Savings

"I'm pregnant with your child," the girl's quiet whisper was like a thunderbolt in broad daylight to Rudi's ears. His face turned pale and his body felt as if it had been doused in cold water. He tried to calm himself and looked at the paid woman in front of him with a narrowed gaze. He then pulled the girl out of the company building to a fairly quiet and hidden place.

"What do you mean?" Rudi asked in frustration.

"I'm pregnant with your child," the woman squeaked softly.

"What does that have to do with me, didn't you also sleep with many other men afterwards?" Rudi was inflamed, he stared at the woman in front of him fiercely. He looked at her body suspiciously. She didn't look any different and from her loose clothes, he couldn't guess what she was saying.

"I've never done that with another man. I only slept with you," the woman answered fearfully.

Rudi moved forward and pushed Claudia up against the wall. She looked terrified as his hand roughly grazed her stomach. His body froze when he felt a bulge there and quickly pulled his hand back like he was afraid of touching it.

"Then what do you want now! How much do you need?" Rudi asked angrily. He realized he hadn't used a condom or any kind of protection that night. He had no intention of giving in to his lust when he visited there. All he knew was that usually women with jobs like his used protection or took birth control pills. He had no idea he would be set up like this.

"What?" the woman looked up at Rudi's face in confusion.

"You need money to terminate your pregnancy, right? I don't want to have a child from a fucking whore like you!" Rudi couldn't think straight and blatantly blasphemed the woman in front of him. He hated the innocent look she was giving him. He wasn't going to fall for this bullshit. He had to get rid of this girl quickly before Laura found out about her existence.

"I-I,,,, don't..."

"Stop pretending! Just tell me how much you want!" Rudi snapped angrily. He needed a lot of money for his wedding and had always tried to scrimp and save, but this woman's appearance had completely ruined his entire financial plan. He hoped she wouldn't ask for too much.

"Say it, damn it!" Rudi snapped again but the girl in front of him only sobbed softly.

In the end, Rudi left his business card with the woman and said that he could send her the amount she wanted and the account number where the money would be transferred to. The woman just cried and didn't say a word, making Rudi even more furious.

Rudi was unsettled for a few days afterward, but after feeling that the girl no longer appeared in his office, Rudi felt a little relieved.

Unfortunately, Laura contacted him a few days later when he was still in his office, telling him that the police had come to their small flat and were going to arrest him on rape charges.

Rudi's body froze. His mind was only filled with the innocent face of the prostitute he had spent the night with.

"That damn woman, how dare she do this to me," Rudi cursed and quickly rushed home even though it was still working hours.

Rudi was taken in for questioning on the spot. At the police station, Rudi learned that the person who reported him was the girl's father and to his surprise she was Claudia Santoso, the daughter of Horizon company owner Herman Pratama. He couldn't believe his ears when the police explained everything to him.

He felt ashamed when he remembered his actions in accusing her of setting him up for money. He was sure the monthly money spent by the business tycoon's daughter was more than his entire savings. The family's Hotels had spread everywhere, even to small tourist towns, making many people speculate that the family's wealth would never run out.

Rudi's legs felt weak as he finally began to recount the night's vague events. The officer didn't seem to believe his confession, making Rudi convinced that Herman Pratama might have bribed some of these police officers to frame him.

Rudi continued to deny what he was accused of until an officer finally showed him a video. The officer hadn't played the video yet but Rudi guessed it was the surveillance camera at the club where he met Claudia. He could see himself clearly because the camera he hadn't noticed seemed to be coming from in front of the shelf filled with drinks in front of where he was sitting. 

Rudi's face paled again when his statement differed from what was addressed in the CCTV camera footage. The video was also very clear and there was not the slightest trace of editing or anything like that.

The officer then said they also had some witnesses and the statements from those witnesses really incriminated him.

Rudi was really confused about what happened. The reality shown in the bar's CCTV video footage and what he remembered were completely different. From the video, he could see that he sat beside the woman he accused of being a prostitute. The woman was really drunk.

But unlike the woman who was about to pass out, he was still laughing and his hands were actively exploring her body.

Some people looked like they were going to rescue her but Rudi seemed to have convinced them that she was with him. The woman couldn't even walk properly and had to be carried by Rudi when they finally walked out of the bar.

Rudi still couldn't believe the reality that was presented in front of him. Everything he thought was reality turned out to be a mere illusion. He remembered the woman leading him and teasing him, but in the CCTV footage, the woman was completely helpless as Rudi approached and flirted with her and even carried her out of the bar.