Checkmate, Eva Myles
Tears rushed to her eyes like floodwaters. She covered her mouth with her palm, trying to hold back a sob.
"Mama's alive..." she whispered, her voice breaking. "Oh God..."
But behind the relief was something else, guilt. It weighed heavily on her chest, suffocating her like a stone tied around her neck.
All this time she had been drowning in her own mess, with Victor, with Lopez, with herself, and her mother, her one anchor, had been slipping away unnoticed.
She wiped her eyes roughly, her breath hitching.
"I need to see her. Take me to her, are you telling me the truth? Is she really fine?" she whispered.
"She's fine," Bob nodded quickly.
"Really?" she whispered, barely daring to believe it. "How long have I been here?"
Bob lowered his gaze, guilt shadowing his features. "You've been unconscious for three days, sis. I thought... I thought we lost you. Thank God you're okay. I wouldn't have been able to live with the guilt..."
Tears began to stream down his face.
Eva's heart ached. "Guilt?" she asked carefully. "What happened, Bob? What did you do? And what about Mom, what's her condition?"
Bob hesitated, then finally exhaled shakily. ""Something huge just happened, you won't believe it, sis..." Bob said, his voice shaking with emotion. "Your boss, he paid for Mom's entire surgery. Everything.
As if that was not enough, he also had her transferred to DL Hospital."
Eva blinked, confused. "DL Hospital?"
"Yes. That's one of the biggest hospital in Switz, turns out it belongs to the Lopez, those guys are so rich they should be . It's like the most elite hospital around here. DL hospital is a big name, and only the super-rich even dream of getting treated there. And guess what? Mom is there right now having her surgery.
On top of that... he flew in a top specialist all the way from India to handle the surgery. The operation is happening as we speak."
Eva's lips parted, her mind spinning.
Eva's mouth parted in shock. She felt her heart pounding like a drum. "What?"
Bob continued, his voice tinged with both awe and shame. "Personally i find the whole thing unbelievable, It's crazy, sis, because its like Bro Vic did all the planning, but in the end, another man stole the show. Your boss... he didn't just step in, he went all out. I heard he even cleared every debt we owed the previous hospital. God knows how much he's spent already." And to think bro Vic wanted so bad to be the one to pay for mum's surgery, he did everything to be the hero, only for someone else to take the credit."
"What are you talking about?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
Bob's face crumpled with guilt. "Sis, I_ I betrayed you. I swear I thought I was doing the right thing... but I messed up."
Then Bob's voice dropped to a low whisper.
Her chest tightened. "What are you talking about? Bob," she said, her voice growing cold. "What did you do?"
Bob couldn't meet her eyes. "When you went to Victor for help, it was all planned. Bro Vic, the doctor, and I... we arranged everything. Victor said he needed you to come crawling, to feel desperate. He wanted you to depend on him. Even that urgent phone call I made to you before you fainted, that was also part of the plan. He told me to push you. To do anything to make you follow him to Singapore... and marry him."
Eva's mouth fell open in disbelief.
"But it all backfired," Bob said. "Your boss showed up and handled everything. He paid off all the bills here and covered the full cost of Mom's surgery. He must have spent a fortune already, no doubt. Bro Victor's going to be so furious when he finds out."
Eva was silent for a long beat, trying to process it all. Her heart felt like it had been split open. Eva just kept staring at Bob, as though seeing him for the first time.
"You... you did that? You and Victor played with my emotions like it was all some kind of game? Bob, how could you? How could you do this to me?" Her voice cracked with betrayal.
"I... I did it for Mom," he whispered, breaking down. "I was scared of losing her. And I thought... I thought you were being selfish, refusing Victor's proposal. Then he started buying things, he gave me a car, gifts, promises. It felt like... like he was the miracle we were waiting for. So I said yes. But now... I see how wrong it all was. I am sorry. I really am, sis."
Eva ran a shaky hand through her hair and let out a long, unsteady breath. She was really shocked to hear about such especially coming from Bob her own brother, she felt betrayed, but that was her least worries. The thought that Damien did all of that, paid for her mother's surgery, moved her to a grand hospital, flew in an expert from India, that definitely is no small money.
He must have also rushed her here as well when she fainted in his office. He was doing too much, and she doesn't like to owe, but as it stands now, she already owes him so much.
"Oh my God," she muttered. "My boss... Damian did all that?"
Her head spun.
Damian, the man she'd spent years trying to push away... was the one person who hadn't given up on her.
Once again, Damien had shown up to save her. First it was his code, yet again he showed up for her.
