Chapter 89 - Make Me Forget

SEVEN YEARS AGO...

The smile of the man that used to beam at her repeated in the 22-year-old Zoey Zhou. His gentle hands that he used to caress her touched someone else bearing a lovely smile. 

Her first love, the man she was certain to marry... has someone else. Not that she didn't know. Deep down, she knew that there was another person in this relationship. 

Zoey just pretended to be clueless because she couldn't accept the truth. However, catching them red-handed, even if she wanted to turn a blind eye, the pain in her chest was overwhelming. 

Just as Zoey thought it couldn't get any worse, she thought wrong. Two years... two years of their togetherness was nothing but lies. For two years, Zoey finally found out that she was the third party — not the other way around. Therefore, she was the one who was humiliated. 

The noises inside the lively club, thronged with equally sleek men and women, were not enough to distract her heart from aching. 

"Pathetic..." Zoey whispered, chugging down another bottle of liquor in one go. "Zoey, you're pathetic." She added, clenching her teeth as tears fell from her already swollen eyes. 

"I need more... more, more! I'll put that bastard's money to good use! Get me tons of drinks!" She shouted at the man serving drinks. Despite the empty bottles of beers laying on the table, Zoey couldn't get herself drunk. 

She wanted to drink her sorrows away. However, her sorrows seemed to be much stronger than these drinks. Glancing at the lively crowd, Zoey laughed. 

Perhaps laughing would help. Alas, as she laughed alone in this crowded place, her tears stained her cheek until the tip of her nose turned reddish. 

Soon, her drink arrived. Without further ado, Zoey consumed as many as she could until she pass out. That was her plan. Obviously, it failed. She could hold her liquor well because she's a heavy drinker. 

Still, Zoey could never escape the effect of alcohol. Thus, as soon as she chugged down more, her vision blurred, as her body slightly numb. 

Regardless, her tears stopped, and she could smile like a drunken fool. "*hic*" Zoey hiccuped, making her way to the dance floor.

She joined the seemingly interminable fun with strangers. She jumped, laughed, danced to her heart's content as if a free bird that finally got out of her cage. 

"Hey there, Miss." A man approached Zoey in the middle of the dancing crowd. Yet, Zoey didn't stop from dancing as if she was in her own world. 

Taking advantage of her nonchalance, the man wrapped his arms around her waist then pulled Zoey causing her to turn and face him. As soon as he laid his eyes on her, he was mesmerized for a second. 

Under the variety of lights in random colors, flickering one after another. The man gulped, saying 'jackpot' in his man as he stared at the beautiful woman.

"Huh? Do I know you?" Blinking her eyes, Zoey's vision shook as she tried to get a clearer sight of the man. If it was a normal day, Zoey would have beat the man down until he pisses his pants. However, she was already a drunken zombie who couldn't be bothered by the small gap between them. 

"Do we need to know each other? I assume you're alone, do you need company?" The man answered. A smirk formed on the side of his lips. 

"Hehe, yes! I'm building a company!" Chuckling, Zoey shouted enough for everyone around to hear. 

"Cute." He muttered, chuckling at the humor, albeit Zoey wasn't kidding. She was indeed starting her own company but still trying to make ends meet. 

"Why don't we go somewhere, quiet?" The man suggested, caressing her delicate jaw down to her chin. 

"Ah?!" Since the music was loud, Zoey could vaguely hear what he said. "Toilet?!" She asked, mistaking the words. 

"No, I said — wait!" Chuckling again, the man was patient enough to make himself clear. After all, she seemed like an easy target. Also, it would not be bad to bed someone like her even if it means being more patient.

However, just as he was about to repeat his words, Zoey appeared to throw up. "Oy, oy!" With this close distance, the man knew that he would shower with puke if Zoey vomited. 

In a second, the man pushed her slightly and took several steps back. But as soon as the gap grew wider, Zoey laughed instead of throwing up. "Kidding~!" She said, showing a peace sign with her finger. 

"You!" Enraged by that cheap trick, the seemingly patient man ground his teeth. 

"Jokes! I'm throwing up for real!" Unbothered by the scoundrel's rage, Zoey waved her hand as she rushed somewhere she could release all the alcohol. 

****

Fortunately, Zoey made it in the restroom before she released everything she ate and drunk. That phase of partying made her a little better, but not enough to sober her. 

She had been vomiting for as long as she could remember. When she was done, Zoey swayed her way to the sink to wash her face. 

Raising her gaze, Zoey stared at her drunken state through the long mirror. "Jeez. Why do you look so pathetic?" She mumbled, talking to her messy reflection. 

Shaking her head, Zoey washed her face more. Shortly, when she was done vomiting and freshening up, Zoey decided to party the night away. 

"I'm trying to erase your scent now. 

I'm trying to forget your touch now.

Why did you have to be like that?

I can't believe, in the end, you were that sort of guy..." however, as Zoey made her way back to the dance floor, the lyrics of the supposed to be lively music halted her tracks. 

Although the bass was booming and the music was loud, she automatically connected to the lyrics of the song. Hence, the numbing pain in her heart resurfaced — wasting her effort to forget. 

"Damn this expensive place..." She mumbled, grinding her teeth as she clicked her tongue in annoyance. 

She didn't know where to go, but her feet dragged her away so not to hear another word from the song. However, it seemed no matter how many steps she took, she could hear it. 

Just then, as she walked deeper of this seemingly wide and endless club, a door suddenly opened. The still drunken of sorrow and alcohol Zoey jolted. She turned to her right, where the door opened with a towering man holding on the jamb as if it was his lifeline. 

His dangerous red gaze slowly shifted and locked gaze with her. The next second, Zoey found herself pinned on the wall, sniffing his heavy breath as he drew closer with great difficulty.

"Go," He whispered, as if giving her the last chance to escape. 

"In the club, tonight, for him...

In the club, I'll give him my everything,

In the club, please embrace my scars so that only for tonight, I'd be able to forget." Yet, despite the silence and the dangerous man's heavy breaths, Zoey could hear the lyrics of the song; it was because she knew the song. Therefore, it got stuck in her head, causing her heart to be a sentimental mess.

"Make me forget," She whispered, staring at those dangerous russet eyes as she hooked her arms around his neck and leaned forward. 

The second her lips touched his, the chains he worked hard to restrain himself broke.