Henry sat down heavily on the edge of the small, squeaky bed.
His breathing was rough, and his shirt was sticking to his back from sweat and blood.
He had bruises peeking from under his collar and a deep cut on his arm that had opened again. But he didn’t care.
"Lucy," he grunted, waving his hand like a king giving orders. "Bring so water."
Lucy, still grinning, walked toward the tiny kitchen corner and grabbed a cup.
She filled it with water from the old plastic jug and brought it over.
Henry took it, gulped down half, and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
He looked over at Adeline, who was lying on the floor with blood at the corner of her lips, one eye swollen, arms wrapped tightly around her ribs.
"So," Henry said slowly, swirling the water in his cup. "Tell ... who’s backing you up?"
Adeline didn’t answer right away. She looked at him, breathing hard, her chest rising and falling.
She already knew what he ant—he wanted to know who gave her the courage to sue him. Who gave her the strength to stand up.
She shook her head weakly. "No one."
Henry’s face darkened. The cup in his hand trembled.
"No one?" he repeated in a low voice. Then he stood and walked over in two steps.
SLAP!
Her head snapped to the side again. More blood dripped from her nose. Her lip split further.
"Try again," he said, voice full of warning.
Adeline gritted her teeth, the pain making her eyes blur. But she didn’t speak.
Henry stared at her for a long second. Then... he pulled sothing from his pocket.
It was a phone.
He held it out so she could see the screen.
The contact na read: Adeline’s father.
He smiled cruelly. "Still wanna be quiet?" he asked. "I can give your dear daddy a call. Let’s see how long you stay stubborn."
Adeline’s face turned pale like paper.
Her hands trembled as she pushed herself up a little. She looked at the phone like it was a monster.
She knew exactly what this ant.
Her father... he didn’t need a reason.
If Henry asked him to hit her, he would. If Henry wanted her dead, her father might do it just to please him.
Henry had sothing over him—so dark secret that kept him wrapped around Henry’s finger.
If her dad ca back... the beating today would feel like a soft tap.
She might not make it out alive.
Adeline swallowed hard. Her voice was so small, like a whisper in the storm.
"...It’s Miss Dawn."
Henry raised his eyebrows. "What?"
"...Miss Dawn," she said again, barely louder. "She’s the one... who helped ."
For a mont, there was silence.
Then—
Henry burst out laughing.
He laughed so hard, he had to hold his side.
"Miss Dawn? You?" he said between gasps. "You actually—ha!—you actually want to believe you know her?"
Lucy, now sipping her own glass of water, looked confused.
"Wait, who’s Miss Dawn?" she asked.
Henry chuckled again, leaning against the wall for support.
His face was sweaty, and his bandaged arm was starting to drip with blood again.
"Miss Dawn," he said, smirking, "is an investor. A real big shot. Her bank account has so many zeroes it’d make your brain explode. Liquid cash? I’d say she’s sitting on at least a hundred million dollars."
Lucy’s eyes widened. "A hundred million?!"
Henry nodded slowly.
"Yup. That woman could buy this whole building and turn it into a doghouse if she wanted."
Lucy gasped. Then she got excited and leaned forward.
"Do you think... do you think I could et her? Maybe she’ll like and give , like, fifty thousand! Or even just ten!"
Henry rolled his eyes.
"You think she’s stupid?" he said.
"She doesn’t even breathe the sa air as us. She wouldn’t look at people like us twice. She definitely wouldn’t be helping soone like Adeline."
Lucy glanced at Adeline, then back at Henry.
"But how does Adeline even know her?"
Henry laughed again, though this ti, it ended in a groan.
His face twisted in pain, and he pressed his hand to his side.
His wounds were hurting him, tearing open more and more. The ache made his fingers twitch.
And every ti it hurt, he walked over—and slapped Adeline again.
Just like that.
A slap for every wince.
A slap for every sting.
Adeline’s face was red and swollen, but she didn’t cry anymore.
She just bit her lip and stared at the floor, breathing through her pain.
Henry wiped his mouth and sneered. "Maybe she got scamd," he said.
"No way soone like Miss Dawn would waste ti on this poor brat."
"She did! She promised to help ! She promised to pay off my debts! And she was the one who was going to help file a complaint against you!" Adeline shouted.
Henry wasn’t offended and asked with a laugh,
"Oh really? My dear Adeline, why would she do it? If you were so investnt genius, I might have believed you, but you are nothing more than a pathetic 2 year dropout.
What do you have? What can you offer her that she is ready to pay off your debts, file a complaint against ? So let break the bubble, you are scamd."
"Shut up! Miss Dawn would save ! I will make sure to put you behind bars." Adeline shouted desperately.
Henry chuckled and slapped her hard again,
"Adeline, get this reality in your brain, I can walk out of that door even without any charges on ! As long as I want, it would be your father who would end up in jail rather than .
And since you are his daughter, beating you won’t be a big issue, and I can help him reduce the charges. Then once his sentence would be over, he would co and finish you and your sister at once."
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