Ever since the surgery, Eva had tried countless times to see Damien, to thank him properly, face-to-face, but he was never around. Each time she asked, Eric would simply shake his head and say, "The boss has been swamped. He hasn't been coming to the office lately."
Apparently, there was a major project in the pipeline, something huge, that was occupying all of Damien's time. Still, that didn't make Eva's restless heart settle. She owed him more than words could capture, and it gnawed at her that she hadn't been able to say thank you.
So, a few days later, her guilt and unease got the better of her. Just before sunset, she dressed up, gathered her nerves, and made a decision she knew was bold, maybe even reckless.
If he won't come to the office, then I'll find him where he sleeps, she thought.
After all, she knew where he lived. She remembered the route. And surely, even Damien Lopez had to definitely go home at night.
Meanwhile, Damien was in his study, seated on a plush leather chair, eyes flicking over dense pages of contracts and financial forecasts. When a maid walked in to inform him of a guest, Eva, he frowned.
Eva?
What was she doing here?
Had something happened?
What could she want this time? He wondered.
He exhaled deeply and gestured for her to be let in.
Eva stepped into the room like someone walking on thin glass, clutching her handbag nervously and bowing slightly as she greeted him.
Damian's eyes were glued to her the moment she walked in. He could already tell she was about to ask for something absurd, he'd figured by now that whenever she was about to display her usual incompetence, she wore that same timid expression.
"Good evening, sir," she said, her voice small. She fiddled with her pinky finger as she stood before him, unsure if she should sit or remain standing.
"I'm so sorry for barging in on you like this," she began, her eyes lowered. "It's just that, you haven't been to the office, and I_ I really needed to see you."
Damien didn't move from his seat. He simply stared at her, one brow slightly raised, the other expressionless. "I'm listening," he said curtly.
She inhaled shakily. "I wanted to thank you, for helping with my mother's surgery. I don't even know how to express how grateful I am. Also, I_ I came to ask how much I owe you... for everything."
Damien let out a soft, mocking scoff.
'Owe me?' He gasped, 'This girl never seize to amaze me. Does she think she can pay me back?'
The corner of his mouth lifted, more in amusement than warmth.
Fine then, he decided to indulge her a little.
"Fifty million," he said casually.
Eva's head snapped toward him, eyes wide. "Oh..."
She wasn't sure if she heard him right.
Did he say... fifty million?
He leaned back, crossing his legs slowly, folding his arms like a man watching a slow-moving drama unfold.
"So..." he said with a deliberate pause. "How do you plan on paying me back? Because, just so you know, that money wasn't charity. It was borrowed. And I'll be needing it back, soon."
Eva's jaw slackened. Her breath caught in her throat.
"I_ I..."
She stammered, utterly blindsided.
Her lips parted, but no words came out. She had come to say thank you. Now, she felt like she was being handed a bill her soul couldn't afford.
"I don't know, sir..." Eva said quietly, her voice trembling like leaves in the wind. "Because right now, I don't even have a shadow of hope of paying back that kind of money."
Damien said nothing. He simply lifted his hand and curled his fingers, beckoning her closer.
"Come here."
Heart thudding, Eva stood and walked toward him like a girl headed to the gallows. He motioned for her to sit, and she sank into the plush sofa across from him. Damien leaned back, legs elegantly crossed, arms folded over his chest like a king weighing judgment.
"I'm going to ask you a question," he said coolly, "and you better tell me the truth."
Eva's fingers clenched into her dress. Her chest rose and fell faster now.
'Oh God please save me... Let him not remember a thing...' She begged silently in her mind, hoping the question he wanted to ask have nothing to do with that night.
"The last time I was drunk_" he began. And Eva clutched her gown tighter. 'Amscrewd' She said in resignation.
"And you helped me home... Did anything happen?"
"N-no, sir. Nothing happened," she lied, her voice barely audible.
Damien gave a slow, unreadable nod. Then, without a word, he stood and walked to his desk. From a drawer, he retrieved a pack of enormous, bitter-smelling white tablets, rounded and big, the type that smells so bad you would feel like puking. He also pulled out a syringe, long, cold, and glinting under the light.
He returned and carefully placed them beside her on the coffee table, then resumed his seat, eyes fixed on her.
Eva's blood ran cold. Her eyes darted between the syringe and his emotionless face. Panic crawled up her spine.
Damien nearly smirked. He couldn't believe to see her suddenly panicking like that.
She hates it this much? But, why does it feels so good to know her weakness. Damian thought.