lody Sumrs followed Albus’s directions, taking the ergency stairwell from Room 1108 down to the second basent level.
Perhaps Flynn Adler and his n were so certain the won couldn’t escape from the basent that, aside from the thugs guarding the elevators, there weren’t many people patrolling the area.
As the two of them stared in shock, lody Sumrs calmly closed the door.
When Albus had co to the second basent level looking for people earlier, he had only found Nina Sumrs in this room. lody hadn’t expected Joelle Lawson to be here now as well.
Standing at the door just a mont ago, lody Sumrs had faintly overheard the two of them talking. When Adam Lawson died, she had wondered why Noelle Quillan and Joelle Lawson were nowhere to be found.
To think that Adam Lawson had actually just sold the mother and daughter off...
Seeing lody Sumrs walk in looking so calm, Nina Sumrs was stunned—she hadn’t expected lody to actually co!
’...Since lody is here, does that an I can go now?’
Before Nina Sumrs could speak, Joelle Lawson rushed past her and stepped in front of lody Sumrs.
Joelle Lawson wore a bizarre expression, a mixture of shock and glee. eting lody Sumrs’s confused gaze, she asked, "What are you doing here? Don’t tell ... you and your mom were sold off by him too?!"
lody Sumrs frowned slightly, but the smile on Joelle Lawson’s face only grew wider until she looked positively thrilled.
She continued, "I knew it! I knew it! If he sold and my mom, there was no way you and your mom would get a happy ending! We haven’t lost to you!"
lody Sumrs was rendered speechless by Joelle Lawson’s words. ’At a ti like this, Joelle still has the energy for these comparisons? Is there sothing wrong with her?’
Ignoring the manic excitent on Joelle Lawson’s face, lody Sumrs walked straight to Nina Sumrs and asked in a cold voice, "Nina Walsh, you said you ran away and needed comforting. What’s all this, then?"
Nina Sumrs was surprised that lody had actually co.
They weren’t on good terms. If she were in lody’s shoes, she never would have co.
And yet, lody had actually co... At that thought, a wave of gratitude washed over Nina, but it was imdiately followed by a surge of anxiety and guilt.
Influenced by her mother, Mindy Walsh, and her father, Caleb Sumrs, Nina had never liked lody. But it was just dislike; she had never wished for lody to die.
Nina knew it was her fault lody was here. She avoided her cousin’s gaze and mumbled, "I... I was really going to run away... but they caught ..."
lody Sumrs scoffed. "So, you knew these people were bad news, and you still deliberately lured here to die?"
Overwheld by a potent wave of guilt, Nina didn’t know how to answer lody. All she could do was stamr, "I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but I... I had no choice. If I didn’t do what they said, they... they were going to harvest my organs! I don’t want to die..."
Over the past few days, Nina had watched the other girls who were kidnapped alongside her die, one by one. For soone who had lived such a sheltered life, the shock was simply too much to bear.
With that, Nina didn’t dare ask if she could leave. She just pulled the blanket over her head and began to sob quietly.
lody scoffed. She knew Nina hadn’t really had a choice, but she’d wanted to confirm whether her cousin had been forced to lure her here.
If Nina had willingly conspired with Flynn Adler to harm her, lody wouldn’t have let her off the hook this ti. After all, this was the second ti Nina had done sothing like this. lody could forgive her once, maybe twice, but not a third ti. She wouldn’t keep such a threat around.
But if Nina had been forced by Flynn Adler, if she truly had no other choice, then for the sake of their shared grandmother, lody could spare her life.
It seed Nina had indeed been forced. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be locked up in here. Judging by her pale face, she had clearly been tornted.
Seeing her in this state, lody could only hope that Nina would finally learn her lesson and stay far away from Clara Hayes and her friends!
Listening nearby, Joelle Lawson was starting to piece things together. ’So,’ she thought, ’when Nina said she was "getting her cousin to take her place," she was serious. And that cousin is lody Sumrs!’
Joelle Lawson’s brow furrowed. ’So they’re cousins!’
’No wonder I find them both so annoying. They’re even cut from the sa holier-than-thou cloth!’
The realization that lody hadn’t been sold by Adam Lawson made Joelle snap. She grabbed lody’s arm and demanded angrily, "Did my dad go to your mom to get back together? Did he take the money he got from selling and my mother and go to you two?"
eting lody’s confused look, Joelle glared at her and said bitterly, "Do you and your mother think you’ve won? You must be so smug, right?"
"I’ll tell you the truth—when my dad sold my mom, they hadn’t even finalized the divorce! lody Sumrs, that makes you and your mother the howreckers now!"
Hearing this, lody Sumrs imdiately yanked her arm out of Joelle Lawson’s grasp.
She couldn’t fathom Joelle Lawson’s line of thinking. She sneered and retorted, "Joelle Lawson, what in the world is going on in that head of yours?"
Facing Joelle Lawson’s furious and bitter glare, lody said calmly, "You think my mother and I care about Adam Lawson? You think we’d fight you over a piece of garbage? Let tell you the truth. Adam Lawson is dead. My mother killed him with her own hands."
Joelle Lawson’s eyes flew wide with shock. She cried out in disbelief, "What did you say?! No—that’s impossible!"
Joelle Lawson refused to believe lody. She assud lody was just saying it to spite her.
Before lody could say anything, Nina, still on the bed, spoke up urgently, "SHHH—Amy, keep your voice down! You’ll attract those tigers and leopards and things from outside."
Forgetting her tears, Nina scrambled out of bed, desperate for lody and Joelle to stop fighting.
Based on what Joelle had just said, Nina finally figured out the relationship between her and lody.
At ho, Caleb Sumrs often called Winnie Sumrs a cast-off wife who couldn’t hold onto a man, saying that a divorced woman like her was a disgrace to the family. That was why Nina had always disliked Winnie, and by association, looked down on lody.
Now that her father, Caleb, had remarried and had a son, Nina found herself in a situation similar to lody’s. She suddenly realized how terribly wrong she had been in the past.
Joelle just scoffed at her words and said disdainfully, "Coward. That leopard can’t get in here."
Seeing Nina’s petrified expression, Joelle added maliciously, "Even if the leopard doesn’t co, you two cousins aren’t escaping! I already told you, no woman who cos in here gets out alive! You might as well resign yourselves to being prostitutes!"
Nina’s face went deathly pale, and fresh tears stread down her cheeks. She shook her head, almost numbly, and whispered, "No... I won’t be a prostitute..."
lody frowned at Joelle and said coolly, "Are you happy that we can’t get out, Joelle? You can’t get out either. Or do you actually enjoy the idea of staying here as a prostitute?"
Joelle grunted nonchalantly, glaring at lody. "If I beco a prostitute, at least I’ll be supporting myself with my own skills. What right do you have to judge ? I can’t stand that holier-than-thou act you two cousins put on... If you don’t want to be prostitutes, then just wait for them to harvest your organs!"
At these words, Nina collapsed limply to the floor, her gaze vacant. She had bitten her lip so hard it was bleeding. "No," she mumbled, "I don’t want my organs harvested either... I... I want to live..."
Seeing the verge-of-breakdown look on Nina’s face, lody said with a helpless sigh, "All right, stop crying. I’ve already called the police. They’ll be here any minute. Don’t worry, you’re going to get out of here alive."
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