Chapter 61: The memory of that fateful night

"Soren, please get up. You are making me uncomfortable."

The words immediately brought him back to his senses. Soren would do nothing that would make her uncomfortable. He rose to his feet and pulled her flush to his chest.

Elowen stiffened at the sudden embrace, but she didn’t try to break free.

For a few moments, they stayed like that. The silence between them was thick.

"Why? Why did you go there that night?" Soren asked, breaking the silence. "You were carrying a folder. Were you planning to meet someone?"

The memories rushed into her mind.

That night, she had gone there to meet someone. She had gone with hope in her heart, believing that a new job might finally help her resolve all the crises she had been suffering.

But she had never imagined that incident would happen and change the course of her life.

She nodded slowly. "Yes. I went there to meet someone."

Soren’s eyebrows creased as he looked at her. "Who?"

Elowen let out a weary sigh.

"I was looking for a job at the time. I had applied to several architectural firms, but most of them rejected my application. Then one company contacted me and told me I had been shortlisted. They asked me to bring my portfolio to Enchanted Bay Hotel for an interview."

"An interview? At the hotel?" Soren’s frown deepened, the suspicion plain in his eyes. "Why would they hold an interview at a hotel instead of their own office?"

Elowen had asked herself the same question at the time. But desperation had clouded her judgment.

She had been looking for a job for weeks, and every rejection had chipped away at her hope.

Her mother’s health was deteriorating, and she needed money for her treatment. When a company finally contacted her, she was so relieved to have an opportunity that she hadn’t stopped to question it. She agreed to go there without hesitation.

"I don’t know. I needed a job." Her voice shook slightly. "My mother’s condition was getting worse. She needed treatment immediately. I couldn’t turn down an opportunity without even trying."

Soren remembered her mother’s heart condition. Before Elowen married him, she had struggled to afford the medical expenses.

The burden of her mother’s treatment was another reason he had doubted her back then, convincing himself that she was nothing but a gold digger.

And now, he could understand why she had taken the risk. But something about the arrangement didn’t sit right with him.

"Which company was it? Do you remember its name?"

Elowen could never forget it. If she hadn’t accepted that interview, perhaps her life would have turned out differently. Sometimes, she wished she could return to that day and stop her younger self from going to that hotel.

But there was no going back.

"Apex Design Studio," she replied a moment later.

"Apex Design Studio?" Soren repeated the name, his eyes widening in alarm.

He knew that name.

It was the Knox family’s company, founded by Theron’s father.

Theron had joined the company after graduation, before leaving the country to pursue his own venture. Now that he had returned, he had merged his business with his father’s company.

A dark look settled over Soren’s face.

The possibility that Theron had arranged the meeting sent a surge of anger through him. Perhaps Theron had intended to confess his feelings to Elowen. Perhaps that supposed interview had been nothing more than an excuse to get close to her.

If Elowen had stepped into Theron’s room, things might have turned out very differently.

The thought of her being only a few steps away from entering that room filled Soren with possessive anger he fought to contain.

"It was a trap," he said sharply. "There was never going to be an interview. How could you be so stupid as to agree to go there?"

Elowen had already been regretting it. She had spent years blaming herself for what happened that night. She had replayed every decision in her mind, wondering whether she could have prevented that tragedy if she had acted differently.

But what happened had already happened. There was no way she could change it.

"I’ve already regretted going there. Do you think I haven’t blamed myself enough? If I had not been there, nothing would have happened. I wouldn’t have been violated."

She glared at him. Her lower lip trembled as she struggled to keep her tears at bay.

Soren fell silent. The anger drained from his face, leaving nothing but guilt.

He had done it again. Instead of comforting her, he had made her feel responsible for the very thing that had changed her life.

"Everyone tried to take advantage of a helpless, desperate woman. A chance to tear me apart. I was just trying to find a job so I could pay my mother’s treatment. I never imagined that someone would try to use my desperation against me."

Her tears finally fell. "That night was destined for me to be ruined. If not you, someone else would have done."

"No... Don’t say that." Soren pulled her into a protective embrace, his cheek resting against her hair.

The thought that he had been the one who had ruined her that night tore at him.

"No one will hurt you ever again, not even me. I can’t change the past. I can’t erase the pain you suffered. But Elowen..."

He cupped her face, looking at her with pure sincerity. "I’ll make your life beautiful as long as I’m alive. I promise."

Elowen hadn’t forgiven him yet. The wounds he had inflicted were too deep to disappear simply because he was finally admitting he was wrong.

But she had seen the changes in him. She had watched him try to be a better father to Seraphina and a better husband to her. She was beginning to believe that his promises might mean something.

But when she spoke, her tone was stern. "You have three months to prove yourself. If you fail, you know the consequences. You will lose Seraphina and me for good. So you’d better be careful."

She turned around and started toward the walk-in closet.

"I know. And I won’t disappoint you."

She paused, something crossing her mind. She looked back at him, her eyes narrowing.

"By the way, did you influence Alex and stop him from investing on the Eden District project?" She finally asked the question that had bothered her the whole day.