Standing at the entrance of Floor One, she saw the nurous makeshift beds. Briefly looking at the stairs beside her, she thought about going back up.
She shook her head. She needed to do this, no matter how unwilling she was.
Her eyes scanned the surroundings, and she clicked her tongue.
The air is being filtered, but it didn’t stop the slightly damp sll. Her eyes flicked to the window with a bit of moisture clinging to it.
She walked along the hallway, back straight, stopping at the door leading to the living room. It was now perpetually left open because of the number of people.
She stood in the middle of the doorway. At the corner of her eye, she saw Matthew and Claire. She made no move to call out to them. The resentnt in Matthew’s eyes told her he hadn’t learned his lesson.
As for Claire, she watched her downcast eyes turn up and look directly at her. Her eyes narrowed, and she ran her tongue along the inside of her teeth.
There was sothing different about Claire, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Whatever the change was, she liked the look in her eye.
"Could everyone step inside?" Her voice cut through the chatter.
She didn’t raise her voice. She simply let her aura speak for itself.
As she stepped inside, Veronica, who had been following, stepped in as well. During tis like this, she was skilled at being a shadow.
Footsteps padded in behind them. Her eyes scanned the room before finding a place to stand. She intended to sit, but the unidentified stain on the sofa forced her to keep standing.
They surrounded her with a mix of curiosity and scrutiny.
"Today, everyone will be assigned to their places. So will head to Floor Two, and others will stay here."
The indifference in her voice was hard to miss. She could hear the mumbling, but she ignored it.
"Those whose nas I call will be moving to Floor Two. The rest of you, don’t worry. Work hard, you might even make it to Floor Three." She paused, "Caleb, Diane, and Gordon Marsh, Fred Duncan, Dante Frazier..."
She listed a total of ten nas, three of which were the nas of the only three children on Floor One.
"Be thankful to your children that you get to live on Floor Two," her eyes flashed past the parents of the children.
Their faces looked as if they had been dropped in a vat of shit. Yet, Alia made no move to apologize. She was even a bit scornful of them.
She has never taken kindly to people who want to take sothing for nothing. And these people, all of them, are such in her eyes.
"Jon," she called out. Her eyes locked on the scholarly man. "You may co with . Bring any two people you wish to work with. Rember to work hard and pay off what you did to the gate."
Looking at the crowd, she continued. "I will give you five minutes to get ready." Then she stepped into the hallway.
Matthew and Claire followed. Veronica moved to stop them; she raised a finger, telling her to let them follow. She hadn’t completely stopped before Matthew bombarded her with questions.
His face was nacing as he asked, spittle flying. "Why the hell do I have to stay here? Jaylin’s already gone up, so why the hell do I have to stay here with this gutter trash? Are you just trying to teach a lesson? I’ve fucking learned, now let back up. The food is trash."
Alia frowned as the spit caught her cheek. She had no handkerchief and could only use her sleeve. Seh smiled sardonically. "Learn? What have you learned? To be more arrogant? If you learned anything, you should humble yourself and beg on your knees for a chance to leave."
The air around her froze. Her pressure pressed down on Matthew. She reached into her pocket, taking out a scalpel. She had stolen it from Ashton’s room so ti earlier.
She stepped closer to him. Her gaze flitted to Claire. Her eyes were boring into her.
"You know, Matthew, I never liked you. Kain saw potential in you. I could see it too, but the one thing he hadn’t seen was your greed."
In one fluid motion, the cap of the scalpel was flicked off, and the blade embedded itself into Matthew’s shoulder. She twisted, and he groaned, falling on one knee.
He let go of Claire’s hand, and she stepped back.
’Good girl,’ Alia thought.
"You disrespected my man. You should be glad the only thing I did was stab you." Her tone was venomous, laced with disgust.
She pulled the scalpel out, put the cover back on the blade, and stepped back. Her eyes t Jon’s, and she smiled. It wasn’t warm.
Ignoring Matthew, she turned and walked away. Knowing they weren’t following, she didn’t stop or turn back; she only said, loud enough for them to hear, "If you don’t move now, you don’t get to leave."
Her tone was audibly lighter, but they didn’t dare make her wait.
They scrambled to follow. Regardless of whether they were afraid of the person or the oath, from the day the oath showed itself, they dared not disobey or even think anything out of line.
The first stop was Floor Two. She turned to the ten people.
"This is for your family. You may stay here. Unlike the rations from Floor One, where you eat twice per day, als are given three tis per day on Floor Two. I trust you know that, staying here, you will be cleaning, cooking, and doing so minor surveillance work.
You will clean and cook for Floors One to Three. Four and Five is conditional. We will call if we need you. I’ll leave you to get settled in."
Not waiting for a response, she made her way to Floor Three. There she saw Verdana. She was lounging in a tank top and casual shorts. When she saw Alia and Veronica, she smiled warmly.
Alia gave her a curt nod and turned to Jon.
"This is where you will live. The exit staircase is still accessible, and we’ve made sure that only Floors Three, Four, and Five have access. The rations are the sa as Floor Two; however, you also have the option of having coffee or tea along with a snack every so often."
She saw Verdana walking over, so she said, "Verdana, I’ve brought you so playmates. You must be bored all by yourself. You can help them with their work as well."
No longer paying attention to these matters, she left and went back to her room.
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