MIDNIGHT Bride The CEO's TEMPTATION

Joyce glared at Carlos. "Without me," she hissed, "you're nothing! You have no abilities and no money. Your company is getting back on track, but now you've betrayed me. If you have any backbone at all, leave me. But don't expect any support from me for the Foster Group in the future."

This was an idle threat. When faced with an ultimatum, Joyce assumed that Carlos would cave and get off her back. But, instead, she was about to have a very rude awakening.

Carlos stared at her with his mouth open. He was at a loss for words for a moment, but he wasn't dying, as he'd thought he was. He was as far outside of his comfort zone as a person could go. He allowed his body to collapse to the floor, and he ran his fingers through his hair in dismay. "Well," he finally muttered. "You've had your say. You look down on me now, don't you? You think that I don't deserve you, but that's ridiculous!"

Suddenly, Carlos's eyes lit up, for the first time in his life, he discovered how resilient he actually was. Like a Bozo inflatable, he bounced back with a giant grin on his face. He chuckled as he got to his face.

Joyce's face turned white. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"You are," he replied. "Funny and stupid.

And the best part is that you are too stupid to know how stupid you are. You think Crystal is out to get you, but in her eyes, you're nothing. You want everything that Crystal has, and if you can't have them, you make a fool of yourself trying to get it! You're just a stupid bitch, and you're trapped in Crystal' shadow. You think you can compete with her, but you can't, and you will never be able to. The only reason I left her for you was to use you. You wouldn't believe how liberating it feels to say that out loud finally!"

Joyce opened her mouth, but Carlos cut her off before she could say anything. "Did you scheme against Crystal with Shawn Walker?" he asked. "If Crystal hadn't had the antidotes, had you hoped to make a sexual spectacle out of her? I think you did. But you didn't take divine justice into account, did you? I hope you've learned something tonight. If you continue to do evil, you won't have to worry about Crystal's retribution. Of course, if anything like this happens again, I will be the one you'll have to worry about!"

Joyce tried her best to hide her emotions so that she could defend herself. "The drugs weren't my idea!" she exclaimed. "It was all Shawn Walker's idea."

"You could have refused," Carlos argued. 

"You have always been strong-willed and independent." He glared at her silently, and after a minute had passed, he said, "I'm breaking up with you."

Meanwhile, in the next room, Jessica had been asleep. When they started arguing, though, she was woken by the noise. When they didn't quiet down, she went into the hallway, knocked on the door, and said, "You guys need to keep it down. It is past midnight, and some of us are trying to sleep!" When no one answered, she pushed open the door and looked at them. "Besides," she continued, "you are unlikely to solve anything in the middle of the night."

Joyce felt like she had been thrown a lifeline. Tears were streaming down her face. "He hit me," she cried. "Please, Mommy... Help me."

Jessica sighed. She could see the marks on her daughter's face, but she could not pick sides. That being said, she disapproved of violence. So, instead of blaming Carlos, she made a blanket statement condemning all violence. "Well," she said. "Everyone knows that violence has never solved anything. It is much better to talk things out. Why don't you guys tell me what's going on?"

Carlos smirked and said, "I think I had better let your daughter give you the details. As for me, I am breaking up with Joyce. It's time for me to move on. I'll explain what I can to Uncle Henry in the morning." After having said that, he got up and left the room.

****

Joyce was so angry that she was trembling. She took off her slippers and threw them in Carlos's direction. They missed, though, and they hit the door with a bang. She turned to her mother and began to wail. "Do you see how ungrateful and vicious he is?" she whined. 

"Without our help, the Foster Group would have gone belly up! Who the hell does he think he is? He must be in thrall to that dirty bitch, Crystal Smith! I don't want to break up with him, but what can I do...?"

Jessica's heart was breaking. She sat next to her daughter, patted her on the back, and said, "Don't cry. I'll talk to your Father. From now on, not only will we not help the Foster Group, but we will actively work against them. Carlos wasn't good enough for you, anyway. There are other-better-fish in the sea. What's so good about Carlos Foster? He has no money, no power, and now he has betrayed his benefactors. It's a good thing that you aren't with him. In the end, he would have only brought you down."

Jessica tucked Joyce's hair behind her ear and sighed. She could tell that her daughter was too upset to hear what she was saying. In fact, Joyce was so upset that she could barely breathe. "I'll never forgive her," she wailed. She pounded her right into the palm of her left hand for emphasis and said, "I will never forgive that bitch, Crystal Smith!"

****

Carlos felt like he was in a trance as he walked out into the cold night air. It was two o'clock in the morning, and the dim streetlights elongated his lonely shadow. He couldn't go back to the Henry villa, and he didn't feel like returning to the Foster villa. Thus, he had nowhere to go. So, with no other option available to him, he wandered the streets aimlessly until dawn.

By the time the sun rose, Carlos was dead tired. The soles of his feet had blistered, broken, and they were bleeding in his shoes. Every step was a painful act of self-flagellation.

As morning broke, Carlos found himself in an old community.. The security guard was sleeping on the job, so he was not seen slipping past the gatehouse.