บท 3: Pricey goods

An unsuspecting Karina followed the strange man deep into the building, without questions. Worry had clouded her reasoning, making her ignore all the warning bells ringing in her head.

Why would Chloe be so careless to the point that she fell down the stairs? Where was she rushing to? How bad was her injury? Is she still conscious? These questions kept popping into Karina's head, heightening her distress.

She let out a sigh, walking fast to keep up with the pace of the man. It seemed they wouldn't be able to attend the party anymore. Although she felt relieved, since she wasn't interested in the first place, she felt sad because Chloe had to break her head for that to happen.

They were now walking in a much quieter part of the building, and the music sounded very distant to Karina's ears. The hallway had a few doors to the right, and a plain wall to the left.

She could see there was no other turn as a metal door stood at the end of the hallway. Her brows drew together, but she continued walking. She could remember he said the injured girl was in the backyard receiving attention. This place didn't look like a backyard unless the door they were heading to lead to the back of the house.

With that thought in mind, she shook off her suspicion.

"Is that the door to the back?" She asked, glancing at him from the side.

"Yes." The man answered simply, and his answer pushed Karina to walk faster, almost running, to the point where she overtook him.

She ran to the door and pushed it open without a second thought. Her brows furrowed when she stepped in and discovered it was a room, not a backyard. That was not all.

Two men were forcefully stripping a young girl, another two turned to look at her the moment she stepped inside, and about eight girls gathered in one corner of the room.

The girls' mouths were all taped, their hands and legs tied and they were kept in a sitting position. Their clothes were ripped and tears were running down their eyes. More importantly, non of them was Chloe. What did she just walk into?

She took one step back, realizing she may have made the worst mistake of her life by believing the stranger's words. The next moment, she turned around sharply, intending to run out before it was too late, but it was indeed already late. The strange man had stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

"Welcome... To my world, my dear." The strange man said in a sinister voice, making her take a step back when he took one toward her. The smile had returned to his face, but this time, it sent a chill up her spine.

She continued stepping backward when he didn't stop approaching her, until her back hit someone's chest and she froze. On instinct, she tried to move to the side, but the strange man caught her waist, and pulled her closer to him, eliciting a loud gasp from her.

"Where do you think you are going? There's no escaping me, my dear."

"Where is my friend? You said she was injured. Where is she?" Karina asked back, glaring at the man, despite the fear running through her veins. Her heart was beating like crazy as she tried in vain to push the man away from her.

"Your friend?" He asked, feigning ignorance as he tilted his head to the side. "I don't know what you are talking about."

Karina frowned when he placed the back of his fingers on her cheek, and shuddered in fear and disgust when he ran them down the side of her neck.

"But what I do know is that you have some pricey goods here. Shall we take a look?" Just as he said that, he tore the top of her dress, lowering the already low neckline and exposing her bra-covered bosom.

Karina's eyes went wide and with no other option left, she lifted her leg and stepped on his foot with the pointed heel of her shoe, using all the strength she could muster.

"Ah!" The man cried out, hissing as he instantly let go of her and stepped back a little. He moved his eyes to his leg, trying to access the level of damage. When he lifted his face to look at her again, it was all red in anger.

"You little bitch." He spat out, then landed her a blinding slap that numbed Karina's face and blinded her for a few seconds. Her scream rang out in the room, resonating in the entire hallway.

***

Meanwhile, Skye, who had been following the couple from the main hall, had a frown plastered all over his face, seeing how Karina was willingly following the man.

The man was no stranger to Skye. His name was Mark. This was their usual cool-off spot, so they knew almost everyone who comes here and does business here too.

They've never had any reason to look into what Mark does, but with one look, they already knew he was into shady business. After all, they were not novices in this world.

What he didn't understand was why Karina was following him so enthusiastically. Did they know each other somewhere? He would have just called her attention, but what if she was secretly dating him?

The idea sounded so absurd in his head because he didn't see her as such a person. But what he was witnessing was forcing him to reconsider his beliefs.

When the duo turned into the last corridor, he slowed down until his movement stopped. Leaning against the wall, he watched them approach the metal door.

A soft sigh escaped his lips. He told Veron that he would take care of it, but now that he was here, he didn't know what to do. If this was a secret affair, he wouldn't want to put her in an uncomfortable position by calling out her name or confronting them.

He would rather return to Veron and explain things to him, hoping he would understand and let them be. After all, he had refused to accept her as his mate.

Deciding this, he turned around and started walking away in the direction of the main hall. But he had barely taken six steps away when he heard a scream he believed to have emanated from Karina's mouth. He froze on the spot, turning around sharply and walking back to the hallway.