Chapter 5 The Regretful Half Of A Man

• A small explosion was heard, followed by the sound of the coffee maker lid hitting the ceiling and she fainted on the ground
• Scott Hamilton's smile turned into an expression of horror within a second as he rushed towards the break room. The industrial coffee maker had exploded in a strange way, and half of the walls were covered in coffee.
• "Damn it! Damn it!" Scott exclaimed, skidding next to Alexa's unconscious body and desperately slapping her face. "Alexa...? Alexa!"
• But she didn't react. Her body was trembling and she was burning hot, as if she were experiencing a terrible shock.
• "Call an ambulance!" he shouted, turning to the executive who had spoken to him earlier. "You, Milton, call an ambulance and don't leave my sight!" he ordered.
• Terrified, Scott desperately tried to wake Alexa from her unconscious state. But when he touched her, he realized that her chest was so scorching. The explosion of the industrial coffee machine had sprayed jets of hot liquid all over the room, drenching Alexa in boiling coffee.
• "Get out of here!" he yelled as he took off his jacket and opened her blouse. "Go away!" he bellowed, and the room cleared in an instant.
• Scott took off his shirt and put it on Alexa before rushing to the small fridge to grab several bottles of cold water. He soaked the shirt fabric on her chest and continued slapping her face until he felt her react slightly.
• The ambulance arrived quickly, they lifted Alexa onto a stretcher, and before they reached the door, his secretary handed Scott a pristine spare shirt.
• "Milton, come with me!" Scott called him, accompanying the stretcher until they loaded her into the ambulance, and then following in his Ferrari. "Can you explain to me what the hell happened?!" he roared, and the man in the passenger seat turned pale. "Don't try to lie to me! You knew this was going to happen!"
• Milton denied, frightened.
• "I... I didn't, boss. I didn't know..." he stammered, and Scott gave him a murderous look. "Well... I actually thought it was a joke. They said they would put instant coffee in the machine instead of regular, it was supposed to just squirt some bad coffee, but nothing more than that!"
• "Damn it!" Scott shouted as he slammed his hand against the steering wheel and maneuvered sharply to avoid a pedestrian. "That's rubbish! Instant coffee wouldn't have made the machine explode because it simply wouldn't have clogged the filters, Milton. Don't tell me you don't know the basic functioning of a damn coffee maker!"
• "Yes, but... No, it doesn't seem like it was just instant coffee," Milton responded, terrified, as Scott drove rapidly towards the hospital.
• He arrived at the hospital, and he was fairly certain they wouldn't let him in if he wasn't family.
• "She's my wife," he declared to the first nurse who asked him. "Alexa Carusso, she arrived with burns, she's my wife."
• "At the end of the emergency hallway, they're already attending to her."
• Scott ran towards there and on the way, he took care of calling the head of his legal team.
• "Daniel! Yes, it's me. There was an accident at the company, and I don't think it was just an 'accident'," he said hurriedly. "Make sure the police investigate it discreetly."
• "Of course. I'll head to the company right away," the lawyer responded, and Scott knew he would take care of it immediately. Daniel Craig was also his best friend and a trustworthy and responsible man.
• Scott arrived at the last cubicle in the emergency room, and his heart rose to his throat. Alexa was trying to react while three doctors worked on her. For a second, Scott's gaze stopped on something he hadn't noticed before: on Alexa's abdomen, to the right, there was a long scar that must have required at least thirty stitches.
• Ten minutes later, one of the doctors came out.
• "The husband?"
• "Yes, Scott Hamilton."
• "Mr. Hamilton, your wife was lucky because you acted quickly. She has first-degree burns, not serious but very uncomfortable," the doctor explained. "She should rest for at least a couple of days, apply pain-relieving cream, and try to stay as cool as possible..."
• Scott nodded silently and thanked the doctor. He knew deep down it was his fault, he was responsible for each and every person working in his company, whether they liked him or not.
• "Damn it!" he cursed with frustration as he stared at her.
• She was a very beautiful woman, rebellious and crazy, but very beautiful.
• Curiously, he took her medical file and noted her address. It didn't say much more than what was on her employment record, but something caught Scott's attention: that file was only a year old. There was nothing about her as a child. And it was impossible for her not to have been sick as a child!
• He immediately sent a message to Daniel.
• "Another favor. I need everything that exists about Alexa Carusso."
• For four more hours, Scott impatiently waited for Alexa to wake up, and when she finally did, the first look she gave him was accusing.
• "I'm very sorry about what happened," Scott said, and Alexa's eyes welled up with tears as she sat up.
• "Why would CEO Hamilton have to sorry for the accident of his most hated employee...?"
• "Alexa...!"
• "...Unless it wasn't an accident," she finished, and from Scott's look, she knew she had hit the nail on the head. That's why everyone had run away when she approached that coffee maker. "Did you do this?" she confronted him.
• "Of course not!" Scott growled through clenched teeth.
• Alexa pressed her lips together. Her body hurt, and she was dazed from the painkillers. She just wanted to go home.
• "But it's still your fault," she grumbled, trying to get up, and he helped her.
• "I'm well aware of that," Scott said after a long silence. "Everything that happens in my company is my responsibility, including you..."
• Scott brought two fingers to the bridge of his nose, but he wasn't going to keep something so important to himself.
• "I don't think your accident was... an accident, Alexa," he admitted, and the girl's eyes widened in fear.
• "You mean...? Someone tried to hurt me for real?" The mere idea made her dizzy, and she leaned on the bed to steady herself, rejecting Scott's help.
• "Maybe it's a warning."
• "From whom?" she whispered through gritted teeth.
• "From the thief you still haven't found," he ventured.
• Alexa took a deep breath, closing her eyes to gather courage.
• "I want to go home. Can you get me discharged?" she asked, and Scott left without saying another word.
• An hour later, they left the hospital behind and Alexa was so tired that she didn't even notice the fact that Scott Hamilton knew her address. He looked around the apartment building; it was a middle-class residential area, nothing fancy. It looked well-maintained from the outside, but as soon as they entered Alexa's apartment, Scott believed that it was the origin of chaos.
• Everything was clean, spotless, but the order was another story. There were work folders everywhere, some even stacked from the floor to the height of the furniture.
• "I knew you were strange! Where are your forty-nine cats?" he asked, looking around.
• Alexa frustratedly ran her fingers through her hair.
• "I'm not an old spinster with cats, Hamilton!"
• "But you will be, because with this mess, you won't find a husband. At this rate, you'll end up alone, I guarantee it!" Scott stopped when he saw her place a hand on her belly and lower her gaze.
• "It's not like I'm looking for anyone... or waiting for anyone," Alexa murmured, and her chin trembled for a moment, a single moment that brought back to Scott's mind the long scar on her abdomen.
• ---Shit! She can't have children...was his first thought, and he wanted to bite his tongue. Half of him despised her, but the other half regretted what had happened. Luckily, Alexa had more effective ways of getting out of difficult situations, and that was by fighting with him.
• "It doesn't matter to you anyway, Hamilton!" she snapped. "My office is organized, so what if there's a little chaos in my personal life? You're my boss, not my husband."
• "Thank God..."
• "Exactly! So whether I'm the cat lady or a dominatrix, it's none of your business. I have my own system, pretty boy..."
• Scott gritted his teeth.
• "Don't you ever get tired of challenging me?" he hissed.
• "I like playing with fire," Alexa replied, unbuttoning the top of her shirt and showing him her flushed chest. "If they do better than me, I won't sue you for this... accident."
• Scott closed his eyes, trying to control his traitorous body and the way it reacted to her, and then nodded.
• "Perfect! Challenge accepted!"