章 2: Drugged

Before Lola met up with Ian Forde at the restaurant, the latter had already made some arrangements with an unscrupulous waiter to drug Lola's drink.

Ian knew that if he were to ask Lola to meet him up at a hotel, she would never agree to it. So the only way he could get what he wanted was to lure her to a safe place and take advantage of her desperation.

"Lola, are you alright?" Ian stood up and walked over to her side. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder like a caring boss even though he was grinning devilishly in his heart.

"I...I... I am a bit dizzy." Lola wiped her eyes severally to brighten her vision which was beginning to get blurry.

"I think you are over stressed due to your husband's condition. Why don't I take you home so that you can rest your head a bit." Ian suggested while helping her up to her feet.

Ian was anxious to get her out of the restaurant before the aphrodisiac effect of the drug kicked in.

"No... I need to return to the hospital. I need to be with my husband." Lola spoke clearly even though her body seemed to be working under some sort of spell.

"All right, I'll take you to your husband. Just follow me."

Ian successfully led Lola out of the restaurant and into the backseat of his car. Then he got into the driver's seat and zoomed off in the direction of one of his favourite hotels.

By the time Ian arrives at his hotel room carrying Lola in his arms, the drug has already taken full effect on her. He carefully placed her on the bed and left her side to go order some drinks.

Lola's mobile phone was ringing off the hook but she was unable to locate her handbag or take her calls.

In her half delirious state, Lola lay sprawled on the king-size bed, clawing and clutching at her clothes. It felt as though her entire body was submerged and boiling in a witch's cauldron. She kept on whining.

"I feel hot... I feel so hot. Come to me Brian... please... I need you. Come make love to me."

"Yum!" Ian licked his lips lustfully as he drank in the beauty on his bed. He never thought that a day would come when he would be fortunate to have Lola on a platter of gold.

Ever since Lola started working for Ian, he had been going after her secretly. Even though he was fully aware of her marital status, he didn't give a damn. He kept on laying one ambush after another for her. But like a well evolved prey she kept escaping him until today.

While Ian was busy fantasizing about all the things he planned to do to Lola, her mobile phone started ringing again.

"Can't these bastards stop calling?" Ian scrunched his face in disgust. He strolled over to the couch and brought out Lola's annoyingly ringing mobile phone from her handbag.

"Rosemary..." Ian scoffed at the caller ID and ended that call. Without giving a single thought to the consequences of his action or the ripple effect it would have on Lola, he switched off her phone and tossed it aside.

He waited patiently for his room service order to arrive before shutting the door and swinging into action.

"Brian..." Lola felt her clothes being ripped off her body with such eagerness. She opened her eyes to see who it was. But all she could make out was the blurry image of a man.

"Baby...is that you?"

"Yes." Ian mimicked Brian's voice. He deftly took off his clothes and climbed on her.

"I love you." Lola threw her arms around Ian's neck.

Thinking it was really her husband, she welcomed a ravishing kiss from Ian.

As Ian's bulky weight pressed down on her nude body, the suffocating heat driving her crazy slowly waned.

Lola observed that something about her husband felt different tonight. His ravishing kiss, his choking alcoholic breath, his deep guttural grunts and his savage thrusting were all different from the man she had been married to for five years.

Even in her half unconscious state, she felt pain she had never known all her life. She wondered why Brian was this voracious and aggressive towards her.

Lola couldn't help but blame herself for not giving Brian a child all these years. She concluded that this could be the reason why he was treating her this badly. So she endured every pain as long as she kept him satisfied.

After what felt like forever, Lola finally passed out under Ian's sexual torture.

Around 8: 30 AM of the following morning, Lola woke up to a head splitting migraine and an unbearable pain between her thighs.

"Brian..." Lola battered her long curly lashes severally to adjust her vision to her surroundings.

Shockingly, she discovered that she wasn't in her bedroom neither was she in her home. Instead, she was in a luxurious hotel room.

Lola's eyes flashed around the room in panic. She was afraid someone was watching her.

However, she relaxed her spiked nerves when she discovered that she was all alone.

She raised the duvet covering her body and discovered that she was nude. Aside being nude, her body was covered with a lot of bite and sex marks.

"Oh God... What animal did this to me? This cannot be happening." Lola cried as she rolled out of the bed with difficulty. It felt as though she had been used by five men due to the pain emanating from her core.

Sucking in her breath, she stood up and walked slowly towards the bathroom.

After a few minutes of soaking and cleaning herself up in the warm bathtub, she regained a little of her strength.

She tried to recollect her memories of the previous night. But her head was banging so terribly that she couldn't make out anything.

So she returned to the bedroom and picked up her clothes scattered on the floor. She was in the process of dressing up when her eyes fell on a folded note close to her handbag.

"Who..." Lola shook her head and went for the note. When she unfolded it and read through its content, she almost passed out in horror.

