Bella came home, late at night, totally drunk. The staff was in bed when she banged the door loudly. Mark was awake. He tucked his gun in the waistband of his pants and headed towards the door.

When he opened the door, Bella fell onto him. He reluctantly held her and closed the door before signaling a guard to put the car in the garage.

Mark rolled his eyes as her smell wafted up to his nose. He cringed at the smell. It was a disgusting mix of alcohol and cheap male perfume. A possibility flashed through his mind but he blocked his thoughts out and dropped her on a sofa in the living room.

He knocked on Mrs. Clarke's door. Mrs. Clarke opened the door to find Mark standing there. Mark noticed that her eyes were a bit puffy as if she'd been crying  but chose to ignore. 

"What happened?" Mrs. Clarke asked him with a questioning look on her face.

"Mrs. Taylor is home and she is mighty drunk, I must say. You please take her to her room." He said to her.

"I'm sorry to disturb you at this hour of the night but I didn't have any other choice." He said to her as they walked to the living room where Bella was lying unceremoniously on the sofa giggling on her own and twirling a strand of her hair on her finger. Mrs. Clarke went near her and scrunched her face in disgust.

"This woman reeks of alcohol as if she downed the whole tavern." Mrs. Clarke said as she rolled her eyes. Mark laughed.

"Don't just stand there and laugh, lad. Come here and taker her bag and shoes. Bring them to me." She said as she took off Bella's heels and handed them over to Mark. Mrs. Clarke took Bella to a guest room and tucked her in. She put her things beside the bed and left the room.

"It was quite an eventful day, I must say," Mark said as he turned to go to his room.

"Yes. I agree. We need to rest. Goodnight Mark." Mrs. Clarke said as she turned to go to her room.

"Good night." He said softly as he closed the door to his room.

The next morning, Bella and Jeremy woke up to a massive hangover. They were still in their clothes from the previous day and Bella still had all her makeup on. She looked in the mirror and was disgusted with herself.

She gathered her things and stepped out of the room hoping not to run in any of the staff. Just as Bella stepped out of her room, she saw Jeremy still dressed in his clothes from the other day. He had a massive headache and he was pinching the bridge of his nose to tune it in. The moment he laid his eyes on a messed up Bella, he forgot all his pain and anger clouded his mind.

"Oh look, who decided to show up?"He said in a mocking tone.

"Save the mocking, please. I am not in the mood to deal with your nonsense this early in the morning." Bella said as she ascended the stairs to her room.

To be honest, she was ashamed of herself. She had shamelessly gotten drunk and then let another man take advantage of her. But it was not her fault. Jeremy made her feel worthless. She held him responsible for provoking her.

She hurriedly took a much-needed shower to wash away the remnants of her rendezvous and dressed up for her office. As she stepped out of the bathroom while fixing her shirt, she saw Jeremy propped the bed. He was combing his long fingers through his hair due to frustration.

The moment his eyes laid on Bella, he noticed red marks on her neck as her hair was gathered on one side. He stood up and went closer to her with the pace of a panther stalking its prey.

His eyes turned a shade or two darker. Anger radiated off of him. To say Bella was afraid was an understatement. She could actually feel his eyes on her neck.

"What is this?" He asked Bella in a dangerous tone.

"What is what? Where?" Bella asked innocently.

"Don't act so innocent Bella Taylor!" Jeremy yelled.

"You don't know what this is, right?" He asked again in a more menacing tone.

"Come with me, I'll show you what you're sporting on your neck," Jeremy said as he caught her wrist and pulled her with him to the long oval mirror in their room. He pushed her to stand in front of the mirror and stood behind her. She could feel his breath on her neck. He tilted her head a little so he could show her the mark.

"I'm talking about this! This mark!" He said as he touched the red spot. Bella flinched as his finger came in contact with the sensitive skin. She was feeling scared of what his reaction would be if she told him the truth.

"I don't remember how I got it." She whispered audible enough for Jeremy to hear her.

