“OH MY GOD! THIS IS CRAZY! WHO BROUGHT SOME RANDOM OLD MAN INTO MY BED?!”

Damian jolted upright. His hands instinctively flew to his ears. That ear-piercing scream was enough to wake him instantly. Good grief. He had never been startled awake by a scream quite that spectacular before. But before he could even answer, the woman in front of him had already started ranting.

“WHY IS THERE SOME RANDOM OLD MAN HERE?! WHERE AM I?! HELP! SOMEONE HELP!”

A pillow came flying straight at Damian’s head.

He reflexively squeezed his eyes shut, resigned to his fate. He didn’t need to ask who had thrown it. It was obviously Elara.

“GET OUT! GO AWAY! YOU PERVERTED OLD MAN! GO!”

The pillow struck Damian again and again. After what felt like the hundredth throw, he finally caught it from Elara’s hands and tossed it carelessly onto the floor.

“Stop! Can’t you stop screaming? My ears hurt.”

Elara scrambled backward on the bed, crossing her arms over her chest. Her face was bright red. Still breathing heavily, she stared at Damian with sheer panic in her eyes.

“You bastard. You’re some creepy drunk who hangs around this place, aren’t you?! Get out! Why are we the only two people here? This is seriously weird!”

Damian tipped his head back and rubbed his temples.

“Watch what you say. I’m Damian Kingsley, your sugar daddy. Don’t pretend you have amnesia!”

“D-Damian Kingsley?”

Elara’s mind suddenly went into overdrive. That name sounded familiar. Wasn’t it almost identical to the name of some billionaire who was constantly mentioned in the media? Or was it just a coincidence?

“Yes. I even paid your deposit. Did you forget?”

“PAID? DO YOU THINK I’M SOME KIND OF OBJECT, MR. DAMIAN?!” Elara screamed again.

Damian let out a frustrated breath. He pulled out his phone and opened an app called Sugar Daddy Dating.

Elara’s face and complete profile immediately appeared on the screen. The next second, Elara stared at it, her eyes widening like ping-pong balls.

“Don’t tell me you’re trying to scam me,” Damian said suspiciously. “You’re clearly the Elara who matched with me on the app. I even paid the fifty-thousand-dollar deposit!”

Elara’s eyes widened. Her hands trembled so badly that Damian’s phone slipped from her grasp and landed on the bed.

“THIS IS INSANE! THIS ISN’T TRUE! I NEVER SIGNED UP FOR SOME SKETCHY APP LIKE THAT!”

Elara pointed at the phone screen.

“Where’s Ghea? I came to this club with Ghea!”

“What are you even talking about?” Damian rubbed his throbbing temple. “I paid the deposit, and there’s a transaction record showing that the money went into your account. Are you trying to scam me, Elara?”

“Mr. Damian, I never signed up for that app!” Elara protested vehemently. “I came here with Ghea! Where is she now? Why am I here?! You must have brought me here!”

“Elara, can you stop screaming? My head is about to split open.”

Damian placed both hands on Elara’s shoulders, trying to calm her down.

Elara fell silent for a moment. Her eyes traveled from Damian’s head all the way down to his feet, like a kitten that had lost its mother. Finally, she let out a long sigh.

“Let’s start with this,” Damian said. “If you really never signed up, then how did your photo and profile end up here?”

Elara shook her head quickly. Damn it. How had everything gotten so messed up?

“And last night, before we ended up in this room… we were chatting.” Damian held up his phone. “Could you really forget all of that so quickly?”

Elara fell silent.

“And when I arrived, you were already in a rather disheveled state.”

“But you didn’t do anything to me, right?!”

“Do you see any evidence that I did? No, right?” Damian replied flatly.

His answer immediately made Elara’s shoulders drop. A sigh of relief escaped her.

“Thank goodness nothing happened.”

“Elara, you need to tell me what really happened. I don’t want people thinking I took advantage of you. I’m a man with principles. I would never hurt a girl I don’t even know!”

“Principles?” Elara scoffed. “How can you claim to be a man of principles when you willingly booked a sugar baby?”

Damian glared at her. But Elara continued.

“I came here because I was celebrating my birthday with Ghea! I don’t know what happened, but when I woke up, I was suddenly in this room. And what was that again… sugar baby? Are you crazy?! Why would I ever sign up for an app like that?”

Damian thought hard. There was no obvious sign of deception in Elara’s eyes. He had dealt with all kinds of people for years, and he was fairly good at reading them.

“So you’re seriously saying you never signed up?”

Elara nodded emphatically.

“I swear! Seriously, I’m not lying! If I were lying, my nose would twitch. Look at it. It’s perfectly still, right?”

Damian stared at her for several seconds.

“So you came to this club with your friend?”

“Yes.”

“Her name is Ghea?”

Elara nodded.

“And you’ve been with her for the past three days?”

“Yes. But why are you asking?”

Damian raised his phone.

“Because something doesn’t add up.”

“What?”

“The profile on this app uses your photos. We also chatted before we met. Whoever created this account knew quite a lot about you.”

Elara frowned.

“So?”

“If you really didn’t create this account, then someone did it without your knowledge.”

Elara fell silent.

“And whoever had access to your photos and personal information and knew where you would be tonight is probably not a stranger.”

Elara’s eyes began to fill with tears.

“You suspect Ghea?”

“I didn’t say she did it.”

Damian shrugged. “But if you’ve been with her for the past three days, then at the very least, she’s someone we need to look into.”

“No way! Ghea is my best friend!”

“Hopefully, I’m wrong.”

Elara fell silent. For the first time, a tiny seed of doubt crept into her mind.

“But… I really have been with her this whole time,” she murmured.

Damian said nothing. He let Elara consider the possibility on her own.

“But… could she really do that?” Elara whispered.

“Now, the problem isn’t just about who created the account.”

Elara looked at Damian. “Then what is it?”

“My money.” Damian reopened the transaction history on his phone. “I paid fifty thousand dollars based on the agreement listed on the app. The payment has already been recorded.”

“But I never agreed to any of this!”

“I know.”

Damian’s calm response made Elara stare at him.

“I’m starting to believe you really don’t know anything. It’s pretty obvious from that innocent look on your face.”

Elara immediately glared at him. “Then?”

“The problem is, I’m still out fifty thousand dollars, and I’m not willing to just let that go.”

“So… you’re going to report me to the police?”

“If necessary.”

“But I really don’t know anything!”

“Fine. Let’s do this.”

Damian slipped his phone back into his pocket.

“We’ll find out who set you up. Together.”

Elara blinked.

“Together?”

“Yes.”

Damian looked directly at her. “But while we’re figuring everything out, you’ll still honor the agreement I already paid for.”

Elara froze. “What?”

“Yes. You’ll still be my sugar baby.”

“WHAT?!”

“I paid fifty thousand dollars for this arrangement,” Damian said calmly. “And, to be perfectly honest, I still want the arrangement.”

Elara pointed at herself. “You’re serious?!”

“Very.”

“But I never signed up!”

“Then we’ll find out who created the account.”

“But I don’t want this!” Elara clenched both fists.

“It’s a simple choice, Elara,” Damian said. “We find out who set you up together. In the meantime, you honor the agreement and remain my sugar baby.”

Elara stared at him in disbelief. “Or?”

“Or you pay me back the fifty thousand dollars right now.”