Chapter 2
"My dress! What the hell?" Emily jumped to her feet and slapped me hard across the face.
I was knocked to the side, the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth.
"Are you blind? Do you know how much this dress costs?" Emily snapped.
I clutched my face, begging on the floor. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."
The rich kid with the colourful hair was still laughing. "Emily, don't get worked up. She's a nobody. Make her pay for it."
"Pay for it? Even if she sold herself, she still couldn't afford it." Emily pointed at me. "Look up!"
I clenched my jaw and slowly lifted my head.
"So, it's you, the loser who delivered my food this morning. James, she must've followed you here. She'll do anything for money," Emily said, clinging to James's arm and pouting.
Black leather shoes stopped right in front of me.
"Followed me?" James looked down at me from above.
"No, I'm here for a part-time job." My voice was trembling.
"Part-time job?" James let out a cold laugh.
He suddenly bent down, pinched my chin, and tilted my face up to meet his gaze. "You're so broke you'd go this far? Showing up dressed like this, trying to sell yourself?" His eyes were full of disgust.
"Yes, I'm broke." I stared right back at him. "I need money."
His eyes burned with even deeper disgust. "Alright. If you want money, then show me you're serious."
He pointed at the stain on Emily's dress. "Lick it off. I'll pay you three thousand dollars."
The private room erupted in laughter.
Three thousand dollars was barely a drop in the bucket compared to the two hundred thousand I needed, but it could keep Lily going for a couple of more days.
I closed my eyes and slowly lowered my head.
"Wait," the bleach head shouted, riling everyone up. "Licking it off? That's lame. James, this dress is worth two hundred grand; why not make her drink instead?"
He snatched an unopened bottle of whiskey from the table and slammed it hard onto the coffee table. "Ten grand a bottle. There are twenty bottles here."
Two hundred thousand dollars.
That was enough for Lily's surgery.
Driven by desperation, I rushed forward and snatched up a bottle of whiskey.
I drank straight from the bottle.
"Hell yeah. That's gutsy!" The crowd exploded with cheers.
All the noise faded away. All I cared about was drinking.
Bottle two, bottle three...
My vision started to blur, and my stomach was churning like crazy.
By the fifth bottle, I couldn't take it anymore. I threw up, hard.
All that came out was blood.
Emily wrinkled her nose in disgust. "She's ruining the mood. She's so gross. James, throw her out."
'No, I can't let them kick me out. I've only had five bottles, only fifty grand. It's not enough,' I thought.
My hands were shaking as I reached for the sixth bottle.
As my fingers brushed the bottle, a leather shoe stepped on the back of my hand.
He ground his heel hard.
James looked grim. "That's enough. Take the fifty grand and get out."
"It's not enough. Mr. Harrington, please, let me finish. I need two hundred thousand dollars. I really need it." I grabbed onto his leg, crying and begging.
"Get out!" James kicked me off him.
I slammed into the corner of the sofa, and everything went black.
The manager rushed in and hauled me out, yanking and shoving me all the way.
The hallway was freezing, and I clutched the fifty grand the manager had shoved into my hand.
I staggered forward, using the wall for support, step by step.
"Stop right there!" Emily stormed out in her high heels, looking furious.
Two bodyguards in black followed right behind her.
"Search her!" Emily pointed at me.
The bodyguards moved in fast, grabbing my arms from both sides.
"What are you doing? Let me go!" I struggled, trying to break free.
James stepped out, hands in his pockets, watching the whole thing with a cold, detached look.
"James, my diamond bracelet is gone. She was the only one near me right now; it has to be her!" Emily complained, her voice trembling with indignation.
"I didn't steal anything. I was pouring drinks!" I shouted.
"Search her," James said coldly.
The bodyguards yanked my coat open, nearly stripping me in front of everyone. Everyone in the hallway stopped to stare.
"There's nothing, Ms. Lane," one of the bodyguards reported.
Emily refused to back down. "She definitely hid it. Make her strip!"
I shot a panicked look at James, my eyes wide. "Mr. Harrington, I swear I didn't steal anything. Please, let me go; they're waiting for me at the hospital."
James's eyes lingered on my exposed skin, his gaze dark and unreadable.
"Take it off," he said.
That line felt like a death sentence.
Something slipped out from the lining of my clothes.
It was an old, cheap pocket watch.
James snatched it up.
He grabbed it in a rush, almost like he was panicking a little.
"Where did you get this?" he stared me down.
"Give it back. That's mine." I tried to snatch it back.
It was the only thing Jamie ever gave me, three years ago. Inside was the only photo we took together.
James dodged my hand.
The pocket watch popped open.
There was no photo inside.
When Emily's dress dragged the photo into the water earlier, I'd already torn it up and flushed it down the toilet.
I couldn't let him see it. I couldn't let him know Lily existed.
Whatever hope had flickered in James's eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by a storm of fury.
"Tell me, where did you steal this from?" His hand shot out, wrapping around my neck and pinning me to the wall.
"I didn't steal it. It's mine." I choked out the words.
James's eyes were blazing red with fury. "Who the hell are you? Why do you have something that's exactly like the one from my memories? Are you investigating me?"