"But I know how you got this, dear wife." He said as he took a few steps away from her.

"You cheated on me, Bella! Why? What did I not give you? Do you not care that our daughter is in the same house? How can you be this careless?" Jeremy said as his voice started rising. He felt betrayed. Anger clouded his senses. 

"I'm sorry, Jeremy. It was a mistake. I don't even know him. Please." She said through tears.

"Just keep your mouth shut. I don't want a single word from you." He said as he paced around the room running his fingers through his hair.

"I will get to the person who put his hands on my wife but my wife will also have to pay the price." He said as he slammed the door shut locking Bella inside the room.

Jeremy went to the library and switched on his laptop. He needed to find out what happened last night.

"Good morning, Mr. Taylor." Mark greeted.

"Morning, Mark. I need you to bring me the footage of the foyer from last night." Jeremy said.

"Yes, Mr. Taylor. I'll be right there." He said as he hung up. Mark took the recording and went to see Jeremy. Jeremy was still wearing clothes from last night and his hair was messy. He had never seen Jeremy so miserable.

"Is everything okay, Mr. Taylor? Has anything happened?" Mark asked as he played the CD on Jeremy's laptop.

"I'll not hide anything from you. Bella was with a man last night. I just want to see how she reached home and at what time." Jeremy said and Mark stayed silent as it was not his place to say anything in their matter.

"If your wife did something like this, what would you have done?" Jeremy asked as he watched the video. Taylor shook his head in denial.

"I don't think my wife would have ever pulled such a stunt." He said as he chuckled lightly reminiscing his wife. She was a beautiful person both on the inside and on the outside as well. He thought it was an insult to his wife that Mr. Taylor was comparing his wife to Mrs. Taylor.

"So you opened the door for her. You made a mistake, Mark. Tch tch tch tch... You should have left her out in the cold air. When the cold air would have slapped her face all the booze would have gone down." Jeremy said as he looked at Mark with a hardened face.

"Not to be disrespectful, Mr. Taylor but you were also pretty drunk last night when we made you lie straight here. None of you is any better than the other and you both don't care how your daughter is doing now since she was pretty sick last night." Mark said as he stood up and strode towards the door.

"Mark, wait!" Jeremy said as he stopped Mark mid stride.

"How's Sofia feeling now?" Jeremy asked as he came round his desk to stand in front of him.

"You should go and see for yourself. She needs you more right now than all this drama. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do." He said with a smile that quite didn't reach his eyes. Jeremy nodded and thanked him for his support.

Jeremy went back to his room to take a shower and shave to get rid of the scruff he was sporting on his angular jaw. He opened the door to find Bella staring out of the window. She sat as straight as a statue. The moment Jeremy opened the door, she turned her head to the sound of the lock.

Jeremy locked the door again and put the key in his pocket. He grabbed his change of clothes and disappeared again into the bathroom. After a while, when he returned, he was dressed in his office attire exuding his signature aura of power and control.

Bella stood up and went to him as she saw him putting on his shoes and socks. She sat beside him and felt him stiffen. He didn't want to be in the breathing radius as her.

"I don't want to hear a single plea of yours. That was why you were ignoring me all these years, Bella. You are in love with another man. But I will not let you back out on our daughter. She was in the hospital while you were drunk out in the city having fun with that man. I am going to meet her and you will accompany me. You will behave as if nothing happened. Change that outfit of yours. Wear something that will hide this mark or else God knows what I'll do with you. " Jeremy said as he held her face harshly and finished getting ready quickly.

"I'll be in the library. Meet me there." He said as he left the room.

Bella cried and cried. For the first time in her life, someone had treated her this way. She was hurt. It all took one mistake to break their relationship like this. She couldn't afford to have broken pieces of her life. She had a reputation and a social image to maintain and she will do anything to keep that intact.

She changed into a bottleneck dress shirt which was made of the finest silk and paired it with her favorite skirt. She put on her makeup which helped her forget her problems for a minute before she joined her husband in the library.