Chapter 2

Through the heavy wooden door, deafening music came from inside, along with men's unrestrained laughter.

I raised my foot.

"Bang!"

The door lock was kicked out of shape with one kick, and the double doors slammed open to both sides!

2

What hit me in the face was the smell of liquor and cigars, and the scent of date rape drugs.

I spotted Natalie immediately.

She was tied to the armrest of a sofa, her jacket torn down to half, shirt buttons scattered all over the floor.

There was blood at the corner of her mouth.

A short, fat man was pinching her chin, pouring a wine glass into her mouth.

The liquid ran down her neck.

Her eyes had already lost focus.

And on the leather sofa facing her, two balding middle-aged men had their collars unbuttoned.

One was crossing his legs holding a phone recording video, the other was chomping on a cigar laughing with a face full of wrinkles.

"Williams, this intern of yours is something else. Great body. Once the drugs kick in, she'll be howling like a dog."

Standing nearby, Director Williams was holding a wine glass and laughing.

"Mr. Zhang, rest assured, I guarantee you'll be satisfied tonight. We've got plenty of this kind of merchandise at our company. Play with one till she breaks, then swap in a new batch."

I gripped the steel pipe, my knuckles cracking.

The next second, I kicked over the table in the center of the living room.

The coffee table broke in two, bottles and glasses on it shattered all over the floor.

"Crash!"

The short fat man was so scared his hand loosened, and the wine glass fell to the ground and smashed to pieces.

I rushed forward in three steps, the steel pipe precisely smashing into the hand of the balding man recording video.

Two fingers broke, the phone flew out, screen shattered.

"Ahhhhh my hand!!!"

The balding man screamed holding his hand, rolling off the sofa.

I grabbed the collar of the other balding man chomping on a cigar and yanked him up from the sofa.

On the coffee table was an ashtray filled with ash and cigar butts.

I grabbed his jaw with one hand and pressed the entire ashtray over his mouth.

"Eat!"

"Mmmmph!"

He rolled his eyes choking on the ash, his mouth filled with ash and saliva.

Williams threw down his wine glass, so scared he backed up three steps.

"Aria! Are you fucking crazy! Do you know what kind of place this is!"

He pointed at my nose.

"You're social trash who didn't even finish middle school. Do you know who Mr. Zhang is! If you touch a single hair on his head!"

I turned back and walked to Natalie, untying the rope on her wrists.

The marks had drawn blood.

I took off my leather jacket and wrapped her entire body in it.

Her whole body was trembling.

She groggily opened her eyes. The moment she saw it was me, tears immediately poured out.

"Aria, you need to run..."

She grabbed my sleeve.

"You can't fight them... They'll sue you..."

"They have lawyers, connections, we can't afford to compensate..."

I crouched in front of her, using the back of my hand to wipe away the wine stains and blood on her face.

"Natalie, who the fuck said anything about fighting? I'm just here to take you home tonight."

3

Williams had already pulled out his phone from his pocket.

"Mr. Stone, there's trouble on the top floor. Thugs are causing a scene. Come up with people quickly!"

He hung up and tilted his head to look at me, a smile on his lips.

"Aria, you think bringing a few gang punks lets you run wild on my turf?"

"Just wait."

In less than five minutes, a group of people filed in.

Leading them was a man in his early fifties with slicked-back hair wearing a custom suit.

The company's Greater China Vice President, Derek Stone.

Behind him followed two lawyers carrying briefcases, and over thirty uniformed corporate security guards wearing earpieces.

Compared to this group, the dozen or so trusted subordinates I'd brought were clearly outmatched at a glance.

After Derek Stone entered, he first scanned the mess all over the floor, then looked at the clients rolling on the ground clutching their hands, and snorted through his nose.

Then he looked at me.

"Just you?"

He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his hands.

"Young age, won't go to school, bringing a bunch of thugs to a five-star hotel to vandalize and rob."

"Do you know what this is called? Home invasion robbery, gang fighting, intentional assault."

He turned his head and looked at the two legal counsels beside him.

"Did you film it?"

The legal counsel nodded, pointing at the camera on his chest.

"Started filming as soon as we entered, Mr. Stone."

Derek Stone walked to the sofa and sat down, crossing his legs.

His legal counsel opened the briefcase and pulled out a stack of A4 papers.

"This is the training agreement and confidentiality clause Natalie signed when she joined."

The lawyer pushed up his glasses and handed the papers to me.

"According to Article 7 of the agreement, during the training period, if Party B unilaterally breaches the contract and resigns, they must compensate Party A for training fees, client resource losses, trade secret disclosure and other comprehensive expenses..."

"Fifty million."

