Chapter 4 Naked

“Strip.” The words seemed to pierce through her mind.

Stark Williams always got what he wanted, but his sudden demand for her to strip was beyond her comprehension. If he wanted her womb as a vessel for his child, what did it have to do with how her naked body looked like?

She didn’t even know the reason why he had selected her, out of so many mothers in Thailand, to be his surrogate. Was there more to it than meets the eye?

Stark Williams stood up coolly and reached into his pocket. With a sneer, he pulled out a cheque book and began penning a name on it.

The name was clearly visible under the light. Everleigh Lin.

He had just written her a cheque for a hundred thousand baht. Her heart thumped inside her chest as he inched closer to her with a smirk.

“Just how important is money to you right now, Everleigh Lin? Or should I say, Sherry Summers?”

“I....”

She couldn’t answer him. For years she had successfully kept her identity hidden from all but her husband Anders, along with his nemesis Lee Jung. So, Stark Williams was the third person to know who she was.

At one point in her life, she had assisted Lee Jung to bring down Anders and make him lose his company. In return Lee Jung had given her a hand to start her life anew in Thailand. But an unexpected meeting with Anders and realising how she had misunderstood him for two years led to their reunion. It seemed like yesterday that she had remarried Anders, but he had been lying in bed for a year now.

“Do as I order, and this cheque is yours.” She glanced at the table in a panic. He hadn’t signed the cheque yet.

If money was the only way she could save Anders and keep him alive, she had to do it. This man loved her and had done so much for her. Even if she had to betray her principles and put down her dignity, she would do it without regrets.

“I...I’ll do it.”

She inhaled, feeling Stark breathing over her. Her slim fingers trembled as she undid button after button of her dress, watching Stark’s impatient glares over her.

“Don’t make me wait, Summers. I hope you haven’t forgotten what happened back in Maloys.”

Summers was what he called her back in high school. Maloys was one of the places where he had cornered her and tormented her with the meanest words alive. She often felt powerless under his control. He picked on the sixteen-year-old her like she was the last woman on Earth.

A tear found its way down her chin, but she quickly rubbed it away. She nodded, increasing her speed in taking off her dress and allowed it to fall to the ground. What was underneath was far more embarrassing. She barely had enough to buy a pair of decent undergarments. Stark threw another disgusted look at her. The bra she had on was brown and hung loosely on her chest. It was worn out to the point the wire supporting her breasts was out of shape.

Her panties were unsightly, having holes where they shouldn’t be. With one swift movement, he tore off her underclothes.

Stark wasn’t angry. He had said each word and performed each action, rather icily. Sherry had never seen such a stoic man in her life. He was the complete opposite of Anders, who was warm and kind when she first met him. That was why she had given him her first time without looking back. Thinking back, it had all been so sweet in the beginning…

He pinched hard on her shoulder, disrupting her sweet memories of Anders. She grimaced at the pain, while crossing her hands in front of her chest to protect her modesty. It was truly embarrassing right now, to be fully naked in front of her high school bully. The coldness of the room chilled her skin. Was he… going to force himself on her?

“Summers, you’re listening to instructions very well,” he fingered her chin. “Back then, if you did, perhaps it would have ended up very differently during school. Now, face the wall, with your hands over your head.”

Sherry took a few deep breaths and did what she was told. Silence continued, until she felt him approaching. She closed her eyes, attempting to remain as calm as possible.

His fingers stroked her bare skin, tracing the curves of her bottom. She bit down on her lower lip, trying not to move. Soon, it would be all over, she told herself again and again. He pressed against her from behind, still fully clothed. She didn’t feel any hardness from him, just the softness of his clothes.

This CEO attire would have tempted many women, but not Sherry. It made her think of those days where Anders was still a CEO and they had indulged in many sinful pleasures in his office. Right. She could do this. Pretend Stark was Anders.

He cupped her breasts, groping her all over. She let her eyes remain closed, imagining it was Anders touching her. Her body relaxed. Probably Stark had realised it, because he lifted her up and carried her in his arms, before letting her down on a soft silky bed.

