The next morning, Eva awoke with a pounding headache and a sense of disorientation. As her eyes fluttered open, she realized she was alone in her bed and naked! She could feel her whole body sore, panic setting in as the memories of the previous night flooded her mind, and the realization hit her hard—
She had slept with him!
She had been drugged!
She sat on her bed, trying to recollect the whole night. She remembered feeling odd after she drank the water from that old woman. She also remembered that she was not the only one who drank the water.
"That old woman must have drugged both of them,"
she acknowledged. She remembered him calling her Susan! He thought it was their bedroom with his wife, she realized with a jolt. Fuelled by anger and betrayal, Eva controlled herself as she walked through the house, her steps purposeful and her gaze determined. She found Belinda in the lounge where everyone was sitting, as they had been addressing another issue, while Jayden had warned his grandmother to stay away from him. A sly smile spread across her face as she sipped her morning tea.
"Morning, dear,"
she greeted as she shifted to try to give her a hug. Eva blocked her with her hand, taking a step back. She raised her head and saw everyone's eyes on her.
"Morning,"
she greeted, not bothering to try to smile. Her gaze shifted back to the old woman in front of her; there was something about her that made it obvious to everyone, based on her expression, that she was a woman of boundaries. With the finest respect she could muster, she asked Belinda to move into a private place. Instead, Belinda turned to where her husband was sitting and sat beside her. She folded her forehead; it was obvious she was becoming increasingly irritated by this woman in front of her.
Eva couldn't contain her fury.
"Hey, you old woman!"
she exclaimed, her voice sharp with anger. Belinda's face turned; Jayden shifted his attention from his newspaper. Everyone in the house quietly looked at her, hoping she would go on, though no one was sure if they had heard right.
"What did you do to me? What kind of sick game is this?"
Eva asked as she looked down at the woman who sat in front of her. The elderly woman looked up, feigning innocence
. "Oh! Respect yourself, young lady! I don't understand what is going on here."
Eva's eyes narrowed, and her voice turned icy.
"How dare you! This is not a game! You violated my privacy, my body! What were you thinking? You want to act like you did nothing with that stupid water you gave me yesterday?"
she snapped, her expression evidence of how hard she tried to stay respectful.
"I did what? Yo..."
Belinda almost responded, but before she could finish, Eva interrupted her with a sound of disbelief. She wasn't buying what Belinda was saying. Eva quietly stared at her. The grandmother in law sighed, seemingly unapologetic.
"You're young, my dear. Sometimes you need a push to discover your desires. I was surprised when your husband accused me of the same, but whoever did it…"
Eva cut her off before she could finish. Eva took a deep breath, steadying herself.
"Before you worry about anyone else's desires, you should care about basic decency and respect. What you did was unacceptable. What is more shameful is that at your age, you're trying to hide behind someone else,"
The elderly woman looked taken aback by Eva's assertiveness, but Eva wasn't done.
"This better not repeat itself again, and you better learn to respect people's decisions. I am not an eighteen-year-old trying out new things. And don't even think about playing your little tricks again. I don't want to know whatever deal you made with my parents. Please, stay the f**k away from me!"
Eva turned on her heel and walked away. She needed space to process the whirlwind of emotions and to reclaim her sense of self. Just then, she heard an unexpected question thrown to her.
"Do you think you have the right to question any member of this family? What is your worth? Who do you think you are? Your own family didn't even want to meet your in-laws…"
Susan kept quiet as her gaze met Eva's. Her eyes had tears in them.
"She is weak,"
Susan realized; she was more surprised than happy.
"I used to be more than their reason to live,"
she replied, as she looked into her eyes.
"But for the poor reputation, everything is everything you see. The man I loved, the one I dreamed with, decided to put his dreams first before our love and left for a concert on our wedding day."
With that, a tear rolled down her cheek. She gave a short laugh.
"You asked the wrong question. The question should be 'what did you do to deserve this?' and I would tell you, 'I prioritized his dreams and made them mine, and supported him—that was my mistake,'"
she told her, and was about to leave when Jayden's sister stopped her.
"Can't the mistake be that you loved him?"
she asked. She didn't know why she asked, but it felt like she would find a resolution between her and her own fiancé.
"If I had made sure we kept our dreams away from our relationship, I could have been married two years ago and I wouldn't be in this situation," she answered and left.
Returning to her room, Eva gathered her thoughts. She knew she had to prioritize her own well-being and self-respect. Determined to regain control, she took a shower to wash away the remnants of the night before. The hot water served as a physical and symbolic cleanse, helping her shake off the lingering discomfort. She felt exploited, and she couldn't shake the fact that the wife of the man she slept with asked her a question and seemed more than okay with the arrangement.