Fifty million. Natalie could work her entire life and never earn that amount.

The lawyer continued.

"Additionally, tonight's drinking session was a normal business entertainment activity arranged by the company. Miss Natalie voluntarily participated. Here is her personally signed activity consent form."

The lawyer sneered.

"This young lady simply drank too much. We have the hotel's full surveillance footage to prove it."

"However, you brought gang members to forcibly break into a private room, causing serious injury to two businessmen."

"I think I don't need to tell you what the consequences are, do I?"

That consent form signature was forced on Natalie.

I saw through it—this was a setup they'd prepared.

Williams came over again, straightening his wrinkled shirt collar, hands on his hips looking at me.

"Aria, these are the rules of big companies. Poor people should obediently be toys. Who are you to play the hero saving the beauty? You're an MC rider who can't even come up with five thousand bucks, and you want to challenge our corporation?"

Behind me, Natalie was trembling all over.

She suddenly broke free from my hand and fell to her knees in front of Derek Stone with a thud.

"Mr. Stone... please... let Aria go..."

"I signed the agreement myself, it has nothing to do with her... I'll go, I'll go entertain the clients... please don't pursue charges against her..."

Watching her kneel on the ground begging those beasts, my eyes stung.

I grabbed her arm and pulled her up, then backhanded a slap across her face.

She froze.

"Natalie, stand the fuck up straight. If you kneel to these scum one more time, I'll cut ties with you immediately."

She bit her lip, tears falling in strings.

Dense footsteps came from the hallway, getting closer.

Military boots stepping on carpet made muffled sounds.

Over a hundred elite security guards urgently deployed from the corporation's local headquarters completely sealed off the entire top floor.

The fire door at the stairwell was locked from inside, the elevator set to exit-only mode.

The guys I brought were trapped in the hallway, surrounded front and back by masses of uniforms.

No escape.

4

Derek Stone wasn't in a hurry to make a move. He just sat on the sofa watching me.

Muffled sounds came from the hallway—my guys being taken down by stun batons.

Screams came one after another.

In less than two minutes, the hallway went completely quiet.

A security captain walked in, blood on his boots, and nodded at Derek Stone.

"Mr. Stone, everyone outside has been subdued."

Derek Stone nodded with satisfaction.

He stood up and slowly paced over to me.

He sighed.

"You think picking up a weapon and having a fight can solve problems?"

"In this city, how much are fists worth?"

"Capital, legal teams, media, networks—things you've never even heard of. Any one of them can crush you to dust."

After speaking, he reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a stack of hundred-dollar bills, weighing them.

Smack!

Ten thousand dollars slapped hard across my face.

The bills scattered and fell to the floor.

Williams came over, squatted on the ground, slapping his knee and laughing.

"Hahahaha, Mr. Stone is so generous!"

Derek Stone looked down at me from above, his voice not loud.

"Kneel down. Lick the spilled alcohol off the floor."

"Then have your best friend properly serve the two bosses."

He tilted his head slightly, looking at Natalie trembling in the corner, then his gaze returned.

"Do that, and this matter is settled. You take your people and get lost. I'll pretend tonight never happened."

He stepped forward, bent down, almost pressing against my ear.

"Don't do it. You two will disappear from this world tonight. The fifty million debt, I'll hang it on your family's heads."

"Your sick mom, your uncle who sells sausages from a cart—heh, you think they can handle it?"

He straightened up and adjusted his cuffs.

I didn't speak.

I lowered my head, looking at the hundred-dollar bills scattered at my feet.

Natalie suddenly moved.

While everyone was staring at me, she quietly bent down and picked up a triangular piece of glass from the broken table on the carpet.

She pointed the glass shard at her own neck.

She wasn't crying anymore.

"Aria... you go."

Her voice was very soft, very calm.

"They won't let you take me... just go... I'll handle the penalty myself... don't worry about me anymore..."

The sharp point of the glass had already pierced her skin, a thin line of blood seeping out.

I kicked the glass shard out of her hand.

She froze.

I crouched down and wiped the blood from her wrist with my sleeve.

Then I stood up and turned around.

At my feet were scattered bills.

In front of me were the smug Derek Stone and the sleazy-smiling Williams.

In the hallway, all my guys had been taken down.

I took a breath.

Then I burst out laughing.

Derek Stone's eyelid twitched, and he took half a step back.

Williams's smile froze on his face.

Even those security guards instinctively gripped their stun batons tighter.

I laughed enough, raised my hand, and wiped the tears of laughter from the corner of my eyes.

Then I pulled out my phone.

"Williams, oh Williams. You don't really think I'm just a poor MC rider, do you?"