“Earrings? I didn’t see them, otherwise I’ll ask someone to help us look for them.”
“No, if my husband finds out, he’ll kill me. Please, just help me look around here.”
The woman pleaded.
Aurora felt unusually warm, unsure if it was because of the alcohol she had consumed earlier. She wanted to refuse but couldn’t withstand the woman’s earnest pleas.
“The earrings were an engagement gift from my husband, I accidentally lost one just now, and my husband is not as gentle and considerate as Mr. Barnet. If his temper flares up when he finds out I lost it, I will surely suffer a terrible fate.”
“Alright, I’ll help you look.”
Aurora reluctantly started searching on the ground. After a thorough search, she found no trace of the earring, and her body felt increasingly hotter.
“I remember now, it should be over there. Miss Montgomery, please come with me to look.”
The woman insisted, pulling Aurora aside without further explanation.
Aurora frowned, “I have other things to do, you should ask someone else to accompany you.”
“It’s just ahead.”
“Let go of me!”
Aurora’s condition worsened. This place used to be a guard room but had been abandoned after a relocation.
A group of men approached Aurora, reeking of a foul odor. The woman, fearful of the beggars touching her, quickly let go of Aurora.
“Miss Montgomery, have fun, since you like messing around with men. There should be enough men here for you today.”
The woman sneered from a distance.
Images from three years ago overlapped with the present.
“Aurora, I can’t believe you’re still so foolish. You escaped last time, but you won’t be so lucky this time,” Ivy emerged from the shadows.
“It’s you again!”
Aurora’s eyes almost shot fire.
“So what if it’s me? Aren’t you always so capable? I’m curious to see if Mr. Barnet will still cherish you after these beggars have had their way with you,” Ivy said with a triumphant smirk.
Aurora stared at Ivy, not as panicked as she had been three years earlier.
“Ivy, I’m giving you one chance to stop now, and I might still spare you.”
“Spare me? Oh, my dear sister, you really love to talk big. How about you kneel before me now, and maybe I’ll consider sparing you,” Ivy vented her frustrations accumulated over many days.
At that moment, she felt life was truly wonderful. Aurora deserved such an end.
“Ladies and gentlemen, don’t be shy, this woman is here for you for free. Play as you wish!”
Ivy’s words were like pouring fuel on fire.
These men, who begged on the streets daily and struggled even for basic sustenance, had not touched a woman in many years.
The men, dirty and disheveled, only showed their eyes filled with animalistic desire, slowly closing in on Aurora like a pack of hyenas.
“Ivy, do you think I’m still the naive girl from three years ago, at your mercy?”
Aurora snorted coldly. She wasn’t sick with a cold or fever today, and even if her body was under the influence of drugs, what of it?
“What are you waiting for? Don’t you know how to play with a woman?”
Ivy exclaimed, seeing the crowd frozen in place.
Perhaps it was the chilling aura emanating from Aurora that was too intimidating; none of them dared to approach her casually. Only after receiving orders from Ivy did one man muster the courage. The woman in front of him had skin as white as snow, with half-exposed fragrant shoulders and an elegant neck-an ultimate prize, worth dying over.
As the man approached, Aurora drew a sharp blade from her handbag. Ever since she had been set up by Eric, she had always carried a small knife. Ivy laughed mockingly, thinking Aurora was trying to intimidate them with such a small knife.
“Who said I was going to hurt anyone?”
Aurora suddenly slashed her own palm with the knife, the pain temporarily restoring her sanity from the drug’s control.
“Go get her now!”
Ivy, startled by Aurora’s sudden act, shouted. The other men charged at her, but Aurora swiftly kicked the nearest one between the legs, eliciting continuous howls of pain. Years of training had honed her skills. These beggars, accustomed only to kneeling and begging, were no match for Aurora’s assault.
After a few had fallen, the rest hesitated and began retreating involuntarily. The woman, still bleeding profusely from her hand, was too formidable, resembling a fearsome warrior risen from hell, deterring them from coming closer.
Ivy panicked, not expecting Aurora to cut herself to counteract the drug’s effects and send the beggars fleeing in terror.
“Don’t come any closer,” she stammered as Aurora advanced, her eyes filled with fear. Aurora’s expression was icy as she grasped Ivy’s neck with her blood-soaked hand.
“Don’t mess around!”
Ivy’s body trembled in fear.
Blood dripped slowly down Ivy’s neck as Aurora coldly stated, “Ivy, you brought this upon yourself. You can’t blame anyone else.”
Ivy thought she was about to be strangled and was about to say something when Aurora released her and walked away, leaving Ivy’s neck stained with blood.
Watching Aurora’s retreating figure, Ivy was overcome with relief and slowly collapsed to the ground.
“Useless, can’t even handle such a simple task!”
Susan appeared, criticizing.
“Easy for you to say, standing there. Didn’t you see how formidable Aurora was just now? What did she mean by that?”
“Who knows what she’s planning,” Susan replied irritably, frustrated by the failed plot.
“Go wash off that blood; you’re scaring everyone. Aurora really is a maniac, to think she could do that to herself.”
Aurora’s strength was fading; if she hadn’t acted, she wouldn’t have been able to fend off the beggars.
“Very well, Ivy, since you’ve shown no mercy, don’t blame me for what happens next.”
She headed to her car to retrieve a paternity test result, thinking it might be time to reveal it today.
Her phone rang in her handbag.
“Hello?”
she answered weakly.
“Aurora, where are you? I’ve looked everywhere for you.”
“I’m by your car, Julian, come here,” Aurora said, noticing her hand still bleeding. Julian hung up and hurried toward her.