Lola browsed through the content of the note, burning tears racing down her cheeks.

My sweet Lola,

Thanks for a memorable night of intense pleasure. I couldn't have asked for anything less. I must confess that the long wait was worth it and I will always be available whenever you want more.

As a man of my word, I have transferred the sum of 1.25 million dollars to your account. I'm sure that will take care of your husband's medical bills and your other needs

See you at work in two days.

Kisses

Ian Forde.

"Nooo..."

The piece of paper fell freely from Lola's trembling hand. She wrapped her hands around her quivering body as a tremor of anguish surged through her system.

It felt as though a thousand daggers were stabbing her heart and ripping out her soul. She couldn't hold back the pain swelling inside her chest any longer. She fell to the floor in a dishevelled heap as her grief poured out in a flood of uncontrollable tears.

"Nooo..." Lola screamed at the top of her voice. "Brian..."

Amid her misery, she recalled that her husband was in a critical state. This thought instantly brought strength to her broken spirit. She picked herself up and started searching for her mobile phone.

When she finally found the phone and switched it on, over a hundred messages and voice notes started pouring in.

Just then a call from Chelsea entered her phone.

"Lola...my goodness! Where have you been and why did you switch off your mobile phone? We have all been trying to get to you since yesterday night."

Chelsea was practically screaming from the other end, forcing Lola to peel the phone away from her ear.

Lola composed herself and spoke in her usual soft tone.

"I'm so sorry, Chelsea. I...I'll explain everything later. How is Brian?"

"Brian is in a bad state. He woke up last night and was asking after you. Currently, he is unconscious and we've not been able to raise the money for the surgery. Rosemary has gone insane with grief and..."

"Chelsea, I have the money." Lola cut off her friend, who was talking too much.

"You have the money!" Chelsea half screamed.

"Yes, I have the 1.2 million dollars. But I'm sending 1.25 million dollars to Clara's account. That should take care of the hospital bills and other expenses."

"Oh my goodness! H...how did you get that huge amount of money in less than twenty-four hours? Who did you rob?"

"Chelsea, there's no time for explanation. Just inform Clara to hurry down to the hospital cash point. I'm transferring the money to her account as we speak. She should hurry up with the payment so that the doctors can commence with the major surgery. I'll see you in a bit."

Lola hung up the call to prevent her friend from asking further questions. She dashed into the bathroom and cleaned her face before finally leaving the hotel room.

Outside the building of the luxurious five-star hotel, Lola hailed a cab and instructed him to take her down to the nearest pharmacy.

At the pharmacy, she bought some aspirin and painkillers before returning to her home for a change of clothes.

Back at the hospital, every member of the Hart family present held their breath. They individually said silent prayers as the team of professional doctors performed their magic in the operation theatre.

Rosemary couldn't keep her hands from trembling, neither could she keep her eyes from shedding tears.

All morning she had been hysterical when none of them could get in touch with Lola. The only time she relaxed and gathered herself together was when Clara called announcing that Lola had provided the required sum for the surgical procedure.

At the moment, Rosemary cared less if Lola showed up. All she focused her attention on was the operation theatre door. She couldn't wait for the doctors to come out and announce that the procedure was successful.

Just then, Lola showed up, looking calm but sober in simple but appealing attire. She was dressed in an off-white long-sleeve turtleneck sweater and blue denim jeans.

Thanks to her choice of clothes, it was difficult for anyone to notice the bite marks on the side of her neck.

"How dare you?" Rosemary matched towards Lola and gave her two dirty slap before she could say anything.

"Very good." Clara beamed with satisfaction. "Slap her again, mum. She deserves it."

"Keep quiet, Clara." Melvin, Brian's uncle barked at his neice.

"Rosy..." Melvin quickly marched towards his sister to stop her from disfiguring the face of his nephew's wife.

Lola held on to her stinging cheeks as fresh tears started rolling down her face.

"Where have you been all this while, huh?" Rosemary shouted at the top of her voice. "And how dare you bounce my calls when I tried reaching you last night?"

"My son is in there, fighting for his life and all you could do was switch off your phone and disappear to God knows where."

Rosemary's high pitched voice attracted a nurse's attention, who sternly cautioned the family to resolve their dispute outside.

"I'm sorry mother." Lola apologized in a broken voice.

"Don't you ever call me your mother, you worthless woman?" Rosemary snarled in a suppressed hushed voice.

"Mrs. Hart, please calm down because of your blood pressure."

Chelsea's attempt at intervening on behalf of Lola cost her a caustic glare from Rosemary.

"Stay away from this, Chelsea."Rosemary wagged her finger threateningly. "You are not Brian's wife, but you've kept vigil over him until now. Whereas, the useless barren woman that calls herself his wife had the guts to go home and refresh. Tell me, is that what is expected of a wife?"