“Honestly,” another man smirked, eyeing me up and down, “fifty-two million isn’t that much. Dahlia, if you serve me tonight and don’t disappoint, I might just give you sixty million. Easy, right?”
More laughter.
I felt like I was shrinking, like the air was being sucked out of my lungs.
Argus didn’t stop them.
He didn’t even look annoyed.
“That’s none of my concern,” he said lightly. “How she gets the money has nothing to do with me.”
Something inside my chest cracked.
“Argus…” My voice came out weak, barely there. “I didn’t humiliate Celine. She lied to you. I wouldn’t do that. Why would I—”
“Why wouldn’t you?” he replied, tilting his head slightly, almost curious. “You really want to argue about that?”
My body went cold.
The memories came back, sharp and cruel. After Celine came back from overseas... I was late cooking for her. Just late. The food wasn’t even bad. And Argus? He locked me outside. Three days. No food. No water. I remember sitting on the cold floor, my hands shaking, wondering if I was going to pass out.
The second time, I accidentally broke her tablet. It slipped from my hands. That was it. Argus had someone grab me, and the next thing I knew, my arm was in a cast and I couldn’t even lift it without crying.
The third time, I wasn’t even doing anything wrong. I was just sad. And Celine made me dress up, stand in front of her friends, perform like I was some kind of joke. I almost collapsed that night, but no one stopped her.
Now I only wanted the fifty thousand Celine begged me for my father's treatment. But she cried, said she had no one else, and promised she would pay me back. And this… this was what I got.
Dragged here.
Humiliated.
Reduced to nothing.
“Dahlia,” Argus said, his voice pulling me back like a chain around my neck. “If you can’t pay on time, I’ll take you to court. And trust me, you won’t survive that.”
My legs felt weak.
When I thought about my father lying in that hospital bed, machines breathing for him and bills piling up like they were waiting to bury me too, I forced a smile. It felt wrong on my face, like it didn’t belong to me anymore.
I turned to the man sitting beside Argus, “If I… if I serve you well tonight, will you really give me fifty-two million?”
For a second, everything went quiet. Then the man lit up like he had just won something.