She still didn’t dare to open her eyes, continuing her imagination that the man was Anders. The sensation of teeth on her nipples tickled her, arousing her and making her moan. Then it followed with his fingers probing on her core.

It’s just fingers, she thought. Sherry wasn’t used to someone touching her like that. She had kept herself sacred like a virgin maiden while Anders was in a coma. But it was the third extension after all. That hundred thousand baht would be more than enough to cover how much she owed the hospital, and also Andrew’s doctor’s fees.

She told herself that she wasn’t betraying Anders. She would treat it as a bad dream and that nothing happened. It was a sacrifice she had to make for her loved ones.

The man was skilled. The movement of his fingers brought desire for what she had missed for a year. Even if she didn’t want to, her body was already responding to his touches. In no time, fluids trickled down her, dampening the sheets under her.

She heard Stark curse, hurling what sounded like atrocities but in a different language. His fingers thrusted faster, burrowing inside her so deep that she thought she was going to explode. Even Anders hadn’t done that to her, being the gentle lover he was, other than those days in a month where he went wild.

“Please… stop…” she murmured.

It all went quiet suddenly, that she thought he had taken pity on her and was allowing her to leave. Then she heard the rustling of clothes and an unzipping sound, and her heart raced.

His strong hands restrained her, while lips as cold as ice prevented her from making any noise. Sherry thought of the cheque on the table, and visualised Anders’ unmoving body on his hospital bed. She knew she couldn’t pull back, not now, until the cheque was safely in her account. Her submission continued with the tremendous pain that ripped through her.

She held her breath, not letting out a single cry of pain. Tears rolled unstoppably down her cheeks. Her ordeal continued, exhausting her to the point of desperation.

In the end, what accompanied her was the signed piece of paper in her purse when she left Stark’s room in her crestfallen state.

Little did she know, her ordeal was just beginning.

C6：Pain

“So, I trust that the deal is made.”

Walter’s chuckle had no sign of sympathy. To Sherry, it seemed somewhat expected. She peered down at her creased dress and recalled Stark’s uncaring stare as he casually tossed aside the used condom in the trash.

Were billionaires all so cold and cruel? After pounding inside her for two hours straight, he hadn’t even had the initiative to sign the cheque of his own accord. She had begged him on his knees.

“You disgust me. Next time, wear something worth looking at.”

Her body ached all over with pain. Never for once she had thought that the cold billionaire that had offered her the chance to be his surrogate would have used her as a tool to satisfy his own needs.

She had no heart to talk about it with Walter. They were on the same side, after all. But he should at least give her a heads-up that the billionaire would have such needs. She wasn’t prepared for it.

“Yes, it is.” Her knees trembled. She could barely walk after the intense sex that Stark subjected her to. She could have sworn she was swollen down below because of how rough he had taken her.

Walter gestured to Sherry to take a seat on the sofa opposite him. Grabbing the armrest, she gathered all her strength to pull herself onto the sofa. Her eyes were probably still red from crying, and the pain in her heart exceeded that in her body.

“Mrs Lin, there are a few medical tests which you are expected to undergo before we can consider you a suitable candidate for the surrogacy.”

Her fingers shook with panic. So, her entire ordeal which she suffered under the hands of Stark Williams was a joke? But her biggest concern was how she could resolve her financial problems. If she didn’t qualify as a surrogate, did that mean that Anders was doomed?

“Chill, Mrs Lin.” Walter probably read her panic-stricken face. “There’s still many other ways to bear a child for Mr Williams, even if the surrogacy doesn’t play out well.”

“You mean,” She didn’t complete her sentence.

“Do bear in mind, Mrs Lin, that Mr Williams doesn’t play by the rules. If he wants you to be his surrogate, even if you find a thousand reasons not to, it is futile. Mr Williams gets what he wants. Even if the fertility clinic finds you an incompatible surrogate, he will find ways to get you to bear his child.”

