Chapter 43
The private room was bathed in dim, suggestive lighting, the echoes of men’s lewd laughter. Matilda slumped onto the floor, clutching a bottle in one hand while her other hand weakly tapped the glass coffee table. Several empty bottles lay scattered around her, on the table and at her side. Her oversized T-shirt was being yanked down over her shoulder by a groping hand, exposing most of her smooth, rounded shoulder, yet she remained completely oblivious in her drunken stupor.
Her head, which had been hanging limply, finally reacted to the sound of the door being kicked open. She turned stiffly, almost robotically, to look in that direction, struggling even to open her eyes. Her usually bright eyes were now glazed over and unfocused, a clear sign she was no longer in her right mind.
On the sofa facing the door lounged a burly man with a horizontal scar across his face, clearly in his forties, exuding an intimidating presence. At his feet knelt a battered man, sobbing and sniveling, his face streaked with tears and snot.
With tears streaming down his face, Drake pleaded, “Harlan, please! You can’t do this. I’ve already given you 300 thousand dollars. Just let my sister go, I’m begging you! Please, have mercy on us!”
Harlan Pierce didn’t hesitate. He brutally kicked the man in the head, grinding his boot into the side of his face. With a mocking, predatory gaze, he raked his eyes over Aubree and sneered, “So, you figured one girl wasn’t enough to settle your debt, and brought me another one?”
The quick-witted sidekick nearest the door shoved Aubree inside and slammed the door shut behind her. “Looks like Drake finally got a clue, Harlan. This chick’s way hotter than the one on the floor,” he sneered. His final laugh dripped with sinister implication.
Harlan roared with laughter. “After I’m done with them, they’re all yours.”
Aubree clutched at her collar and took two steps back, her brows furrowing involuntarily. She thought, ‘Damn it, I was way too reckless, barging in like that… Now I’ve landed myself in danger too. If only I’d at least given Bowen a heads-up!’
Matilda, still slumped on the floor, finally regained a bit of sobriety. Her eyes narrowed in alarm as she recognized the newcomer. Summoning all her strength, she staggered to her feet and smashed the bottle in her hand over the head of the creep groping her. “If you dare lay a finger on her,” she spat, “I’ll fight you to the death!”
Drake, who had just been sobbing and begging for mercy, erupted into exaggerated wails when he saw his sister fight back against Harlan’s men, his cowardice surfacing faster than anyone else’s. “Matilda, are you trying to get us killed?” he cried hysterically, “How could you lay a hand on Harlan’s guys? Apologize now! Let’s just beg for mercy again, maybe they’ll let us go!”
He truly didn’t want to see his sister get bullied, but crossing Harlan was the last thing he wanted.
Matilda stepped before Aubree, who quickly reached out to steady her, gripping her arm. Their eyes met, Aubree's gaze silently demanding, “What the hell is going on here?”
“My brother has gambling debts,” Matilda gritted her teeth and looked away, unable to meet Aubree’s eyes. Matilda had always kept to herself at school, largely because of her family situation.
They weren’t bad to her, but this family could hardly be called a safe haven. Her brother was a gambler, drowning in loan shark debts and never learning his lesson. But this same brother would come home late at night with midnight snacks for her, stand up for her whenever she was bullied, and, after drinking with bloodshot eyes, choke out an apology. “I’m sorry, just stop worrying about me.”
Matilda couldn’t bring herself to abandon her family. All she could do was try to save herself and drag them out with her. A good-for-nothing, even…
Seated at the head of the table, Harlan didn’t even get angry when he saw his sidekick get hit. Instead, he just chuckled and sneered, “What a feisty little thing.”
His words dripped with sleazy insinuation.
Harlan sneered. “Now now, don’t get mad. We’re all reasonable people here. Since you can’t pay up, I’m just letting you drink to settle the debt. 30 thousand dollars a bottle, you’re getting a sweet deal! Looks like you can’t handle your liquor, but as long as you pay what you owe, we can work something out.”
