The leader sneered, “Are you kidding me? Someone told us to rough you up, and if we don’t do it to their satisfaction, we don’t get paid. We’ve been abandoned by our families for years, andtely, our meals have been crap.

    “If we help you, who’s going to feed us, then?”

    Ste winced from the kick but still said, “If you want better food, I can pay. However much they gave you, I’ll give you ten times that.”

    One of the women burst outughing. “That’s so hrious. Ten times? Are you joking? You’re already stuck here. Even if you have enough money outside, how are you gonna pay us?”

    “I’m serious,” Ste insisted. “Just help me call someone, and he’ll definitely pay you. He can even agree to any other requests you have.”

    “Agree to our requests? Do you even know how we ended up here? We’re stuck here for life. All we want is decent food,” one said.

    Ste’s heart skipped a beat. She thought, ‘Who the hell did Anna hire? They’re so vicious. Well, they’re all trapped in this hellhole for life, anyway. People like them are already cold–hearted, and they don’t ask for much. It’s just cruel.‘

    “You can trust me just this once,” Ste said.

    “Who do you think you are? Why should we trust you?” one of the women scoffed.

    “Quit the chatter and get to it already,” another woman snapped.

    One of them yanked Ste up by her hair. Her once unblemished face was now mottled with bruises and streaked with blood.

    “Well, well, they really did a number on you. Don’t me us, me the ones who want you dead,” one of the women mocked,

    Another round of beating followed. This time, when Ste was lying on the ground, blood was already pooling beneath her.

    No one bothered with her. In fact, they thought she was disgusting and just kicked her into a corner. When it was mealtime, they split up her share among themselves and didn’t let her have a single bite.

    Ste was starving. Ever since she started recovering, her appetite hade back, and she’d get hungry right on time, Now that she’d finally gotten used to eating properly again, being thrown back into this hell was pure torture.

    But that wasn’t even the worst part. After they finished eating, since they were bored, they started bullying her all over again.

    *****

    Jordan had this nagging sense of unease all day, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. He was swamped with meetings from morning till night.

    Whenever he had a free moment, he’d sneak a nce at his phone, but there was still no message from Ste.

    He knew Ste had been busytely. He’d sent her a few texts earlier, and since she hadn’t replied, he figured he shouldn’t bother her.

    By the time the meetings finally ended, it was already past six in the evening. Everyone was talking about grabbing dinner. Jordan checked his phone again, but there was still no reply.

    On the way to dinner, Jordan couldn’t help himself and dialed Ste’s number. To his surprise, Ste still didn’t respond.

    He thought, ‘It’s been a whole day. Why hasn’t she replied to my messages or calls? Is something wrong with her? No, that can’t be it bif /bsomething had happened, the bodyguards I arranged would’ve contacted me by nowi! /i

    He was just about to call the bodyguards to check, but someone dragged him, so he failed to continue. Then he hurried inside to join the others for dinner. After all that, it was already past eleven at night.

    The uneasy feeling in Jordan’s heart just kept getting stronger. He wondered, ‘It’s been so long. Why hasn’t Ste replied to any of my messages?‘

    It was already past eleven, and the day was basically over. Just two more days and he could finally go back. Just then, his phone rang. It was Mary. Jordan answered immediately.

    “Mr. Erwin, sorry to bother you. Are you busy?” Mary asked.

    Jordan could hear the urgency in her voice. He said, “I’m done for the day. What’s wrong?”

    Mary said, “Have you tried reaching Ms. Hayes today? I’ve tried everything, but I just can’t get through to her. I’ve called her over and over, but she never picks up. This has never happened before.”

    Jordan’s heart suddenly dropped. “You’ve been trying to reach her all day?”

    Mary said, “Yeah, at first I just thought she was busy and didn’t have time to call me back, so I didn’t think much of it. But now it’s sote and she still isn’t back.”

    Jordan asked, “Do you have her assistant’s number?”

    Mary said, “No, I don’t.”

    Jordan said, “Alright, I got it. I’ll look into it.”

    Jordan hung up and immediately called the bodyguards he’d assigned to Ste, but to his shock, none of them picked up.

    This was really unusual. He told his assistant to find N’s contact information as quickly as possible. Soon, he got her number and dialed it. N picked up almost immediately. “Is this Mr. Erwin?” N asked.

    Jordan was taken aback. Then he realized she must have been waiting for his call. “N, what happened? Did something happen to Ste?”

    “Yes, a doctor from General Hospital was found dead in a hotel, and they’re ming Ms. Hayes for it. But why would Ms. Hayes do something

    like that?

    “I’ve been trying to reach you, but I couldn’t get your contact info. I’ve been waiting for your call for a long while.”

    Jordan’s heart sank. “When did that happen?”

    N said, “Ten o’clock this morning.”

    Jordan thought, ‘It has been a full twelve hours, and it never even crossed my mind to call N?‘

    “What’s the situation now?” Jordan pressed.

    “I really don’t know. All I know is that Ms. Hayes has been locked up. I already had awyer try to reach her, but they wouldn’t let anyone visit her at all. Mr. Erwin, I honestly have no idea what to do anymore.”

    Jordan tried to reassure her. “Just hang in there. I’ll head back right now and find a way to see Ste.”

    “Alright, Mr. Erwin. Please, you have to save Ms. Hayes. I’m sure someone’s out to get her this time. I’m really scared something bad might happen to her.”

    Jordan’s heart twisted with worry. He called his assistant and told him toe over right away and take care of the rest of the negotiations.

    Without wasting a second, Jordan booked the earliest flight and rushed straight back to Seavale. It was already past one in the morning. There was no point trying to reach anyone at this hour everyone was asleep.

    But he couldn’t just sit still. After finding out which prison Ste might be in, Jordan headed straight there. But when he arrived, the guards. were all asleep.

    ncing at the time, Jordan decided he wouldn’t go home. He’d just wait here. He waited there all the way until the sun started to rise, but bstill/b, nobody came out from inside.

    Jordan didn’t sleep a wink that night. His mind raced through everyone he could possibly turn to for help, but he’d pissed off more than a few people in his time, and he had no idea if any of them would even bother to help.

    When a guard finally came out, Jordan didn’t hesitate. He shoved the cash he had on him straight into the guard’s hand and said, “I’d like to see Ste Hayes. Let me see her once, please!”

    The guard quickly pushed the money back. “What are you doing? Are you trying to get me fired? No way. If you want to see someone, you have to go through the official process. We can’t just let anyone in.”

    “Come oni, /ihelp me out. It’s so early, and no one’s around. No one will notice,” Jordan insisted.

    “Still can’t do it. As long as you go through the proper paperwork, I promise I’ll let you see her,” the guard said firmly.

    Jordan had plenty of connections over the years, but since Ste was tossed straight into prison without even an interrogation, it could only mean the other side had everything set up long in advance.

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