“Then, what’s the point of seeking me down?”

Walter stroked the neatly-shaven stump of what was left of his beard. He maintained his jovial attitude, bearing no sympathy towards Sherry.

“Aha, just because he wanted a little game with you. I don’t suppose you have forgotten how you evaded his clutches back in high school, Miss Sherry Summers.”

Another person who knew her secrets. Sherry grimaced at the mention of her former identity. Was Walter also from their high school? He knew just too much about her.

Although she had never spoken about Stark’s bullying to Anders, she knew that part of her would never forget her mistreatment. Stark branded her an idiot, the most worthless girl in the school and a shame to her parents. Only that she had never even had the chance to meet her own parents. Back then, someone she thought to be her mother raised her. If Stark and the others all knew the truth about her, would they have still been so mean?

Sherry had always figured that she was lucky to have escaped him when he trapped her in that empty classroom. If she hadn’t run, goodness knows what would have happened to her. But a sixteen-year-old didn’t know many things then. She had her first time with Anders at twenty-one, and she marvelled at how different it had been with her man.

So, Stark had ravaged her mercilessly just now in the hotel room to get back at her for what he had missed almost a decade ago. She had never thought that one day, she would have to give her body up like that. Or even that Anders would have fallen into a coma. What happened in the room earlier made her feel worse than a prostitute having sex in the streets. How could she even face Anders one day?

It was shameful for her to bring up to Walter what had just happened, so she kept mum. Walter’s eyes just twinkled as if he knew everything.

“What does Mr Williams want with me?”

“Simple. He doesn’t need a woman. In fact, he has one. One who doesn’t care what he does or bothers to get his attention. Plus, she’s a CEO like he is, so she doesn’t even need his money at all. I suppose you remember her. Her name…” he tapped his fingers, “is Yolanda Hash.”

Yolanda Hash! The name seemed to bite back at her in her memory. This was the name of the woman who had thrown herself at Anders so many times in the past that triggered her insecurities. The last she heard of Yolanda was that she was in a committed relationship with Lee Jung, and that the fruit of Anders’ hard work and his grandfather’s legacy, Lin Corporation fell into their hands.

The fact that Yolanda was Stark’s woman appalled Sherry. Never for once she thought she would ever see the woman again. But it was none of her concern. She only needed to bother herself with keeping Anders alive.

Walter’s cell phone buzzed, ending their conversation. After some hurried sentences, Walter just chuckled.

“Mrs Lin, rest assured I will give you a call once everything is arranged for.”

Sherry nodded blankly, observing the man disappear through the automatic glass doors of the high-class hotel. By the time Walter called on her again, she didn’t know what Stark wanted the next time. Neither did she want to think about his fetishes.

She peered down at her legs. The area between her nether regions and her legs stung. The man had such a huge member that she probably wouldn’t be able to walk comfortably for some time. He was so strong that he had ripped her underwear to shreds. She wasn’t used to walking around without any underwear, but at least it wasn’t obvious under her long dress.

There wouldn’t be any buses left at this time. Just how could she reach home in this wretched state? She peered down at her worn-out shoes and let out another sigh.

She would have to take the subway. It was going to be a long walk and her discomfort was just too unbearable. But what other choices did she have?

Perhaps if she walked faster, she could reach the station just before the peak hours hit in. At least she would be able to find a seat. Beggars couldn’t be choosers.

Once she reached home, what she would do was cleanse herself from head to toe and purge herself of her filth. She couldn’t help how disgusted she was with herself, but there was no other way. She had to please Stark in bed coz she need money. Next, she had to face the truth that she was going to carry his child for nine months and go through the pain of childbirth.

But all of these were for Anders and Andrew.

Fortunately, her son was away on a class trip today and he didn’t have to see how revolting she looked right now.

It will get better, Sherry. It will, she said in her heart silently before laying back on the hard embedded chair in the subway and falling asleep to the sound of her watch ticking.