Harlan sneered maliciously. He could tell just by looking that the girl who’d burst in wasn’t carrying anything valuable. Still, he fancied himself a man of principle, someone who always played by his own twisted code.
Aubree’s frown deepened as she thought, ‘Wait, Matilda just won over 3 million dollars in prize money and still couldn’t pay off all the debt? Even if Matilda’s family gambled, could they really have borrowed that much?’
Matilda clutched the bottle even tighter, like a cornered animal, her voice trembling with fury and desperation. “You shameless bastards!” she snarled, “My brother only borrowed 1 million from you, and I’ve already given you over 3 million!”
Harlan’s face darkened. “Don’t play dumb,” he sneered. “You think I’d lend your brother money for nothing! That 3 million was just the interest, there’s still the one million principal you owe me.”
Harlan’s scar twitched along with his crooked grin, making him look every bit the shameless thug he was.
Matilda was about to argue further when Aubree tugged at the hem of her shirt and silently shook her head.
“Don’t try to take them head-on,” Aubree warned, tightening her grip on Matilda’s sleeve.
Aubree thought, ‘If it’s just about the debt, that’s not so bad. I’ve still got money… All I need to do now is get out of here!’
Aubree steadied herself slightly, her free hand cautiously feeling for her phone in her pocket. “Mr. Pierce, right? If I understand correctly, my friend owes you 1 million dollars, I can pay that.”
Harlan responded briskly, “Wire the money now. Once it clears, then we’ll see.”
Harlan thought, ‘I said we’ll see, not that you can leave.’
Aubree quickly caught the wordplay in his response. As the sidekick beside her rattled off the bank account number, she knew better than to make any rash moves in this situation.
Aubree obediently complied and transferred the money. As she pocketed her phone, seizing a moment when no one was watching, she randomly dialed a contact. Her phone only had three contacts saved: her teacher, the members of God’s Fury, and Bowen.
‘Anyone, please, just realize I’m in danger,’ Aubree thought desperately.
“The money’s transferred,” Aubree said, keeping her voice steady. “We can go now, right?”
Seeing the one million dollars hit his account, Harlan smirked and kicked Drake aside with his foot. Then he leisurely rose to his feet. “Well, well,” he drawled, “didn’t take you for a rich little girl.”
Harlan sneered. “But what I said was, ‘we’ll see.’ I never said you could leave.”
“You’re going back on your word!” Matilda snapped.
“Now, don’t put words in my mouth, sweetheart. When did I ever say you could leave just because you paid up? Sure, the debt’s settled, but what about the guy you just hurt? That’s not something I can just let slide. But since you’re both young ladies, I won’t make things too hard. Your friend already finished seven out of ten bottles, so you just drink the last three as an apology to my man. Once you’re done, you can go. Though, if you can’t walk afterward, I would be more than happy to lend a hand.”
As for what kind of “help” he meant, that was anyone’s guess, but it definitely wasn’t anything good. All the liquor here was high-proof spirits, even a grown man would be in bad shape after downing three bottles. A girl this young was bound to get wasted, and then he could have his way with her.
No sooner had Harlan finished speaking than his sidekicks brandished liquor bottles and closed in on Aubree. Whether she wanted to or not, those drinks were going down her throat; she had no choice in the matter.
In a private room not far away, Bowen had left his phone on the couch, the pounding music drowning out any sound of an incoming call. By the time he returned from the restroom, all that was left on his screen was a single missed call.
Bowen thought, ‘It’s Bree! She never calls me unless she’s in trouble! I wasn’t seeing things earlier, that was definitely her!’
Just then, a waiter hurried in with a grim expression and went straight to Ollie. “Mr. Lane,” he said urgently, “the girl you asked us to keep an eye on is here. She went into private room 1005. Harlan has that room booked for tonight.”
Ollie’s face darkened. He recognized the guy to be a loan shark.
Bowen snatched up his jacket and bolted out.