The main issue was the woman beside him. It would be one thing if she were merely beautiful, but that woman is a fraud, even more skilled at putting on airs than I am. Unmatched in beauty, unparalleled in her pretense, and when she turns on the charm, she’s unbeatable. What to do?

A femme fatale meeting a vixen—even Rina found herself frowning deeply.

However, she knew she had to solve this problem. Otherwise, I daren’t imagine my fate: disappeared? Declared mentally ill? Or some other terrible pretense? Don’t think you’re top-tier. In their eyes, you’re nothing more than an actress. If I don’t get the secret from Wan Donglin, I can’t report back to Zhou Ting. As for being pregnant, that’s just an excuse—anything to stall for today. Otherwise, at best, my reputation will be ruined; at worst, my life will be in danger. Yan Xixi. It all comes down to her. No, even if she is a vixen, I’ll have to skin her alive and make a coat out of her hide.

For several consecutive days, Yan Xixi was very excited. It was the kind of restless anxiety one feels before a long journey—a mixture of excitement and fear. In her fluster, she was busy saying goodbye to her friends. She invited Huang Ying, Fu Mei, and others over, and then suddenly remembered Li Zhen.

Speaking of which, it’s rather embarrassing. I promised to treat her that day, but then it just fizzled out. When Li Zhen called again, Yan Xixi could no longer feign ignorance. She readily agreed, and they set a time and place.

After reviewing the sales plan for the next half of the year with Xu Xiaoya and going out to check on the stores, cute Cindy arrived.

Yan Xixi’s eyes widened, and she called her by her real name, "My gosh, Zhenzhen, you look so much better this way..."

Cindy was wearing a new, simple floral dress. Her face was no longer caked with so much makeup that you couldn’t see her actual skin. She looked very clean and pure, making her appear several years younger. However, she had a bandage on the corner of her mouth and a large bruise under her left chin. When she lifted her clothes, large, scattered bruises were visible on her waist as well.

Even her eyes were bloodshot and swollen. She looked like she had been thoroughly beaten.

"Zhenzhen, who hit you?"

Cindy, on the verge of tears, said, "Yan, I’ve come to you for refuge. Will you still take me? I’m not doing that kind of work anymore, never again in my life! Can I work here with you? I promise I’ll work hard..."

Yan Xixi remained very calm. "Who hit you?"

"A drunkard... he’s the boss’s friend..."

Yan Xixi and Xu Xiaoya exchanged a glance.

That was how things were in this line of work. Bosses usually protected the girls. But if it was one of the boss’s friends, and they hit you, you just had to take it and consider yourself unlucky. Besides, you couldn’t report it to the police.

Zhenzhen said sullenly, "That damned pervert! He booked me for two sessions. All the services were done, but he wasn’t satisfied and kept tormenting me. In the end, he started playing dirty and refused to use a condom..."

"..."

"That I could have let slide," Zhenzhen continued, her voice choked with tears. "But he kept demanding... *that* kind of service, over and over again... My mouth was full of his grease, it was disgusting! If it had been before, I would have just endured it. But this time, I don’t know why, I just couldn’t take it anymore. So I bit him, and he grabbed me and beat me savagely..."

She pulled up the long sleeve of her T-shirt, and Yan Xixi saw that her wrists were covered in livid bruises.

"Yan, I swear, I will never do this line of work again! Please, give me a chance. You’re the only one I can rely on now..."

Yan Xixi sighed deeply. She naturally knew what this kind of brutalizing service entailed. Even for services like using one’s legs, money wasn’t easy to earn. Prices ranged from a few hundred to a couple of thousand, but one had to provide many "services," of which the most disgusting was undoubtedly the "licking" service. This term had ancient origins, but the modern service industry had taken it to the extreme.