Sylvia Lancaster watched Clara Hayes’s retreating back, momentarily finding it hard to believe.

She couldn’t believe Clara would actually treat her this way.

They had been best friends for over ten years. Just a few days ago, Clara had even said she wished they could be real sisters. But now, she was heartlessly telling her to move out...

Sylvia Lancaster pressed her lips together tightly. ’This is so unfair!’

If Clara had walked in on her and Flynn Adler, or if she’d discovered that Sylvia was Hector Hayes’s illegitimate daughter, then Sylvia would have accepted it—the resentment, the hatred, the breakup of their friendship, being told to move out, all of it!

But as far as Clara knew, she had only cheated with Simon Lancaster. And Clara was kicking her out just for that!

She simply couldn’t accept it!

Sylvia thought to herself, ’If our roles were reversed, if Clara cheated after marrying Flynn Adler, I would absolutely have her back. I wouldn’t blame her for having an affair.’

’So why can’t Clara do the same? Why does she have to be so ruthless and turn on me like this?’

’In her eyes, does making one small mistake—cheating—mean I, her best friend, deserve a death sentence?’

Sylvia grew angry. ’Clara just pays lip service to being my best friend. In reality, that’s all our friendship is worth to her!’

Realizing that they were bound to have a falling-out once her true identity was revealed anyway, Sylvia’s initial panic gave way to a sense of calm.

She took out her phone and composed a long message, sending it to Lily Adler. Since Clara was showing her no mercy, she would have to move up her plans to be formally acknowledged by Hector Hayes.

******

「The Crestview Hotel.」

After leaving Ethan Sutton’s room, Amy and Louise dragged their exhausted bodies into the elevator.

The elevator descended all the way to the second basement level.

The second basement level had originally been the hotel’s parking garage. Now, it was partitioned by rows of solid walls into countless small, enclosed rooms, furnished with only simple items like beds and cabinets.

A faint, musty smell hung in the air. Every room was exceptionally dim, with only a few scattered, faint yellow lights in the hallway barely illuminating the surroundings.

This was where people like them rested.

They only went upstairs to the hotel’s guest rooms when they were needed to entertain clients.

As Amy walked down the dim hallway, the occasional low growl, like that of a large cat, sent an involuntary shiver down her spine.

She knew they kept a ferocious leopard here, hidden near the exit by the fire escape.

Many women who had tried to escape before had been torn to shreds by that leopard, becoming its food.

But... Amy couldn’t quite understand it. ’Why would these women want to run?’

’Here, you can eat and drink well,’ she thought. ’It’s much better than the outside world!’

Amy returned to her cubicle. Four girls lived in this cramped, enclosed space, but the other three weren’t in the room at the moment.

She sat on the narrow wooden bed and glanced at the fading hickeys and bruises on her arm. She stared blankly for a moment, then pursed her lips with a hint of indifference.

She rummaged through a bundle at the head of her bed and pulled out a slightly withered apple. Taking a bite, she closed her eyes in contentment and began to chew.

A client had given it to her. She’d hidden it for days, unable to bring herself to eat it. Before coming here, she hadn’t eaten fruit in a very long time.

Just as she finished the apple and was about to lie down for a rest, the door to her room was suddenly pushed open.

Amy looked up at the sound to see a burly man with dyed-blond hair standing in the doorway.

Amy froze, her body trembling involuntarily.

Then, she quickly put on a fawning smile and said to Blondie in a cloying voice, "Yates, what brings you here? ...Did another client request me?"

Amy assumed another client was looking for her. Although she wanted to rest, she would be happy if a client really did want her. After all, if she could serve one more person, she would get to eat better today.

But Blondie said to her, "Go persuade that woman from yesterday again. Find a way to make her obey!"

Amy froze again at his words. Then, seeing the impatience in Blondie’s eyes, she quickly nodded, got up, and followed him to the third basement level.

The third basement level, like the second, was also partitioned into many small rooms. The difference was that the conditions here were even worse than on the level above, and every cubicle was locked.

Amy knew that this was where they kept the girls who had just arrived, girls who were about to face the same fate as her.

Some were willing; some were not.

But in the end, they all became willing.

After all, the unwilling ones were taken away and never came back.

Amy followed Blondie through the long, narrow corridor. Occasionally, she could hear curses, pleas, and wails coming from the rooms on either side.

Amy walked past these doors without a second glance. She had grown used to it all, knowing that the struggles and curses were futile.

Blondie led Amy to the door of one of the small rooms. As he unlocked it, he said to her, "The boss gave special orders about this... If you can’t persuade her, you can forget about eating for the next two days!"

Amy’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly said to Blondie in a placating tone, "Yates, don’t worry. I’ll do my best to persuade her."

Blondie snorted coldly, took a sand vine cake from his pocket, and tossed it to Amy. Then he opened the door, shoved her inside, and swiftly locked it behind her.

Amy stumbled two steps from the push before steadying herself. Then, she looked up and surveyed the room.

The room had no furniture, not even a bed. There was only a filthy blanket tossed carelessly on the floor and a plastic bucket full of excrement, which was currently emitting a foul stench.

The room was dim, its only source of light a small lamp on the wall. By its faint glow, Amy found the girl huddled in the corner.

The girl was wearing jeans, her once-clean knit sweater now smeared with filth. She was lying on the floor, curled up like a shrimp, her head buried deep in her chest.

Amy took a deep breath, quietly approached the girl, and gently tapped her on the shoulder.

Unexpectedly, the moment she touched the girl, her hand was violently thrown off. She heard the girl roar in a weak, hoarse voice, "Get away! Don’t touch me!"

A flicker of disdain crossed Amy’s almond-shaped eyes. Then, she spoke in a soft voice, "Don’t be scared. It’s me, Amy. I brought you something to eat."

The girl looked up, revealing a dirt-stained face. It was clear she wasn’t very old.

Her eyes were filled with panic and deep suspicion.

When the girl saw it was Amy, the wariness in her eyes vanished. Seeing the sand vine cake Amy offered, she quickly took it and began to wolf it down.

Nina Walsh cried as she ate the sand vine cake. She felt as if she were trapped in a horrible nightmare from which she couldn’t wake, no matter how hard she struggled.

She thought back to a few days ago, when she’d had a fight with her father, Caleb Summers, and left a note pretending to run away from home.

But she never expected that just as she left her residential complex and was about to cross the street, a black car would suddenly pull up. A few people jumped out, and before she could even scream, they shoved her into the car and knocked her unconscious.

When Nina Walsh woke up again, she found herself in a windowless room with five other unconscious girls.

She quickly woke the other five girls.

When they first woke up, the five girls, just like Nina Walsh, had eyes full of panic and confusion, with no idea what was happening.

The six of them gathered together and talked for a while, discovering they had all been abducted, knocked out, and brought here when their guards were down.

Then it dawned on them: they had been kidnapped!

The six of them were locked up like that for two days. During that time, no one responded, no matter how much they cried, banged on the door, cursed, or begged.

Finally, on the third day, when they were parched and exhausted, a woman in a red shirt walked in.

The woman, who called herself Ms. Archer, brought them clean drinking water, a basin of boiled corn, and soft, fragrant steamed pumpkin.

They had been starving for two days. At the sight of food, they forgot everything else and swarmed over, devouring it ravenously.

After the six of them finished eating, Ms. Archer got straight to the point and told them they had been abducted to entertain clients.

As the six girls stared in stunned disbelief, Ms. Archer calmly said that as long as they were obedient and served the clients well, they would get to live in luxurious rooms, eat gourmet meals, and no longer have to struggle to get by in the outside world.