Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 296: Truth Told

Chapter 296: Truth Told

Derek had almost made it a month without Emily by his side. For that almost month he had been able to fool himself into thinking that he was alright. But all that it had taken to expose that lie had been having one more encounter with Emily.

He had returned to the penthouse after seeing her and had become quick friends with the bottle. A decision that he had known was the wrong one from the very beginning, but he had still gone through with it. Even worse, after he had woken up from the first drinking binge with his mother there.

Derek had not stopped after she had left. He had continued, proceeding to get supremely wasted. Which was why he currently found himself at the bottom of the stairs. Staring at what seemed to be a mini shrine on the first step.

He also had Emily’s coat around his shoulders. The material barely covering him. On top of the bottles of alcohol, Emily’s embroidered piece had been placed on top of the glass.

His mouth tasting like something had died in it and stayed there for a few weeks, his head feeling as though somebody had taken a jackhammer to it.

Derek stared at the little setup that he had made. Reaching behind him, he took off Emily’s coat, and stared at it. It was wet in places. Had he been crying, and then put it on or had he spilled alcohol on it? Bringing it close for a sniff, he was relieved to find that. Whatever the wet patch was, it was most likely tears.

Looking from the coat to the embroidery piece, Derek scratched his head.

What had gone on? What had he been thinking?

It almost seemed as though his drunk self had been making an altar out of Emily’s things. Praying that she would come back.

It was completely ridiculous.

In any other situation, Derek would have already dismissed the thought, and gone on to try and look into more logical arguments. But now he did not do so because in all likelihood. That was probably what he had been thinking, when he had set up the little altar. That was how desperate Emily made him.

If a fortune teller were to knock at his door and tell him that they had come because they sensed Derek’s great distress. That they wanted him to know that his love would return, but only if he gave them a million in cold hard cash. Derek would have done so without a second thought.

That was how vulnerable he was. How desperate he was at that moment. He just needed something to cling to. A ray of hope, someone telling him that things would be all right.

But that was not going to happen, and Derek could not waste his life away stuck in a bottle waiting for someone who did not care about him anymore. Getting up, Derek had to pause for a bit to allow the room to stop spinning. Then he proceeded to clear up the mess that he’d made. Doing his best to ignore, his head feeling as though it were about to tear itself apart. Mess mostly cleaned, he just had a half full bottle on the table that he could remove later.

Derek slowly made his way upstairs. He showered, and brushed his teeth. Then when he came back down, he felt almost human. Finally getting some food in him after nothing but alcohol also seemed to help. And he was almost beginning to feel alright again when there was a loud pounding at his door.

"Derek Haven opened this door right now!" Derek sighed.

It seemed that word of his continued absence at Haven Group had reached his mother. Getting up, he slowly made his way to the door to let her in. Whatever it was that she wanted to say. It was best to just let her say it before she got too worked up. He was not in the mood to be lectured yet again by her. He hoped that it would be quick.

Given the fact that he was still a little bit buzzed, Derek realized his mistake too late. He had already opened the door when it occurred to him that he could have taken a few moments to remove the last bottle.

But by then there was nothing he could do. He just stood there while his mother pushed her way past him, and then turned to give him her most disappointed look. Her eyes zeroing in on the bottle of alcohol like a heat seeking missile. Feeling the first stirrings of shame deep in his gut, Derek walked over to the table and took the bottle, hiding it behind his back.

Was it morning or afternoon? He had no idea, but he knew that he had to greet her, so he went with something neutral. "Hello, Mother. Lovely to see you," He said, giving her what he hoped was a charming smile. She raised a brow and stared at him incredulously. Then she tilted her head up and took deep breaths in and out.

After a few more of those. She fixed him with a look and Derek just knew that a storm was coming his way, so he braced himself. Waiting for her to start and sure enough she did not waste any time. "Derek, it is Saturday today, the whole week has passed without you being at work. Have you any idea how many complications you are causing with all of this? Why, if I were..." Derek found some place to look at, just slightly above her head. Nodding along every once in a while.

Pretending as though he were listening. The longer his mother talked, the more sober Derek became. It was actually kind of fun watching her lose it. She would pace for a bit, stop, go to reach for her hair, realize that her latest hairstyle was too new to ruin immediately. Then she would put her arms down and clench her fists, shaking in place before turning to him again. She looked as though if Derek were still tiny enough to be spanked, she would have long handled him. Realizing that she was just getting started, that she had more on her chest. That she just had to say, Derek lifted the bottle that he was holding, and took a gulp.

An ill-advised move, he realized seconds later, but by then it was too late. His mom was giving him her coldest glare, and when she spoke up, her voice was no longer fiery. Instead, it was cold. "Derek Haven, you are wasting everything that your father, and I have worked hard for all of these years. Haven Group needs a leader, not someone busy drinking his life away," Mentioning his father was a low blow, but Derek let it slide. He had messed up, he got that. But his mother did not seem to thing he did, because she continued.

"I sent that girl away from you to save you from this very situation, but it seems that you are hell-bent on jumping into the very things I’m trying to shield you from," She finished, still glaring at him like she had not just dropped a bomb of a revelation on him.

The calm, easygoing attitude that had settled over Derek dissipated. He stared at his mother, silent. She did not seem to realize what she’d just said.

"Come again?" Derek said.

"What do you mean come again? I just said..." She paused, her eyes going wide.

"Did you just say that you sent Emily away?" She was not looking him in the eyes again, and Derek remembered all of the other times that she had done the same. Especially after Emily had ghosted him.

"It was you,"He breathed, his grip on the bottle loosening. It shattered into a million pieces on the floor. But neither of the Havens paid it any attention. The two of them staring at each other, one in regret and the other in betrayal.