Chapter 98: Hid Herself (1/5)

“Fred…” Claire’s heartbeat suddenly stopped. She thought of the dream in which Frederick pointed a pistol at her head. Just as she was about to call Frederick’s name, she heard a laugh from behind. Several kids laughed together.

“How is it? I told you my dad made me a great pistol recently. Look. I scared her.”

Only then did Claire realize that the person holding a pistol against her head was not Frederick, but a child. Even the pistol wasn’t real; it was a toy pistol his father had made for him.

Claire sighed and dared to look back. “Are you shooting for fun?”

She was almost scared to death and had felt she would die the next second.

“Run! She is angry!”

“Everybody, run now!”

The naughty kids saw that Claire was angry and all ran away.

Chapter 98: Hid Herself (2/5)

Claire didn’t see where the child who had pointed the toy pistol at her head ran off to, but no matter where he ran, at least she was alive. Claire took several deep breaths before finally calming herself down. The sky began to brighten, and the sun was about to come out.

Claire looked towards the east and then looked at the rows of low, shack-like dwellings in front of her. She had never imagined that she would come to the slum of Kingstown and become a part of it one day. What she hadn’t expected even more was that the slum was so poor. Many people lived in makeshift tents, and even the tent cloth was tattered and could hardly withstand any wind or rain. Only those who were slightly better off could build a house, but the house was short and small. In some places, several families even lived together; a small house could accommodate 10 to 20 people.

Not knowing how long Claire had been wandering around, it was getting bright, and she moved forward.

Chapter 98: Hid Herself (3/5)

“Girl, I’m Nora. Would you like to rent a house? Fifty dollars a month.”

Claire was walking, and a middle-aged woman in her forties came over and asked Claire.

“What? Fifty dollars a month?”

Claire really needed a place to live when she arrived at the slum. But when she heard the price, she was shocked. How would a place look with only fifty dollars a month?

“How about it? Are you going? My house is nice. It is one of the best in this slum. It’s cheap to rent it to you for fifty dollars a month. I’ve never asked for so little rent before. If it weren’t for the fact that it’s just after Christmas and people haven’t come over to rent yet, I never would have asked for so little.”

Nora spoke with great sincerity and was proud of her house. Claire thought about it and followed Nora to her house. She didn’t want Frederick to find her. This slum did seem like a good choice, with all kinds of people here. She could probably hold out for a while. As long as she stayed here, she would definitely have to rent a house.

Chapter 98: Hid Herself (4/5)

Claire followed Nora for about ten minutes and arrived at her house.

“Right here. This place is for rent. Come in and take a look!”

Nora was enthusiastic. She took Claire’s hand and led Claire to the room she wanted to rent. As soon as she entered and saw the room, Claire was utterly stunned. Her left foot that stepped into the room did not land for a long time; if it did, it would step on a child’s head.

Claire didn’t really expect a house for fifty dollars a month to look like this. Nora kept praising her house as being particularly good. Indeed, it was not easy to build a house and install windows in a slum. But 20 people were living in a small 215-square-foot house. The tiny room had no furniture whatsoever, not even windows, and the lights had to be left on during the daytime.

Nora told Claire that this place was about to be full and that 19 people were already there. There was no room for more people. She pointed to the not-so-clean mat on the floor and said, “If you want to rent it, this is the only place. Fifty dollars.”

“I’ll decide later.”

Chapter 98: Hid Herself (5/5)

Claire smiled, nodded, and left. She would live here, so she decided to be more selective. But she wandered around the slum for a long time and didn’t find any good houses. Nora’s words were indeed correct; her house was considered quite good.

Claire thought about it and decided that she didn’t need to pick carefully now that she was running for her life. The crowd would allow her to hide in it.

Finally, Claire turned back. But just as she reached the door of Nora’s house, she saw Richard. He was with a team of people and a dog and seemed to be looking for something. Claire quickly held her breath. She pinched her nose and hid herself.