Damien’s eyes turned red with fury. He grabbed me by the collar and snarled, "Vivian, are you messing with me? Do you think this is some kind of joke?"
I shook my head violently, trembling as I pleaded for mercy.
Just then, one of his friends furrowed his brows and muttered, "Damien, why do I feel something's off? Vivian doesn't seem right, don't you think?"
"She looks traumatized and a bit confused."
Damien scoffed, "She’s just acting to make it more believable. What trauma could she possibly have?"
"Besides, this Women's Virtue Class is highly reputable and completely legitimate."
"If anything were wrong, she could’ve called me anytime and I’d be here immediately."
The others nodded in agreement.
I looked at Damien, bitterness welling up in my eyes.
Come the moment I call?
Really?
The moment I arrived at this building, the mentor snatched my phone away and forced me to entertain guests.
I was horrified and cursed them out.
That night, they beat me until I could not stand.
Desperate to escape, my daughter risked everything to help me. Together, we snuck into the disciplinary teacher’s office and stole her phone.
The mentor noticed and rushed over to snatch the phone from me.
My daughter clung tightly to the mentor’s legs, trying to hold them back. She shouted at me to call Damien quickly.
The mentor struck her hard in the back with her fist. She coughed up blood, but she still did not let go.
I finally managed to get through to Damien.
Through tears, I begged him to come and take us away. I told him that both of us were being abused here.
Unfortunately, he never showed up. He was vacationing at the beach with Veronica and her son.
All he did was make a single phone call to check in with the training team here.
The mentor sent him a video of me shouting and lashing out.
The footage had been edited. Its beginning and end were cut away.
They made it look like I was being unreasonable, impossible to discipline and constantly cursing at people.
Damien flew into a rage upon watching it.
He told them to punish me harshly and not to worry about my identity.
That night, my daughter and I were stripped naked and forced to kneel in the freezing courtyard. We begged for mercy more than a thousand times.
The memory still burned in my mind. I even trembled whenever I thought of it.
Back in the room, Damien casually tore down the photo from the cabinet.
I hurriedly crawled over and snatched it back.