bChapter /bb27 /b

She said to herpanions, “She shouldn’t be far. Let’s go after her.”

Shermaine was waiting for the bus at the bus stop. It was perfect for her since the bus could go straight to Lily’s ce.

After a while, the bus showed up. Shermaine tossed a coin into the fare box, walked to the back, and found a seat by the window.

She went out of the school gate just in time to see Shermaine getting on the bus. Shei tried to catch up, but the bus had already started to go. She instantly hailed a cab and said to the driver, “Sir, follow that bus please.”

The bus stopped at every station, and Shermaine clearly noticed the cab following them, but she didn’t care. She tried calling Lily, yet the phone kept ringing with no answer.

The bus finally stopped in Westbrook District, and Shermaine got off.

It was a busy area, a mix of old houses and shops. It was rushing hour, so people flooded the streets to go back home.

With her school uniform and impressive looks, Shermaine stood out. What was even stranger was the three other girls in matching uniforms following

her.

Shermaine walked through the maze of streets, heading deeper into the area. She eventually reached an old building and went straight inside without hesitation. This was Lily’sst known location ording to her phone’s tracker.

The ce was dark and creepy. Rats scurried by, sending She’s two friends into a shrieking panic.

One of themined, “Why did Shermainee to a ce like this? It’s terrifying.”

Another girl said, “This ce looks like a haunted house. I’m not going inside.”

The first girl added, “Me neither.”

She was scared too, but she cleared her throat and said, “Let’s just wait for her toe out.”

Meanwhile, Shermaine reached the seventh floor, found apartment 707, and rang the doorbell. The sound was sharp, but no one answered.

Shermaine lost patience and was about to force the door open when an old woman, Mna Harvey, came out from the next apartment and asked, “Hey, are you looking for the girl living there?”

Shermaine nodded and replied, “Yeah.”

Mna said, “You’re toote. A few days ago, some strange men came and took her away. I called the cops, but when they came, she’s probably gone.”

Shermaine’s eyes went cold, and she asked, “Can you tell me exactly when that happened?”

Mna thought for a moment and replied, “It was the 22nd, around 10 p.m.”

“Thanks,” Shermaine replied,

Shermaine thought to herself, ‘Troy only has one daughter. If something happened to Lily, Troy would be devastated.‘

there was no trace. s,

Shermaine was in a hurry to find Lily, so she didn’t have time to check Lily’s workce. All she knew was that Lily worked at the Chanel counter at Grandview Mall after she moved to Basterel.

A month ago, she got fired, but no one knew why or what led her to move from her nice apartment into this rundown ce.

Shermaine turned around and started to walk downstairs. She knew She and her friends were waiting for her, but she had no time to deal with them.

b201 /b

bThus/bb, /bshe slipped out the back door of the building.

Fortunately, they didn’t notice when Shermaine left.

Shermaine went straight into an inte cafe, sat down at aputer, and hacked into the local surveince system. Based on the time Mna gave her, she found the video of Lily being taken away.

The video showed a group of well–dressed men dragging Lily out of the building, beating her along the way, and shoving her into a luxury car.

The car’s license te was clearly visible on the camera. Shermaine traced the car’s current location through the te number.

Without wasting a second, she left the inte cafe, leaving theputer still running.

The man sitting next to her had a nce at that screen and was stunned. He eximed in his mind, ‘Holy shit, I just saw a hacker in action, and she’s so

damn hot.‘

Right as Shermaine stepped out of the door, she ran into She again, and it wasn’t exactly a lucky coincidence. Shermaine reacted earlier than them and jumped into a cab.

She spotted Shermaine immediately, and she chased after Shermaine in anger again.

Meanwhile, it was getting dark, and the city lights started twinkling in the distance. At an auto service center, the ce was covered in graffiti, giving off ba /btrendy vibe. Outside, several luxury cars were parked.

Inside, the music was sting. People were dancing and partying,pletely enjoying themselves. But in the middle of it all, Lily was tied up to a punching bag, looking utterly pathetic.

Just then, Ronnie hobbled in on crutches, his leg still in a cast.

Seeing him show up, someone turned off the music, and everyone turned to greet him. “Hey, Mr. Leeds, what are you going to do with this woman and revenge Wendy?”

Ronnie limped along and red at Lily. If Shermaine hadn’t broken his leg, he would’ve handled this himself. Just thinking about that night in the hospital made his blood boil.

Ronnie’s eyes fixed on the perfect punching bag, and he instructed in an icy tone, “Give her a good beating first.”

“Your leg is injured. Are you good enough to handle that?” someone asked.

Ronnie tossed a bottle at the person and shouted, “Are you fucking looking down on me?”

“No, I’m not,” replied the person.

After all, the group of people all relied on Ronnie, so no one dared to cross him.

Ronnie put on the boxing gloves and stepped into the ring. He said, “Make sure to record my cool moves. I’m sending it to Wendy.”

Lily had never felt so regretful and hopeless. She hated herself for recognizing Wendelyn as the sister sent away by their family years agob. /bIf she hadr. recognized Wendelyn, if she hadn’t tried to make it up to Wendelyn, she wouldn’t be in this mess now.

Lily thought, ‘We are birth sisters, but I can’t believe that Wendelyn is so heartless. She set me up and even stirred up her suitor to hurt me. Is it just because she can’t stand seeing me in this city? if that’s the case, Wendelyn is truly terrifying.

Just thinking about it made Lily shiver with fear.

Meanwhile, the cab Shermaine took stopped outside the auto service center. She got out and looked around. The dim lights by the entrance made the luxury cars look even more menacing.

40

n

vay

A few men were sitting on the hoods and ying games, but when they saw someone showing up, they shifted their attention to herb. /b

Shermaine was stunning, and her beauty was striking, almost aggressive. She was pure and enchanting, but there was something intimidating about her, as if she was no stranger to danger.

Shermaine ignored the men and walked toward the door, but they stopped her. “Hey, who the hell are you? Think you can just barge into our turf?”

Shermaine didn’t answer but asked, “Is Lily inside?”

The men exchanged looks and grinned. One of them replied, “Chick, you’ve got guts toe here alone.”

Their eyes contained a sinister light as someone continued, “You are walking into a tiger’s cave, you knowi? /iOnce you’re in, you ain’t leaving.”

Hearing those words, Shermaine was sure that Lily was inside.

She thought to herself, ‘A tiger’s cave, huh? If they’re tigers, I’m the butcher who kills tigers.‘

She put on a sly grin, but in an instant, her grin contained a hint of a murderous vibe as she kicked one of the men to the ground.

Before the man even realized what happened, Shermaine’s fists were already flying. She knocked him out cold, leaving him dazed. She stomped on his chest, and the man instantly spit up blood.

Shermaine looked down at the man with cold eyes. “Loser, who the hell do you think you’re trying to provoke?”

bAD /b