way to Qatar to tell him the truth?

What if that's the reason why I haven't been able to reach Damien Jaeger since yesterday?

What if…? I quickly shook my head to discard my swaying thoughts and prayed inwardly that these were just my fears and no such thing had actually happened.

The sound of a car driving into the compound drew me from my thoughts, "Damien Jaeger!" I cried with joy and dashed out of the bedroom.

My slippers slapped against the floor as I ran, and my breast did the same against my chest. I had been too tense to dress out of my nightie and so at 9 a.m, I was still wearing them.

"Damien!" I exclaimed, flinging the front door open. But my smile instantly turned upside down as the person I thought would be Damien Jaeger dropped from the car.

"Derrick."

"Well, hello Mélie!" He greeted me, grinning from ear to ear.

I ignored his greeting and asked, "Where's Damien Jaeger?" "And how come you're driving his car?"

Derrick slammed the door shut and slowly walked up to me, stopping a few inches from me, "He's exactly where I want him to be, Mélie." He said with such malevolence that I felt myself stiff with fear.

I swallowed a lump in my throat, "What are you talking about, Derrick?"

"You think I wouldn't tell him? He's my brother, Mélie."

I felt my heart shattering on the floor. My lips parted open but they found no words.

A smirk curved his face, "What did you think, Mélie? That I'm here to play the good guy and just forget everything that happened in the past?

I swallowed. He chuckled, "Or did you forget everything that happened?"

"You're nothing but a heartless beast, Derrick!" I said, weakly.

My words landed as a compliment, "A heartless beast that fell in love...with a hoe!"

Flashback:

All eyes were on me as I took my place in the spotlight. My fingers traced the pole in front of me and I seductively swayed my hips, barely clad in a red lingerie, from left to right, earning cries of excitement from the audience. I clinged to the pole and my body curled around it like a snack.

"Go, Candy!" Someone yelled from the crowd and this pushed me further and I continued displaying effortless moves of seduction.

Blonde, seductive and gifted with the perfect hourglass body, Candy was my name and I was a stripper! I caught the eyes of a horny bastard and threw him a wink, knowing that I was soon going to make away with a bulk of his money.

How did I get there in the first place? How did a born brunette girl full of timidity suddenly become a blonde haired seductress overnight?

I dropped from the pole, feeling as light as a feather and slowly cat walked through the crowd, teasing the shameless men as I moved. A face would light up with bliss, anticipating getting the goddess for himself but she would disappoint him and move to the next shameless man in the club, only to leave him hanging as well.

The guy dressed in a shimmering black tuxedo caught my eye. He was dirty blonde and looked rich and naughty- the perfect guy to spend the night. Slowly, I lowered my hands to him, urging him to arise as he had been chosen by the goddess herself. And he did, following me with suppressed impatience as he walked through the dimly lit passageway for a dance.

End of flashback.

"How do you think my brother will react, knowing that he got married to a loose gold digging stripper?" Derrick asked, "Worst, one who his very own brother had his way with her multiple times?"

"Derrick!" I snapped, evaporated with fear. My voice mellowed down and I looked around to make sure it was just the 2 of us, "Don't do this, Derrick."

"I have already done it, Mélie." Derrick answered with not a trace of remorse on his face.

"But you know why I did it, Derrick. It was the only way out for me."

"Oh, please, enough with your flimsy excuses!" Derrick snapped, irritability, "Your pity party won't work on anyone."

"When I heard that my brother was getting married to the mother of his child, I thought it was going to be Stacy or Ella, you know, someone with class? But unfortunately, those women ended up being nothing but gold diggers who only wanted him for the money and fame."

"But then I heard about another!" He exclaimed, feigning eagerness, "'She's different!' He said. But that was only because he had no idea who you are."

"You are even worse than the others, Mélie!" Derrick snapped with disgust.

"Derrick...Please."

"That's enough, Mélie!" "Your games won't work for me. We're not in your turf anymore, you see."

"This is MY turf! Now you watch me dance!" He said and stormed into the mansion, leaving me staying outside in my own pool of tears.

Why did he do this to me? Why can't he just let me be happy? Why did he have to go digging up a past that was already buried?

"Mélie!" A voice called. My heart could have burst out of my chest. It was Damien Jaeger!